The guidelines aim to support platforms accessible by minors in ensuring a high level of privacy, safety, and security for children, as required by DSA, outlining a non-exhaustive list of measures that all platforms, with the exception of micro and small enterprises, can implement to protect minors, using a default approach that is guided by privacy by design.

The guidelines adopt the same risk-based approach that underpins the DSA, recognising that different platforms pose varying levels of risks to minors. This ensures that platforms can tailor their measures to their specific services, avoiding undue restrictions on children’s rights to participation, information, and freedom of expression.

The draft guidelines are open for final public feedback until Tuesday, 10 June 2025. The Commission is seeking contributions from all stakeholders, including children, parents and guardians, national authorities, online platform providers, and experts. The publication of the guidelines is expected by the summer of 2025.

SICs are encouraged to also share this information with their own contacts and networks.

See also the Capacity building entry below for details of an online network meeting, on Friday this week, to share thoughts and ideas.

Last week, HaDEA organised a virtual info session on the call DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08: Accelerating the Best Use of Technologies, launched under the Digital Europe Work Programme 2025-2027. Participants had the opportunity to learn all about the calls, the application process, and join Q&A sessions. 

The info session covered the following two topics: 

• DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs: Network of Safer Internet Centres
  The objective of the topic is to continue to support national Safer Internet Centres (SICs), to provide online safety information, educational resources, public awareness tools and counselling and reporting services through dedicated helplines and hotlines for young people, teachers/educators, and parents/carers.
  Budget: € 42 million.
• DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS: European Network of Factcheckers
  The objective of the topic is to support the growth of a European Network of Factcheckers, which will deepen the language coverage and operational capacity of fact-checking in Europe.
  Budget: €5 million.

The presentations from the info session are now available on the HaDEA website.

The submission of applications for this call opened on Tuesday, 15 April 2025 and will close on Tuesday, 2 September 2025 (17:00:00 CEST).

The May 2025 edition of the Publications Office of the European Union newsletter places a spotlight on European youth policy - read it in full here.

The Publications Office of the European Union is the official provider of publishing services to all EU institutions, bodies and agencies. As such, it is the central point of access to EU law, publications, data, research results, procurement notices, and other official information. The Publications Office, therefore, plays a central role in informing the public about what the EU does and means for them, and in unlocking the power of data.

In the framework of the new BIK Phase 6 project, we are continuing to convene a number of working groups and invite members of the network to sign up to participate. We are aiming for a broad representation from across the network in each WG in terms of geographic spread and areas of work represented (i.e. awareness, helpline or youth participation). Please indicate which group(s) you would like to be part of in the online survey by COB on Wednesday, 11 June 2025. We will confirm membership once we have reviewed all responses to ensure that we have the best representation across all groups.
 
Available working groups are as follows; further information on the scope of each working group is included in the online survey:

• Governance Working Group (GWG)
• Knowledge Management Working Group (KMWG)
• Helpline Working Group (HLWG)
• Assessment Working Group (AWG)
• Youth Participation Working Group (YPWG)
• Safer Internet Day Working Group (SID WG)

Please note: if you are an existing WG member and would be happy to remain as such, please reconfirm this via the survey also.
In case of questions on the process, please contact Karl in the first instance

The European Commission has launched a consultation on the guidelines on the protection of minors online under the Digital Services Act (see Governance section above). We know that some SICs are planning to respond to the consultation, which closes on 10 June 2025.  

Many thanks to everyone who attended this meeting last Friday and particular thanks to Katie and Carolina for their input and presentations. You can find the meeting report along with a link to the recording in the BIK community (login first). For any further information please contact Karl.  

Many thanks to everyone who attended the early warning meeting for awareness centres last week. You can find a report from the meeting along with a link to the recording in the BIK community (login first). If you need any further information, please contact Karl.

The next early warning meeting for awareness centres will take place on Monday, 30 June 2025, at 11:00 CEST; use this link to join the meeting. Please contact Karl for any further information.

The next helpline early warning meeting will be held on Wednesday, 18 June 2025 at 11:00 CEST; join the meeting using this link. Please contact Karl for any further information.

There will be an online meeting with Apple on Tuesday, 3 June 2025 at 16:30 CEST. This will be an opportunity to hear some updates from the Apple team about trust and safety issues. Use this link to join the meeting. For any further information, please contact Karl.

