This Work Programme (WP) 2025-2027 of the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) has recently been confirmed. It is the last one for the duration of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, focused on accomplishing and ensuring the sustainability of the actions that have been started and pursued under the previous WPs, such as different data spaces, bringing them from the preparatory to the deployment phase.

Read more on the European Commission website.

Assessment platform submissions are now due for helplines and hotlines (login first) reporting on the first quarter of 2025 (January - March inclusive). The deadline for both helpline and hotline submissions is the close of business this Friday, 11 April 2025.

The Excel template for helplines is now available in the new BIK community (login first). A reminder, also, that the Good practice guide on helpline data (March 2023) can also be accessed in the BIK community here (login first). For further information, contact Karl (helplines).

The Excel template for hotlines is now available in the new BIK community (login first). Please contact Abby (INHOPE) for any queries regarding hotline submissions.

Please remember that these submissions must be made using the assessment platform in the new BIK community. In case of issues accessing, or if you need to assign reporting permissions to new/different staff members, please contact the BIK support mailbox.

Please note, this item relates to wider INHOPE work not linked with the BIK Phase 5 project and is provided here for information purposes only. 

INHOPE has released its 2024 Annual Report. Get the latest insights on global efforts to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation. Data from the INHOPE network of 55 hotlines across 51 countries highlights key trends shaping child online safety today.  
 
These insights help make informed decisions - whether you're shaping policy, strengthening regulation, or investing in resources to protect children online. See how the digital landscape is evolving and what that means for your work. 

Read the full report here.

Many thanks to those people 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). The Netflix show Adolescence is clearly sparking a lot of debate across Europe and there are some links to resources and articles in the report. For any further information please contact Karl. The next meeting will take place at 11:00 CEST on 14 May 2025.

Many thanks to everyone who joined the online meeting with Throughline Care last week. This is a service that is used by many of the big social media and gaming companies where users are signposted to a helpline local to them who can provide help and support. Some Insafe helplines are already part of this but if you want your helpline to be then there is more information in the report which can be downloaded from the BIK community (login first) where you can find a link to a recording of the meeting. If you need any more information or have any questions please contact Karl.

Please note that the date of this meeting has changed.

An online meeting with Meta will take place on Thursday, 8 May 2025 at 11:00 CEST. It will provide an opportunity to hear about some of the latest tools for privacy and security which have been launched, as well as a chance for questions and discussion. Use this link to join the meeting. If you need any further information, please contact Karl.

The next early warning meeting for helplines will take place on Friday, 2 May 2025 at 11:00 CEST; join the meeting using this link. For further information on any aspect of the helpline early warning meetings, please contact Karl.

Although digital technologies offer a world of opportunities and benefits for children and young people, it is important to understand the risks associated with them and how to best protect children and young people as young consumers online. Against this background, the European Commission is organising a CONNECT University sessionon Friday, 11 April 2025, from 10:00-12:00 CEST, aiming to provide practical advice aimed at parents/caregivers, educators and the wider public on how to support and protect children when they are online and particularly as young consumers in the digital space.

Join the session here (or use meeting code #BIK25 on www.slido.com).

The session will be open to all public, with a special focus on parents and teachers: please share with your networks.

The March 2025 edition of the BIK bulletin has recently been published. This edition focuses on the findings from the first evaluation of the BIK+ strategy, in which emerging risks and new challenges are identified, and actionable recommendations for improvements are proposed. Building on the focus topic of the last edition of the BIK bulletin on manipulative marketing practices in online gaming, our new Knowledge hub insight series delves into commercial exploitation through addictive design.

Visit the BIK portal for the bulletin archive, or subscribe to receive future editions direct. 

Articles
Recently published articles include:

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

As a reminder, various presentations and materials from the Insafe-INHOPE joint training meeting are now available to download from the BIK community (login first).

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

EUN is currently in the process of supporting the European Commission in gathering feedback from children and young people on the Draft Guidelines for Article 28 of the DSA. While some SICs have already expressed an interest in conducting consultations with children and young people at the national level, EUN will complement the consultation series with a pan-European youth consultation. Hence, we are looking for 15 young people between the ages of 14 and 18 (ideally, with a preference for 16 to 18 years, given the nature of the consultation exercise). The consultation will take place online on Monday, 14 April 2025, from 18:00-19:30 CEST. 

To ensure a diverse group in terms of gender, age and geography, we invite each SIC to put forward a maximum of two nominees per country. Once the call for participation has been closed, we will inform SICs of the final group composition and selected youth. Please note, as this consultation concerns aspects related to the DSA, the nominated youth should be from EU Member States only.

If you are interested, please email the details of your proposed youth candidates to Chiara and Sabrina by the close of business today - Monday, 31 March 2025.

