Better Internet for Kids

Young people now use AI chatbots as a natural part of their digital lives. They ask them questions, look for ideas, generate texts or seek guidance. At the same time, these systems can often feel surprisingly personal. This is the focus of the spring 2026 campaign “AI ≠ Human – Talk to a person” by the Luxembourgish Safer Internet Centre “BEE SECURE”: it raises awareness among young people that AI can be a useful tool, but it has its limits and cannot replace a human being.

More than 4,500 students from schools across Spain joined the online workshop “Of course! Here’s another suggestion. What would you do with AI?” to celebrate Internet Day in Spain on 11 May 2026.

The meeting, which took place in April 2026, brought together experts from the Safer Internet Centres of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland.

Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (part of the Finnish Safer Internet Centre), together with the telecommunications and technology company Elisa, organised a digital lesson called SuperDigiSchool in October 2025, which attracted registrations from over 400 lower secondary schools across nearly 200 municipalities throughout Finland.

On 24 April 2026, seven BIK Youth Ambassadors travelled to Brussels to take part in the European Youth Week (EYW) 2026 kick-off event at the European Parliament. It was an inspiring day built around the theme of ‘Solidarity and fairness’, marking 30 years of EU-funded volunteering.

The Insafe network of helplines collects data on the calls received, which is analysed every three months to identify possible trends and emerging issues.

INHOPE hotlines received 345,812 reports during the first quarter of 2026, continuing their work to assess, verify, and facilitate the removal of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online.

Keeping children safe online is high on Europe’s agenda - and age verification is a key part of the conversation. The EU is now developing a harmonised age-verification solution designed to be secure, privacy-preserving, easy to use, and simple for digital services across the European Union to integrate.

The Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ), part of the Portuguese Safer Internet Centre, took centre stage at Portugal’s two largest education and youth events in March 2026 (Futurália in Lisbon and Qualifica in Oporto), bringing digital citizenship and online safety to the forefront of national conversations about young people’s futures.

A new digital citizenship programme for fifth and sixth class pupils is now available to primary schools in Ireland. Switched On has been developed by Webwise in collaboration with and supported by Coimisiún na Meán. The programme supports teachers in helping pupils become safe, responsible and confident digital citizens as they prepare for the transition to post-primary school.