Please note, this item relates to wider INHOPE work not linked with the BIK Phase 6 project, and is provided here for information purposes only

The full schedule for INHOPE’s Expert Insights 2025 series is now available. This webinar series, supported by INHOPE’s long-time partner Resolver Trust & Safety, runs from April to July with four expert-led sessions for professionals tackling online child protection. The first three webinars have already taken place, but one more is coming up on Tuesday, 8 July 2025, this session will explore the role of financial intelligence in detecting, investigating, and preventing child exploitation, featuring experts from CashApp.

If you work in trust and safety, policy, law enforcement, or child protection, you won’t want to miss this series.

Save these dates and register for the upcoming webinar on the INHOPE website.

We are delighted to open the call for youth participation in this year's Safer Internet Forum, taking place in Brussels, Belgium in December 2025.

As before, we are issuing two separate calls for the BIK Youth Panel and the SIF Youth Advisory Group (YAG). Please note that, in line with the requirements of the new BIK project phase, there are some changes to the youth participant nomination processes. As such, please ensure that you read and follow the detailed application process for the respective strand(s) you are interested in:

•  BIK Youth Panel – open to youth associated with all Insafe network member countries (excluding the UK).
  Find further details, including information on the application process for the BIK Youth Panel here.
• SIF Youth Advisory Group (YAG) – Open to BIK Youth Ambassadors associated with the EC co-funded SICs only. Find further details, including information on the application process for the SIF YAG here.

The deadline for applications is the close of business on Friday, 20 June 2025.
For further information, please contact Sabrina or Chiara

The next edition of the BIK bulletin will be published at the end of June 2025, with news on the recently published BIK+ strategy evaluation and Policy monitor report. As always, we also invite Safer Internet Centres (and their partners) to contribute with general articles on news, resources or events. The content deadline is the close of business on Wednesday, 18 June 2025. 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, we cannot accept AI-generated images). The BIK team reserves the right to edit contributions for house style etc., but we try to keep this to a minimum.

Access the full BIK news article archive here.

Please contact the BIK content mailbox with any article submissions or in case of any queries.

Recently uploaded:

• BIK Platform user guides
• Article 28 guidelines consultation - online meetings (notes and recordings)

Various reports from online meetings for awareness centres and helplines are now available in the BIK community (login first).

Need help with the BIK platform?
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 in the first instance, and we will 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; #SIF2024, #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; #Pledge2Youth
• Safer Internet Day (SID):
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/saferinternetday; #SaferInternetDay; #SID2025; #SID2026
• Media literacy campaign:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/media-smart-online; #MediaSmartOnline
• Child and youth consumer protection campaign:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/adwiseonline; #AdWiseOnline
• 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

Last week, HaDEA organised a virtual info session on the call DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08: Accelerating the Best Use of Technologies, launched under the Digital Europe Work Programme 2025-2027. Participants had the opportunity to learn all about the calls, the application process, and join Q&A sessions. 

The info session covered the following two topics: 

• DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs: Network of Safer Internet Centres
  The objective of the topic is to continue to support national Safer Internet Centres (SICs), to provide online safety information, educational resources, public awareness tools and counselling and reporting services through dedicated helplines and hotlines for young people, teachers/educators, and parents/carers.
  Budget: € 42 million
  
  
• DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS: European Network of Factcheckers
  The objective of the topic is to support the growth of a European Network of Factcheckers, which will deepen the language coverage and operational capacity of fact-checking in Europe.
  Budget: €5 million

The presentations from the info session are now available on the HaDEA website.

The submission of applications for this call opened on Tuesday, 15 April 2025 and will close on Tuesday, 2 September 2025 (17:00:00 CEST).

The guidelines aim to support platforms accessible by minors in ensuring a high level of privacy, safety, and security for children, as required by DSA, outlining a non-exhaustive list of measures that all platforms, with the exception of micro and small enterprises, can implement to protect minors, using a default approach that is guided by privacy by design.

The guidelines adopt the same risk-based approach that underpins the DSA, recognising that different platforms pose varying levels of risks to minors. This ensures that platforms can tailor their measures to their specific services, avoiding undue restrictions on children’s rights to participation, information, and freedom of expression.

The draft guidelines are open for final public feedback until Tuesday, 10 June 2025. The Commission is seeking contributions from all stakeholders, including children, parents and guardians, national authorities, online platform providers, and experts. The publication of the guidelines is expected by the summer of 2025.

SICs are encouraged to also share this information with their own contacts and networks.

See also the Capacity building entry below for details of an online network meeting, on Friday this week, to share thoughts and ideas.

The May 2025 edition of the Publications Office of the European Union newsletter places a spotlight on European youth policy - read it in full here.

