About the organisation
The Safer Internet Centre of the Czech Republic (SIC CZ) is a shared activity of four organisations that have decided to direct their knowledge, skills, energy and passion in favour of a safer internet for children and youth. Since 2019, the coordinator of SIC CZ has been the CZ.NIC Association, other partners are the Safety Line (LB), the Children's Crisis Center (DKC) and JSNS (an educational program of the People in Need organisation).
Our joint work is based on three pillars, which are the prevention centre, the helplines and the hotline for reporting illegal digital content.
In the prevention centre, we focus on activities that are intended to spread awareness and deepen the knowledge of children, teachers, parents or educators on the topics of internet safety. Through the services provided by LB and DKC, we help children and adolescents to overcome difficult life situations that they have found themselves in, in connection with online risks such as cyberbullying, sexting, cybergrooming and others. These services are available free of charge to children and adults from the entire Czech Republic by telephone, chat and e-mail (children's crisis lines in 24/7 mode). Thanks to DKC outpatient care, we also help children in cases where they have become direct victims of crimes over the Internet. The operators of our STOPonline.cz hotline evaluate reports and, based on this, secure illegal content on the internet, including sexually explicit content depicting children and youth.
The activities of SIC CZ have an international scope. We are part of the Insafe and INHOPE networks, which bring together Safer Internet Centres and hotlines in Europe and the world. On behalf of the Czech Republic, we present developments and trends in online security topics abroad, and we are an official partner of the European Commission for safer internet topics.
Find consortium member websites as follows:
Awareness centre
First of all, it is important to point out that safer internet awareness and education activities are at a very high level in the country, thanks to the involvement of many non-governmental organisations, public bodies, businesses, media, universities, as well as schools.
Every year, many materials (resources) are produced, including audio-visual content, documents and workshops, and expert conferences and events are organised. As the Safer Internet Centre, we would like to contribute towards the individual projects not to be launched as competitive, but we aim to connect them.
We are pleased to cooperate with the Vice-President of the European Parliament Dita Charanzová and the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization and Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš. Both are fully aware of the importance of the safer Internet topic and its challenges for society.
From 2022, the non-profit organisation People in Need with educational programmes under the JSNS project is part of the Safer Internet Centre CZ. It has been contributing to the education of responsible young people since 2001. Through films, discussions, video games and various learning activities, it brings important topics and specific stories to schools. One of the essential areas of activity is media literacy, which is one of the priorities of SIC CZ for the period 2023-24.
All project partners are involved in the activities of the awareness centre. As a project coordinator, CZ.NIC not only leads the awareness centre but also supports synergies between individual partners.
Helpline
Linka bezpečí (Safety Line)
Children and students who have found themselves in a difficult life situation or are dealing with everyday worries and problems that they do not know how to cope with can find help at the Safety Line. The line also runs a specialised parent counselling centre, is dedicated to prevention, and regularly participates in professional and public events that contribute to the development of mental health care for children and adolescents.
Dětské krizové centrum (Children's Crisis Center)
The Children's Crisis Center specialises in professional help for abused, sexually abused or neglected children (CAN syndrome). In addition to crisis and professional psychosocial assistance to families with children at risk of negative phenomena, it works in the field of prevention, children's rights, and runs a professional clinic for child victims of sexual abuse.
Hotline
The operator of STOPonline.cz is the CZ.NIC association, which also leads the national CERT/CSIRT.CZ team. The employees of the hotline organisationally fall under the aforementioned CERT team. The connection of the hotline with the national CERT team is unique and provides an opportunity to share and use the skills and knowledge of leading national experts in cyber security.
STOPonline.cz has signed memoranda of cooperation with the following institutions:
- Police of the Czech Republic.
- Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.
- National Cyber and Information Security Agency.
The cooperation is primarily about the identification and removal of illegal content, setting principles and procedures in accordance with examples of good practice, or in the field of security and prevention. The hotline receives over 4,000 reports a year.
