Insafe Weekly Update

The latest helpline quarterly report is now available from the BIK community (login first); there is also an infographic which contains a summary of the key information. This report covers the period from July – September 2025 and highlights the issues that helplines have been supporting children and young people (and parents/educators) with. Many thanks to everyone who submitted their data. For further information, please contact Karl.

Many thanks to everyone who attended the recent early warning meeting. A report from the meeting is available from the BIK community (login first). 

The next early warning meeting for awareness centres will take place on Wednesday, 8 January 2026 at 11:00 CET; use this link to join. Please remember that you can use the Teams chat to share information between meetings.

Please contact Karl for any further information on awareness early warning meetings.

Many thanks to all SIC colleagues who attended the recent online meeting on the new lump sum mechanism (LSM) scheme, for EU co-funded Safer Internet Centres under the current BIK coordination contract (2025-2027). Slides and other resources from the meeting are now available in the BIK community (login first).

Safer Internet Centres are now invited to express an interest in participating in the new scheme by sending an email to the BIK content mailbox by the close of business on Friday, 28 November 2025.

For any questions, please contact Sarah.

Colleagues from the SIC in Luxembourg will present their Cyber Desk, which offers face-to-face counselling alongside the Luxembourg House of Cyber Security. The service operates with a cybersecurity expert and a psychologist/pedagogue to provide both practical and emotional support. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, 26 November 2025 at 11:00 CET. Access the meeting using this link.

In case of questions in the meantime, please contact Karl.

The next helpline early warning meeting will take place on Wednesday, 10 December 2025, at 11:00 CET; join the meeting using this link.

You can find the meeting report and recording from the last meeting in the BIK community (login first).

Please contact Karl for any further information on helpline early warning meetings.

Dr Cosmin Nada from the University Institute of Lisbon will present some research evidence on the impact of digital tools on well-being, along with Portuguese recommendations from DGE (the Ministry of Education in Portugal). Dr Nada is also part of the ENESET network, which is producing a report for the European Commission focusing on mobile phone bans in schools across Europe, and will share some of the research findings. The meeting will take place on Thursday, 11 December 2025 at 11:00 CET; use this link to join.

For further information, please contact Karl. 

This online meeting will take place on Monday, 15 December 2025 at 11:00 CET. During the meeting, we will hear from colleagues at the Swedish SIC and Linköping University, who will share reports and research from Sweden. You can use this link to join the meeting.

Please contact Karl for further information. 

The next Joint Insafe-INHOPE Training meeting will take place in Latvia on Wednesday, 15 and Thursday, 16 April 2026. The meeting will take place at the Baltic Beach Hotel in Jurmala near Riga. Further information about the agenda and other logistics will follow, but the meeting will start at 13:00 CEST on Wednesday, 15 April and will finish at 17:00 CEST on Thursday, 16 April.

The Insafe Steering Committee will take place on the morning of Friday, 17 April 2026. 

We have secured a discounted rate for accommodation at the hotel, covering the period from Tuesday, 14 April, until Saturday, 18 April, for those who would like to extend their stay. You will need to enter the code BIK2026 when you use the online booking form, and this will give you 20 per cent off the day’s best price for all room categories. Cancellation is free of charge up to 10 days before the event.

Huge thanks to Maija and colleagues from the Latvian Safer Internet Centre who are working with us to prepare the meeting. If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact Karl.

It's a wrap! The DSA for YOUth campaign is now coming to a close. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all SIC colleagues for their support in providing content, disseminating campaign messages, and reviewing the translations of the family-friendly booklet (which will be published to coincide with SIF).

Please do continue to explore the campaign page and the DSA for YOUth toolkit to access the family-friendly explainers, the DSA guidelines booklet, and a quiz on how the DSA helps protect children and teens online.

A reminder, also that you can access the recordings from the campaign events:

• Watch the parents’ webinar: Keeping kids safe online: best practices for parents - DSA for YOUth webinarfeaturing insights from SIC Norway, Slovenia, and Spain.
• Watch the teachers’ webinar: The DSA goes to school: how teachers can help keep students safe online - DSA for YOUth webinar for teachersfeaturing insights from SIC Italy, Greece, and Portugal.
• Watch the LinkedIn Live recording: How the DSA protects kids and teens online - Conversation with the EC.
  

If you have any questions regarding the campaign and its resources, please contact the BIK content mailbox.

Registration continues for Safer Internet Forum (SIF) 2025, which will take place in a hybrid format in Brussels and online on Thursday, 4 December 2025, with a title of Why age matters: Protecting and empowering youth in the digital age.

SIC registrations for onsite attendance are now complete; a reminder that there is no limit on online attendance.

SICs are also asked to share online registration information via their own channels.

In case of questions, please contact saferinternetforum@betterinternetforkids.eu.

The next edition of Safer Internet Day is fast approaching, and campaign activities will start ramping up in the coming months. A reminder that SID 2026 will be marked by a global day of focus on Tuesday, 10 February 2026, and events and activities will take place throughout the whole month, across Europe and the globe! 