The Publications Office of the European Union is the official provider of publishing services to all EU institutions, bodies and agencies. As such, it is the central point of access to EU law, publications, data, research results, procurement notices, and other official information. The Publications Office, therefore, plays a central role in informing the public about what the EU does and means for them, and in unlocking the power of data.

Three years after its launch, the first comprehensive evaluation of the European strategy for a Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) marks a key milestone in assessing progress toward a safer, more empowering digital environment for children. Drawing on input from over 750 children and young people, including those from vulnerable groups, and more than 360 adult stakeholders across sectors, the evaluation offers a 360-degree view of the strategy’s achievements and ongoing challenges, reaffirming the importance of inclusive, expert-informed policymaking in shaping Europe’s digital future.

The first evaluation confirms that BIK+ has made a meaningful impact, while also highlighting the need for continued, coordinated efforts in an increasingly complex digital landscape. It emphasises that building a better internet goes beyond protection: it requires active participation, education, and shared responsibility, with children’s voices at the centre. The findings provide a roadmap for strengthening the BIK+ strategy to continue to serve Europe’s youngest digital citizens. 

A heartfelt thank you to all network members who helped gather children’s views in their countries; your efforts were essential in ensuring the evaluation truly reflects young people’s voices. Your commitment is deeply appreciated.

Read the full evaluation report on the BIK public portal, and read a supplementary article here.

Now in its sixth edition, the 2025 Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Policy monitor report provides a comparative overview of how the BIK+ strategy, launched by the European Commission in 2022, is being implemented across the EU Member States, Iceland, and Norway. It highlights national efforts to ensure children and young people are protected, empowered, and respected online, tracking progress, challenges, and good practices across the strategy’s three pillars: safe digital experiences, digital empowerment, and active participation.

The 2025 report highlights the need for balanced progress across the BIK+ pillars, calling for integrated national strategies, improved monitoring, and greater youth involvement. The full report, country profiles, interactive map data tool, and at-a-glance index charts are available via the Better Internet for Kids Knowledge hub.

As you will be aware, the European Commission has launched a consultation on the guidelines on the protection of minors online under the Digital Services Act (see Governance section above). We know that some SICs are planning to respond to the consultation, which closes on 10 June 2025. As such, we will have a meeting on Friday, 23 May 2025 at 11:00 CEST to provide an opportunity for colleagues to share thoughts and ideas; use this link to join the meeting. Please contact Karl if you need any further information.

EUN is coordinating the digi.well project, a two-year funded European Union project under the Erasmus+ programme. The project started in January 2025 and aims to explore, develop and foster a whole-school approach to well-being in a digital world. Together with project partners from Slovenia, Serbia, and Portugal, EUN is conducting a series of focus group consultations with pupils, educators, and policymakers to discuss their perceptions, opinions, and needs regarding digital well-being. The consultations will contribute to the development of a consolidated scoping report.
 
For the purpose of the focus group consultation, EUN is aiming to involve 20 young people from across Europe between the ages of 11 and 16, with an equal gender representation, to discuss digital well-being. The focus group will last 90 minutes, and it will take place online on Thursday, 5 June 2025, from 17:30 to 19:00 CEST. The focus group will be led by EUN moderators, who will ensure that everyone is able to contribute to the discussion. The youth participants will be asked a set of questions to facilitate their sharing their opinions or experiences on the topic of digital well-being. No prior knowledge or preparation is needed for the consultation. Consultation sessions are planned to be held in English. As we are aware that the topic of digital well-being could be sensitive, EUN facilitators will make sure that the environment will be respectful, non-judgmental, and open during the focus group consultation.

If you are interested, please put forward your youth candidates (max two per country) to Chiara and Maria by the close of business on Wednesday, 21 May 2025. Once the call for participation has closed, we will inform SICs of the final group composition and selected youth.

Many thanks to everyone who attended the early warning meeting for awareness centres last week. You can find a report from the meeting along with a link to the recording in the BIK community (login first). If you need any further information, please contact Karl.

The next early warning meeting for awareness centres will take place on Monday, 30 June 2025, at 11:00 CEST; use this link to join the meeting. Please contact Karl for any further information.

There will be an online meeting with Apple on Tuesday, 3 June 2025 at 16:30 CEST. This will be an opportunity to hear some updates from the Apple team about trust and safety issues. Use this link to join the meeting. For any further information, please contact Karl.

The next helpline early warning meeting will be held on Wednesday, 18 June 2025 at 11:00 CEST; join the meeting using this link. Please contact Karl for any further information.

