Better Internet for Kids

The National Strategy for Education for Citizenship (ENEC)  focuses on digital citizenship, addressing hate speech and cyberbullying, media literacy and education, sexuality, and cybersecurity. It includes a set of rights and duties  that must be present in citizen education of the Portuguese children and youth.

The National Strategy for Mental Health (2021-2030), developed by the Ministry of Health aims to enhance mental health services, including those for children and adolescents. It emphasizes integrating cross-sectoral policies across healthcare, education, and social services to address mental health challenges, including those related to online environments.

(Source: Ministry of Health)

Entities responsible for implementation: Ministry of Health of Bulgaria

The National Strategy for Protecting Minors from Internet Addiction, developed by the Ministry of Digital Governance,  addresses the detrimental health impacts of excessive screen time, highlighting the role of AI algorithms and personalised content in fostering addictive behaviours. It proposes a multi-faceted approach, including redesigning digital applications to be inherently safer for children, implementing educational initiatives and awareness campaigns for parents and minors, and establishing protective regulatory measures at both national and EU levels.

"The issue of protecting children in the digital space, as well as the development of threats and their nature, are very dynamic and rapidly changing phenomena. For this reason, it is therefore necessary to apply a coordinated, consistent and clear approach when solving the concept, as well as an adequate political and institutional support. The national concept for the protection of children in the digital space is developed for the period 2020-2025.

In Iceland, the National Youth Act no. 70/2007 states that local governments should actively pursue the foundation of local youth councils occupied by young people. These local youth councils do not have the capacity to affect national youth policy directly. Still, they can, through cooperation, usually in the form of meetings and conferences with local authorities and/or between themselves, impact local youth policies and influence the dialogue nationally.
(Source: BIK Policy Monitor 2024).

The National Youth Programme for the period 2023 to 2025 sets out six priority areas (youth work, youth participation, youth education, youth and the EU, youth in rural areas, and health/crisis response) with 28 measures, aiming to empower young people, promote equal opportunities, and address challenges such as digital skills, participation, and wellbeing. The programme is aligned with national and EU youth strategies and involves cross-sectoral collaboration.

(Source: Croatia - Policy monitor country profile, 2025).

The National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme is a horizontal programme, which the Government adopts every four years with the aim of promoting a good environment for young people to grow up and live. In the Programme, the Government defines its youth policy objectives and the measures to achieve them. The Programme also outlines youth work, including the priorities for the selection of national centers of excellence in the youth sector for this programme period, and sets Finland's national objectives for European and international activities in the youth sector.

Two particular areas are relevant to children in the digital environment: Its main principle is that consumers should enjoy the same level of protection online and offline. Fighting risky commercial practices is very important, in particular for children. Online traps include practices which are not transparent, for example influencers not indicating when they are paid to promote a specific product (hidden advertising); and in online games, promotion of a virtual currency without indicating the value in real money. Children should be able to recognise on-line traps as early as possible.

The goal of the New Literacy development program is to strengthen children's and young people's media literacy, information and communication technology (ICT) skills, and programming skills in early childhood education and preschool and basic education.

In the fall of 2020, the Ministry of Education and Culture launched the New Literacy Development Program for the years 2020-2023, and it is part of the Ministry's broader Right to Learn development program.  

No to All Violence is a comprehensive guide designed to address and prevent bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence within educational settings. The initiative recognises the significant impact these issues have on the daily safety and well-being of children and young people. The website aggregates a wide range of information, guidelines, and practical tools to help educators and support staff identify, prevent, and intervene in problematic situations across early childhood education, schools, and other educational institutions.