Better Internet for Kids

Through media and information literacy (MIL), students learn to become responsible citizens in a society marked by the multiplication and acceleration of information flows. They develop their critical thinking and are able to act in an informed manner to seek, receive, produce and disseminate information via increasingly diverse media. Media and information literacy (EMI) is part of the common core of knowledge, skills and culture, the citizenship pathway and the artistic and cultural education pathway.

The action of the Ministry of National Education and Youth is part of the framework set by the law of March 2, 2022 aimed at combating school bullying which creates a crime of school bullying. It is based in particular on the deployment of the program for the prevention and fight against bullying (pHARe) mandatory in public schools and colleges since the start of the 2022 school year and extended to public high schools from the start of the 2023 school year.

The program aims to:

"The so-called SREN law to better regulate the digital space and protect Internet users, particularly the youngest, as well as businesses. The law is inspired in particular by the recommendations of three parliamentary reports on the pornography industry and on digital sovereignty . It also results from the European regulations on digital services (DSA) and on digital markets (DMA).

To better protect children on the internet, the law requires manufacturers of connected devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) to install a parental control system and offer its free activation when the device is first put into service. A decree makes the law applicable on September 5, 2022. Another text is still awaited.

The Law of March 2, 2022 aimed at combating school bullying creates an offence of bullying that could be punished by up to 10 years in prison in the event of suicide or attempted suicide by the victim. It also improves the right to an education without bullying.

The Law of October 19, 2020 aimed at regulating the commercial exploitation of the image of children under the age of sixteen on online platforms. The law regulates the work of ""child influencers"" on online video platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc.). It fills a legal void because nothing was previously provided to protect them. It also gives them a right to digital oblivion that they can exercise alone without their parents.

The French President inaugurated the Children Online Protection Lab in November 2022 following the launch of the Call to stand up for children’s rights in the digital environment and the Declaration on the rights of the child in the digital environment adopted in March 2022. This international initiative aims to bring together governments, tech companies, academic experts and civil society actors to share expertise and best practices and test innovative solutions to protect children online more effectively.

The law aimed at combating school bullying has created a new offence in the penal code which is the offence of school bullying, punishable by article 222-33-2-3 of the penal code.  Forms of school bullying are  in this way treated as acts of moral harassment committed against a student. For the offence to be constituted, it is necessary to demonstrate repeated actions. The offence is also constituted when words or behaviours are imposed on the same victim by several perpetrators. These acts may be done in a concerted manner or at the instigation of one of them.

The Local Government Act obliges municipalities to set up a youth council and ensure that it operates properly. According to Section 26 of the Act, Youth councils must be given the opportunity to influence the planning, preparation, execution and monitoring of the activities of the municipality’s different areas of responsibility in matters of importance to the well-being, health, education, living environment, housing or mobility of the municipality’s residents and also in other matters that the youth council considers to be significant for children and young people.