Insafe Weekly Update

As you know, the joint Insafe-INHOPE training meeting will take place in Latvia on Wednesday,15 and Thursday, 16 April 2026. The meeting will be held at the Baltic Beach Hotel in Jūrmala near Riga, and will start at 13:00 on Wednesday, 15 April, with two optional sessions on Wednesday morning: an overview of the Latvian helpline and a “Method Market” focusing on how to use gamification in educational work with Gen Z and Alpha generations.

We kindly ask that you (and any other SIC colleagues who plan to attend) register as soon as possible, ideally by the close of business today - Monday, 23 March 2026. You will find a link to the draft agenda on the registration page, along with information about the optional sessions and the networking dinner in Riga on Wednesday evening.

As usual at the face-to-face meeting, we will have an Open Space session, which will provide an opportunity for colleagues to share information about their work at their Safer Internet Centre. This could be an opportunity to share interesting research or showcase a particular resource. Please do sign up to host one of these informal sessions when you register – these sessions only work if we have people willing to host, and we know that there is so much expertise, good practice, and wisdom around the network that can be shared.

Exceptionally, the plenary sessions from the joint Insafe-INHOPE training meeting will be livestreamed. Further information will be shared closer to the meeting date.

If you have any questions or need any further information about the training meeting, please contact Karl.

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A reminder that 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.

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Please note, the Insafe Steering Committee meeting, which typically takes place on the Friday after the training meeting, will now take place online, on Wednesday, 22 April 2026 from 10:00 to 12:00 CEST. The meeting is open to SIC Coordinators (or their designees) only. The link has been shared directly via the SC mailing list. In case of questions, please contact Rima in the first instance.

As usual, a resource competition will take place as part of the upcoming joint Insafe-INHOPE training meeting. Safer Internet Centres* are welcome to participate in the competition, with the opportunity to win €5,000, which must be used to make the resource accessible to the wider network (for example, through translation and/or adaptation). The resource could be a video, brochure, book, research report, learning materials – anything that would be of interest and use to the wider network.

Please note that there is no specific topic or target audience for this edition of the resource competition, so SICs are invited to submit any recently created resource.

Submitted entries should meet the following criteria:

• The resource should be created by a Safer Internet Centre (* EC co-funded at the time the resource was created).
• The resource is suitable for adaptation to benefit the entire network (in the event of victory).
• The resource is relatively recent (for example, developed within the last 18 months).

Those SICs wishing to take part should submit an entry using this short online form. The deadline to submit entries is the close of business on Friday, 27 March 2026. Please note that each country can only submit one entry. If you are unsure whether a particular resource meets the criteria, please contact Karl or Annarita to discuss.

Please find below an outline of the upcoming deadlines related to the resource competition.

“Best SIC Resource of the Year” award: as in the previous edition of the resource competition, the winning entry and the runner-up from this edition will automatically be selected to compete for this additional award.

The EC will present the EU Action plan against cyberbullying to the network in an online meeting on Tuesday, 31 March 2026, from 10:00 to 11:30 CEST. Use this link to join the meeting.

Discover more about the action plan on the EC website:

• European Commission press release
• Action plan against cyberbullying
• Factsheet on the Action plan against cyberbullying

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to assess the impact of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and explore options for its review. The consultation is organised in four distinct pillars: scope and enforcement, audiovisual commercial communications, protection of viewers, and strengthening of media diversity in the internal market.

Feedback is invited from across the spectrum, including citizens, Member State authorities, companies and industry, consumer organisations, non-governmental organisations (including media freedom organisations), associations of journalists, and academic institutions.

The consultation is open until Friday, 1 May 2026. It is currently available in English, and all other EU official languages will follow shortly.

Assessment platform submissions for helplines and hotlines reporting on the first quarter of 2026 (January to March inclusive) will soon be due. The deadline for both helpline and hotline submissions is the close of business on Friday, 10 April 2026. Templates are available from the BIK community (login first).

For questions, please contact Karl for helpline submissions and INHOPE for hotline submissions.

The Assessment Working Group (AWG) will convene on Tuesday, 7 April 2026 at 14:00 CEST, ahead of the upcoming joint Insafe-INHOPE training meeting.

The AWG meeting will feature:

• A roundtable to highlight the assessment and evaluation work carried out by the SICs since the previous meeting.
• Brainstorm on the involvement of SICs and on targeted consultations towards children and young people.
• Discussion on possible future revisions to the Assessment Platform awareness data collection format and frequency.