As many of you know, there was a session at the recent joint training meeting which provided an opportunity for discussion to inform the upcoming EC action plan against cyberbullying. We have prepared a short template for each country to help capture the key information about the definition of cyberbullying that is currently used, any significant developments around cyberbullying, and the key priorities that you think need to be addressed in fighting cyberbullying at both the national and EU levels. Where possible, we have tried to pre-populate these templates with information that we already have but would be very grateful if you would be able to complete these, either by working on the online document or by returning them to Karl, by close of business on Friday, 4 April 2025.

Many thanks in advance for your support with this; please do get in touch if you have any questions or need any further information. 

This Work Programme (WP) 2025-2027 of the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) has recently been confirmed. It is the last one for the duration of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, focused on accomplishing and ensuring the sustainability of the actions that have been started and pursued under the previous WPs, such as different data spaces, bringing them from the preparatory to the deployment phase.

Read more on the European Commission website.

Assessment platform submissions are now due for helplines and hotlines (login first) reporting on the first quarter of 2025 (January - March inclusive). The deadline for both helpline and hotline submissions is the close of business on Friday, 11 April 2025.

The Excel template for helplines is now available in the new BIK community (login first). A reminder, also, that the Good practice guide on helpline data (March 2023) can also be accessed in the BIK community here (login first). For further information, contact Karl (helplines).

The Excel template for hotlines is now available in the new BIK community (login first). Please contact Abby (INHOPE) for any queries regarding hotline submissions.

Please remember that these submissions must be made using the assessment platform in the new BIK community. In case of issues accessing, or if you need to assign reporting permissions to new/different staff members, please contact the BIK support mailbox.

As discussed at the Insafe Steering Committee meeting on Friday, the Insafe Coordinator is currently preparing a good practice guide on how SICs can help raise awareness among educators, children and young people about the Digital Services Act (DSA). The guide will cover a set of key education and awareness-raising messages on the DSA, examples of awareness-raising activities carried out at the EU level, and a catalogue of examples of awareness-raising activities by SICs at the national level.

We would ask all SICs to share any information about the activities in which they are engaged so that this can be included in the guide. Please share an overview of any activities that your SIC has done with Karl by the close of business on Friday, 4 April 2025. 

A kind reminder that we would be very grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to complete the short evaluation survey and share your feedback about the recent Insafe-INHOPE joint training meeting. This really does make a difference when we are planning the next meetings: access the survey here.

A reminder also that presentations from the meeting are available in the BIK community (login first).

If you need further information or have any questions, please contact Karl.

The next early warning meeting for awareness centres will take place this Wednesday, 2 April 2025 at 14:00 CEST; use this link to join the meeting. All colleagues are welcome regardless of whether you have anything to share. 

For further information on any aspect of awareness early warning meetings, please contact Karl.

There will be an online meeting for helplines this Thursday, 3 April 2025 at 09:00 CEST. The meeting will hear from Elliot Taylor, the CEO of Throughline. Throughline is used by many social media platforms (e.g., Discord) and other platforms and apps,and provides a direct link to a helpline or support service which is local to a user who needs help. Some Insafe helplines are already included in their directory, but others are not, and we thought it would be useful to provide an opportunity for helplines to hear more about the service and how it works so that they could potentially be included. You can use this link to join the meeting. Please contact Karl if you need further information or if you have any questions.

Please note, this item relates to wider INHOPE work not linked with the BIK Phase 5 project, and is provided here for information purposes only

The INHOPE Expert Insights webinar series is back and kicking off this Thursday, 3 April 2025, with an exclusive insight into the INHOPE Annual Report 2024.

What is happening in child online safety? 2024 marked 25 years of INHOPE working towards a digital world free from child sexual abuse material (CSAM). But it was also a year of significant challenges, with hotlines witnessing an unprecedented rise in CSAM records. The INHOPE Annual Report 2024 provides insights from 55 hotlines worldwide, revealing the scale of this alarming surge and our ongoing efforts to combat it.

Join Kalina Zografska and Grete Raidma for an exclusive first look at the 2024 data and trends and discover how INHOPE is working to create a safer digital world for all. Read more and register to attend via the INHOPE website.

An online meeting with Meta will take place on Wednesday, 9 April 2025 at 11:00 CEST. It will provide an opportunity to hear about some of the latest tools for privacy and security which have been launched, as well as a chance for questions and discussion. Use this link to join the meeting. If you need any further information, please contact Karl.

The next early warning meeting for helplines will take place on Friday, 2 May 2025 at 11:00 CEST; join the meeting using this link. For further information on any aspect of the helpline early warning meetings, please contact Karl.

Although digital technologies offer a world of opportunities and benefits for children and young people, it is important to understand the risks associated with them and how to best protect children and young people as young consumers online. Against this background, a CONNECT University webinar will take place on Friday, 11 April 2025, from 10:00-12:00 CEST, aiming to provide practical advice aimed at parents/caregivers, educators and the wider public on how to support and protect children when they are online and particularly as young consumers in the digital space.

Learn more about the European Commission's CONNECT University here.

Join the webinar here (with passcode #3973845).

Articles
Recently published articles include:

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

Various presentations and materials from the Insafe-INHOPE joint training meeting are now available to download from 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