Sharing network SID plans
As is customary, we have once again made an online document available for SICs and SIC+ countries to share their SID plans with other members of the network. A reminder that this is an internal document only, to allow network members to see the plans of other SIC/SIC+ organisations, and to make connections where there are synergies. The EC also refer to this regularly to help inform SID planning. Please update the document regularly as your plans progress. 

Updating SID public profile pages
A reminder that direct access to update SID profiles is now possible for Safer Internet Centres and SIC+ organisations via the BIK platform. Please contact the SID helpdesk to check or nominate a SID profile editor for your SIC.

While direct profile updates are preferred for SIC and SIC+ profiles, the traditional online profile update form (via EUSurvey) is still available if needed.

SID assets
A reminder that a save-the-date logo for SID 2026 is available to download in the BIK community (login first). We will progressively start sharing other assets to support the promotion of SID 2026 in the coming months.

Please keep checking the Insafe Weekly Update for the latest information, or contact the SID helpdesk with any further questions regarding the 2026 campaign.

The next edition of the BIK bulletin will be published in mid-December 2025, with a review of the recent DSA for YOUth: Protecting minors by designcampaign, updates from Safer Internet Forum (SIF) 2025, and a preview of Safer Internet Day (SID) 2026.

As always, we also invite Safer Internet Centres (and their partners) to contribute to the BIK bulletin with general articles on news, resources or events. The content deadline is the close of business on Friday, 5 December 2025 (or sooner if possible). All contributions or queries should be addressed to content@betterinternetforkids.eu.

As a reminder, we generally suggest that articles should be 300 - 600 words in length (but longer focus pieces are fine too), along with copyright-cleared images/photographs/logos if appropriate (please note that we cannot accept AI-generated images). The BIK team reserves the right to edit contributions for house style, etc., but we try to keep these changes to a minimum.

Safer Internet Centres are also requested to check and update their public profile pages on the BIK public portal. Updates can be submitted via this online form; you will be notified once the changes have been implemented. Please submit your updates by the close of business on Friday, 12 December 2025. In case of questions (or for confirmation that no changes are needed), please contact the BIK content mailbox.

Please note: this task can be counted as a level 1 activity in the new lump sum mechanism (LSM) scheme.

Participants in the SIC+ programme are requested to check and update their public profile pages on the BIK public portal (see the Safer Internet Centre+ dropdown list). Updates can be submitted via this online form; you will be notified once the changes have been implemented. Please submit your updates by the close of business on Friday, 12 December 2025.

In case of questions (or for confirmation that no changes are needed), please contact the SIC+ mailbox.

Access the full BIK news article archive here. We will continue promoting the DSA for YOUth campaign articles in the coming weeks, to further spotlight Safer Internet Centre actions.

Please contact the BIK content mailbox with any article submissions or if you have any queries.

A reminder that reports from online meetings for awareness centres and helplines are now available in the BIK community, including those from early warning meetings for both strands.

Safer Internet Centres have been busy uploading resources to the BIK community resource repository: explore or upload your SIC's resources here (alternatively, access the public resource directory here).

Equally, SICs have been uploading new helpline case studies: explore or upload your SIC's case studies here.

SICs are invited to make direct updates to Safer Internet Day profile pages; please contact the BIK support mailbox to set or check the SID profile editor for your SIC (this role is assigned to a single person per SIC).

A reminder also that selected presentations from the October 2025 Insafe Training meeting are now available in the BIK community.

Please remember to log in to access these links.

Need help with the BIK platform?
Please refer to the BIK platform user guides for support with regular tasks (such as resource and helpline case study uploads).

The recently updated Insafe induction manual also provides a good background on the tools and services available to network members, the various commitments you have as a network member (including a handy checklist by strand), and contact information for team members.

Alternatively, we are happy to schedule short online support calls at any time. Please use the contact form on the BIK platform or contact the BIK support mailbox initially. We will then schedule a call at a mutually convenient time.

Please note the updated URLs for the new BIK platform:

• Better Internet for Kids (BIK):
  better-internet-for-kids. europa.eu; #BIK; #BIKbulletin
• BIK strategy (BIK+):
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/bik/bik-plus-strategy; #BIKplus
• Safer Internet Forum (SIF):
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/sif; #SIF2025; #SaferInternetForum
• BIK Knowledge hub:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/knowledge-hub; #BIKPolicyMap
• BIK Youth:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/bik-youth; #BIKyouth
• Safer Internet Day (SID):
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/saferinternetday; #SaferInternetDay; #SID2026
• DSA for YOUth campaign:
  #DSAforYOUth; #DSA
• Project Facebook profiles:
  Insafe, Safer Internet Day, Insafe network closed Facebook group, INHOPE
• Project X (formerly Twitter) profiles:
  @insafenetwork; @safeinternetday; @BIK_youth; @inhope_pr
• Project LinkedIn profile:
  Better Internet for Kids