Access the meeting here. For any questions, contact Eray and Francesco.

An online meeting with Snap will take place on Tuesday, 24 March 2026 at 11:00 CET. This will be an opportunity to hear about the latest updates to privacy and security on the platform, as well as other developments. There will also be a chance for discussion and Q&A. Please use this link to join the meeting. For any further information, please contact Karl. 

The next online meeting for youth coordinators will take place on Thursday, 26 March 2026 at 11.00 CET, with a focus on peer-to-peer youth engagement. Everybody is welcome to share their experiences of peer-to-peer youth activities in their country.Access the meeting using this link. A reminder that you can find reports from previous youth coordinator meetings in the BIK community (login first).

For further information, please contact Chiara or Carolina.

The next early warning meeting for awareness centres will take place on Wednesday, 1 April 2026 at 11:00 CET; use this link to join.

Please remember that you can use the Teams chat to share information between meetings. A reminder also that reports and recordings from previous meetings are available from the BIK community (login first).

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

There will be a meeting with colleagues from OpenAI on Tuesday, 21 April 2026, from 17:15-18:00 CEST. Apologies for the late start – OpenAI colleagues from the US West Coast are attending, and after a lot of back-and-forth, we agreed on this as a compromise. If you have any specific questions or issues that you would like them to address during the meeting, please let Karl know, as we want to ensure that the session is as useful as possible. You can use this link to join the meeting, which will take place on Google Meet rather than the usual Teams.

For further information, please contact Karl.

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, 22 April 2026 at 12:00 CEST – please note the different start time. Use this link to join the meeting.

A report from the last meeting, with a link to the recording, is available from the BIK community (login first).

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

There will be a meeting with the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) on Thursday, 21 May 2026 at 11:00 CEST. CCDH is a not-for-profit NGO that aims to hold social media and AI companies accountable for the online harm that is encountered on their platforms. They conduct research and run campaigns to raise awareness of some of the problems; find more information here. Use this link to join the meeting.

For further information, please contact Karl.

Many thanks to everyone who attended the recent meeting, and thanks to Libor from SIC CZ for helping to arrange this. You can find a report from the meeting, including a link to the recording and the presentation, in the BIK community (login first).

For further information, please contact Karl.

We are seeking SIC online resources for older youth to use during BIK European Youth Week activities.

European Youth Week 2026 is organised by the European Commission every second year to celebrate and promote youth engagement, participation, and active citizenship across Europe and beyond. This year's edition will take place from Friday, 24 April to Friday, 1 May 2026, and will be dedicated to solidarity and fairness.

A kick-off event will take place on Friday, 24 April 2026 from 9.15 to 11.00 CEST in the Hemicycle of the European Parliament. The opening by Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, will be followed by a high-level session featuring dynamic paired conversations between high-level speakers and inspirational young people. The session will be live-streamed on the European Youth Portal.

The Insafe Coordinator will be present on the day to facilitate a workshop and a booth, promoting the work of Better Internet for Kids (BIK) and the European network of Safer Internet Centres. We are especially seeking online games, quizzes, or resources targeted to the older youth age group (i.e. 16 to 30 years) to show on a screen at the booth and promote interactivity. We are happy to showcase resources in any European language. If you can help in any way, please reach out to bik-content@eun.org in the first instance by the close of business on Tuesday, 31 March 2026, and we'll follow up with you directly.

Please note, we are not seeking general supplies of gadgets/flyers on this occasion.

Recently published articles include:

• Record participation for Safer Internet Day in Germany (SIC DE)
• Celebrating Safer Internet Day 2026 in Romania (SIC RO)
• From paediatric neurologists to ethical hackers, interactive activities marked Safer Internet Day in Budapest (SIC HU)
• Safer Internet Day 2026 in Poland (SIC PL)
• First meeting of the special panel on child safety online | Marta's perspective (BIK Youth)
• Safer Internet Day 2026 activities in Sweden (SIC SE)
• First meeting of the special panel on child safety online | Maja's perspective (BIK Youth)
• Safer Internet Day in the Czech Republic tackles key topics such as nudity online (SIC CZ)

Access the full BIK news article archive here.

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 continue to upload 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.
• Please refer to the BIK platform user guides for support with regular tasks (such as resource and helpline case study uploads).
• The 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 remember to log in to access any BIK community links.

• 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; #SaferInternetForum; #SIF2026
• 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; #SaferInternetDay2026; #SID2027; #SaferInternetDay2027
• 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