Insafe Weekly Update

The BIK Advisory Board provides the European Commission with a point of exchange on the ongoing implementation and future development of the BIK platform initiative and supports effective relationships between all relevant stakeholders. SIC representation in the BIK Advisory Board is through two co-funded Safer Internet Centre Coordinators, and representation is rotated annually.

We take this opportunity to thank the Coordinators of SIC Norway and SIC Greece for proudly representing the network on the Board during its first term under the current contract.

Representation in the BIK Advisory Board mainly involves actively contributing to two meetings. The next BIK Advisory Board meeting, marking its second term, will take place on the morning of Wednesday, 2 December 2026, in Brussels, Belgium (the day before SIF). SIC Coordinators are invited to express their interest in joining the BIK Advisory Board and attending the next meeting by contacting Rima by the close of business on Friday, 26 June 2026.

The submission deadline for the new call “Ensuring comprehensive geographical coverage of the network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs)” is Thursday, 1 October 2026 (17:00 Brussels time). All relevant information regarding the call is available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

In the context of the second EU-wide evaluation of the BIK+ strategy, we will once again carry out consultations with various stakeholders, including children and young people.

SICs will be asked to organise one or more focus groups with children and young people under the age of 18, with a maximum of 10 participants per focus group (ideally 8).

To facilitate the focus groups with children and young people, SICs will receive all the relevant materials in August 2026. These will, indicatively, include a consultation protocol (in English), a child-friendly explainer of the consultation (in the national language), a discussion guide (in the national language), and a reporting template (in English). SICs will be kindly asked to organise the consultations and submit the reports to EUN by Friday, 16 October 2026 at the latest.

Please confirm your interest and availability by sending an email to BIKevaluation@eun.org by Friday, 29 May 2026.

EUN will host an information session about the consultation activities after sharing the materials indicated above. If you have any questions before this session, please also contact BIKevaluation@eun.org.

A reminder that the next Insafe training meeting will be held online across three consecutive mornings on Tuesday, 13, Wednesday, 14, and Thursday, 15 October 2026, from 10:00 CEST until 13:00 CEST.

More information and a draft agenda will be shared in due course.

For any immediate questions, please contact Karl.

Many thanks to everyone who attended the recent meeting. You can find a report from the meeting, a link to the recording, and a copy of the presentation in the BIK community (log in first).

For further information, please contact Karl.

Thanks to everyone who attended the recent meeting. The next online meeting for youth coordinators will take place on Thursday, 25 June 2026 at 11:00 CEST; use this link to join the meeting.

A reminder that you can find reports from previous youth coordinator meetings in the BIK community (login first).

For further information, please contact Carolina and Chiara.

The next early warning meeting for helplines will take place on Wednesday, 3 June 2026 at 11:00 CEST. Use this link to join the meeting.

A reminder that you can find reports and links to recordings from previous meetings in the BIK community (login first).

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

There will be a meeting to discuss how we can advance response to sadistic online exploitation in networked youth environments, which will take place on Thursday, 11June 2026 at 15:00 CEST. We will hear from Amanda Goharian from Thorn, who will share insights from their recent report,which colleagues from Child Focus also contributed to.

Use this link to join the meeting. For further information, please contact Karl.

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, 24 June 2026 at 11:00 CEST; 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 all previous meetings are available from the BIK community (login first).

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

Please note, this item relates to INHOPE work linked with the current BIK project (2025-2027).

INHOPE's Expert Insights webinar series is back for 2026 with sessions diving into critical and emerging topics in child online safety, featuring leading voices from the OECD, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Tech Coalition, Discord, and GIFCT.

All sessions are free, online, and open to approved registrants. Planned webinars are as follows:

• Wednesday, 27 May 2026, 16:00 CEST: Understanding online subcultures of nihilistic violence
• Thursday, 25 June 2026, 16:00 CEST: Tackling the sadistic online exploitation of children in online gaming environments

Find out more about the INHOPE webinar series here.

Colleagues from the Combat Online Grooming project are currently conducting a new study building on the findings of the CESAGRAM project*, with a particular focus on the disclosure process in cases of peer-to-peer harmful sexual behaviours in digital contexts. They are looking for professionals from across Europe who:

• work in child protection and safeguarding (e.g. psychology, social work, education, helplines, hotlines or law enforcement);
• are affiliated with child safeguarding and reporting mechanisms;
• and/or have direct experience working with children affected by harmful sexual behaviours or technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse.

Interested participants should complete this form (please also feel free to disseminate this information if you know of any colleagues or groups that might be interested), and a member of the research team will follow up with further information. The focus group discussions will be facilitated and will last up to 2 hours.

For any further information, please contact Salome Habousha at Missing Children Europe.

* CESAGRAM project - a Comprehensive European Strategy against Grooming and Missing children, through a range of separate yet interconnected activities: Research, Training and Awareness Raising, the creation of an AI Tool, and Advocacy. The project is delivered through a partnership consisting of 11 expert organisations, funded by the European Commission.

The digi.well project offers a self-assessment tool, designed to help schools reflect on how digital well-being is supported within their communities. It guides educators through 19 short statements covering four key areas: Leadership, Infrastructure & Equipment, Policy, and Practices. The tool encourages both individual reflection and collaborative discussion among colleagues, supporting schools in creating healthier and more balanced digital environments.

By completing the survey, users can assess their school’s current approach to digital well-being for pupils, staff, and the wider school community. Responses are anonymous, and participants can save their progress and return later using a personal link. After completing the assessment, users receive a summary report, access to an evaluation rubric for deeper reflection, and an action plan to help schools identify practical steps to strengthen digital well-being.

Explore the digi.well self-assessment tool here.

SICs are welcome to share this information with their school contacts through relevant national channels.

The next edition of the BIK bulletin will be published at the end of June 2026, with a focus on the recent BIK Policy monitor report and updates on other policy measures in progress to protect children and young people online.

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 Monday, 15 June 2026. 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.

Latest article:

• IPDJ highlights digital citizenship and online safety at Portugal’s leading youth fairs (SIC PT)
• New “Switched On” digital citizenship programme launched for fifth and sixth classes in Ireland (SIC IE)
• The Finnish Safer Internet Centre coordinator changes name to Finnish Arts and Culture Agency (SIC FI)
• All Digital Week event in Brussels

Access the full BIK news article archive here.

Please contact the BIK content mailbox with any article submissions or 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