Better Internet for Kids

In 2021 the EU adopted its first comprehensive strategy on the rights of the child. The strategy covers six areas: children’s participation, inclusion in society, keeping children safe from harm, child- friendly justice, keeping children safe in the digital world and helping children globally. The strategy includes, among other actions a call to update the Better Internet for Children strategy, as well as other recommendations for Member States and companies.

(Source: EC Compendium of BIK-related legislation).

The “Estrategia de Erradicación de la Violencia contra la Infancia y Adolescencia” (2023–2030) (EEVIA) is a national plan aimed at eliminating all forms of violence against children and adolescents. Its primary goals are to strengthen the prevention of violence through coordinated efforts among public administrations and stakeholders, improve detection and early intervention using an integrated and multidisciplinary approach, and increase the visibility of violence against minors to better understand its scope.

The Swedish Radio and Television Act (2010:696) contains provisions aimed at protecting children from depictions of violence and pornography. These regulations apply to on-demand services.

The document Teaching and Learning in the Digital World, adopted by Germany’s Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) in December 2021, supplements the 2016 national digital education strategy, “Education in the Digital World”. It responds to the profound cultural and societal changes driven by digitalization, emphasizing that digital transformation in education is not just technical but fundamentally alters communication, social structures, and learning processes.

This law allows online communications services providers to continue voluntarily to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material online until 3 August 2024. It is a temporary derogation from Articles 5(1) and 6(1) of the e-Privacy Directive.

This regulation is in effect from August  2, 2021 until April  3, 2026.

(Source: EC Compendium of BIK-related legislation).

The Code brings together industry to voluntarily combat online disinformation. In 2021, the Commission published guidance to make it even stronger, so that the online environment will be more clear, safe and reliable, including for children and other vulnerable groups. Facebook, Google and Twitter, Mozilla, Microsoft and TikTok, among others, have signed up. Best practice includes examples of fact-checking resources, and prioritizing news from trusted sources. An updated Code will be published in March 2022.

(Source: EC Compendium of BIK-related legislation).

The Child Protection Act (CPA) is the main specialised act in the Bulgarian legislative system that regulates the state policy concerning children at risk. It governs the rights, principles and measures for the protection of the child, the responsible bodies and their interaction in exercising  child protection activities. The state protects and guarantees the fundamental rights of the child in all spheres of public life for all children. The philosophy of the law is rooted in the understanding that the family is the best environment for raising and development of every child.

The Stichting Reclame Code (SRC) deals with the self-regulation system of advertising in The Netherlands. Self-regulation means that the advertising industry (advertisers, advertising agencies and the media) formulates the rules with which advertising must comply. Both the advertising industry and consumers are represented in the board of SRC  and in the Advertising Code Committee and the Board of Appeal.

The advertising rules can be found in the Dutch Advertising Code.
(Source: www.reclamecode.nl).

Racist and xenophobic hate speech, online or offline, is a crime in the EU and is not protected by the right to freedom of expression. Under EU law, hate speech refers to expressions which incites to violence or hate targeting a person or group of persons because of their race, colour, religion, ethnic origin or nationality. This is established for in the Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia.

The Influencer Code is a self-regulatory code published by the Association for Internet Development (SPIR) to guide influencers in transparent and responsible commercial content. Influencers are prohibited from misleading their audience by hiding sponsorships or pretending to have purchased sponsored products. Disclosures must comply with the requirements of the platform used, and in video content, the information must remain visible long enough for viewers to notice.