Many thanks to everyone who joined the recent online meeting with Meta. You can find a report from the meeting in the BIK community (login first), along with a link to a recording of the meeting. If you have any issues that you would like to raise with Meta, including any cases that you feel have not been dealt with correctly, then please share details of these with Karl, who will collate these so that colleagues from Meta can look into what has happened.

As some of you know, we have established a link with Telegram now and are moving towards them sharing a trusted flagger contact with the network. If you have any cases that need to be escalated in the meantime or need any further information, please contact Karl. You can find a guide to Telegram moderation in the BIK community (login first).

Please note, this item relates to wider INHOPE work not linked with the BIK Phase 6 project, and is provided here for information purposes only

The full schedule for INHOPE’s Expert Insights 2025 series is now available. This webinar series, supported by INHOPE’s long-time partner Resolver Trust & Safety, runs from April to July with four expert-led sessions for professionals tackling online child protection. The first two webinars have already taken place, but two more are coming up:

• Wednesday, 21 May 2025 – this session will discuss how platforms can strengthen their intelligence and risk detection strategies, with insights from Roblox.
• Tuesday, 8 July 2025 – this session will explore the role of financial intelligence in detecting, investigating, and preventing child exploitation, featuring experts from CashApp.

If you work in trust and safety, policy, law enforcement, or child protection, you won’t want to miss this series.

Save these dates and register for the upcoming webinar on the INHOPE website.

Some of you may recall Tech Matters, who spoke at the TM in Amsterdam and who are working with helplines on case management systems...

Tech Matters invites interested SICS and SIC+ members to join for a virtual premiere of “1515, Línea Libre”, a documentary highlighting its partnership with CHI member Fundación Para La Confianza, which runs the national child helpline 1515, Línea Libre in Chile. This film is a product of the Solutions Storytelling Project, a Skoll Foundation-supported initiative from the Video Consortium. 

Following the premiere, there will be a panel discussion between filmmaker Nicole Kramm, Fundación Para La Confianza, and Tech Matters to discuss the state of child welfare in Chile and how programmes like Línea Libre, in partnership with Tech Matters, are critical to addressing gaps in mental health support and crisis intervention for Chilean communities.

The session will take place this evening, Monday, 19 May 2025 at 22:00 CEST; find further information and register here.

SIC Lithuania is inviting Youth Panel members for a Safer Internet Camp in Lithuania. The camp will take place from 2-5 July 2025 in Klaipėda, Lithuania, in an official campsite for youth (with bungalows, canteen and other equipment) near the seaside. The goal of the camp is to create new international connections between the youth and to foster exchange of ideas in a non-formal context.

The participation fee (which includes accommodation, food and activities) and travel costs should be covered by the participants. The recommended age for participation is 12-18 years old. Youth can be accompanied by parents or SIC chaperones. During the camp, the youth will have assigned supervisors, and chaperone participation is voluntary. For more information about the camp or logistics, please contact Liudas Mikalkevicius.

The World Anti-Bullying Forum will take place in Stavanger, Norway, from 11-13 June 2025. The full programme will be shared very soon, and there are already around 800 registered participants. Find more information on the WABF website.

Articles

• In the spotlight: Safer Internet Centres Norway and Sweden
• The Finnish Hotline Nettivihje’s Annual report 2024 is published (SIC FI)
• "Adolescence": A series about cyberbullying, online radicalisation and digital communication (SIC AT)
• "We only trust those with well-designed online content": results of a youth participation on digital youth rights in the city of Vienna (SIC AT)
• IPDJ brings digital citizenship and safer internet to Portugal’s two largest education and youth fairs: Qualifica and Futurália (SIC PT)
• What parents should know about AI apps (SIC AT)
• Creating responsible digital citizens: GNR and Microsoft join forces on Safer Internet Day 2025 in Portugal (SIC PT)
• From kindergarten to classroom: building a safer digital future (SIC PT)

Access the full BIK news article archive here.

Please contact the BIK content mailbox with any article submissions or in case of any queries.

Recently uploaded:

• Awareness early warning meeting - May 2025

Various reports from online meetings for awareness centres and helplines are now available in the BIK community (login first).

Need help with the BIK platform?
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 in the first instance, and we will 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; #SIF2024, #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; #Pledge2Youth
• Safer Internet Day (SID):
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/saferinternetday; #SaferInternetDay; #SID2025; #SID2026
• Media literacy campaign:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/media-smart-online; #MediaSmartOnline
• Child and youth consumer protection campaign:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/adwiseonline; #AdWiseOnline
• 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