Youth participation
The Youth Panel is an integral part of the SIC CZ. The number of young panellists is around twenty and they are currently high school students. The panel is led by one of them, who won a tender for the position of its manager.
Among other things, we passed the existing Instagram account of SIC CZ to our youth panellists and we support them in the creation and communication of safer internet topics and activities in general. They are currently working on their own comic, which they will communicate on social networks. At the same time, we connect them with the activities of all project partners.
Last but not least, the Czech youth panellists are involved at the international level, primarily for Insafe events.
Key successes
SIC CZ is successful in spreading safer internet awareness and education issues in the Czech Republic and connecting various national actors to the topics concerned.
Since 2019 (when CZ.NIC took over the management of the project), we have managed to create and distribute a whole range of specific audiovisual, printed and other creative outputs, some of which have received international awards. In this respect, we want to mention the #Martyisdead TV series inspired by real cases of cyberbullying. As the first ever Czech TV content, it won the global EMMY Award (in the category of Short-Form Series) and received many other prizes at international film festivals around the world.
Although we work with modern formats such as video games, podcasts, online tools, social networks or 3D printing, we also use more traditional ones including paper books, poems for children or physical notice boards (we have distributed them to over 4,000 basic schools).
At the same time, the composition of our consortium is important to mention. Thanks to the combination of knowledge, experience, energy and passion of CZ.NIC, LB, DKC and JSNS, we can operate two "independent helplines", strengthen the capacities of the awareness centre in digital and media education, ensure the operation of an ambulance providing care for children who have become victims of crimes, or further ensure the operation of the STOPonline hotline. This is to mention that the hotline is an integral part of the CSIRT.CZ team, so there is a direct connection with leading national experts in cyber security.
As to our national partners, we managed to attract leading actors, including the Office of the Government. Last but not least, we have also increased our international involvement within Insafe and INHOPE.
Key partners/promoters
The Safer Internet Centre CZ (SIC CZ) cooperates with a number of partners at the national, cross-border and international level.
The "Advisory Board" of SIC CZ is a key platform for sharing experiences, searching for synergies, and mutual support. Its members are more than 30 institutions, organisations and companies that have decided to devote part of their energy, enthusiasm and skills to the benefit of the internet and safer technologies for children and adolescents. While selected activities are carried out in harmony with each other, others are at least mutually informed and we work together to bring them to the public's attention. Examples of successful cooperation are the activities held during the annual Safer Internet Day, the participation of partners in seminars and conferences organised by one of the members of the Advisory Board, the mutual sharing of capacities for the implementation of awareness-raising and educational events, or direct cooperation on specific projects and media campaigns.
At the international level, we primarily appreciate the support of Insafe and INHOPE. Together with other European and non-European SICs and hotlines, we regularly identify and solve current challenges in the area of a safer Internet for children and dealing with illegal content on the internet. We are part of selected working committees and participate in the preparation and running of major events such as the Safer Internet Forum or Safer Internet Day. An interesting experience for us is getting in touch with the world's leading providers of digital services and platforms, who are increasingly aware of the need to set up and secure their solutions so that they become comfortable and safe for children and young people. The same applies to presentations provided by leading academics.
In general, it is good to see that the issues of safe use of modern technologies, spreading awareness about the challenges of the digital world or media and digital education resonate across society and we can, together with others, further develop them for the benefit of our children and adolescents.
We would like to thank all partners for their support and cooperation on such an important topic as the safety of children and young people on the internet.
About the organisation
The Safer Internet Centre of the Czech Republic (SIC CZ) is a shared activity of four organisations that have decided to direct their knowledge, skills, energy and passion in favour of a safer internet for children and youth. Since 2019, the coordinator of SIC CZ has been the CZ.NIC Association, other partners are the Safety Line (LB), the Children's Crisis Center (DKC) and JSNS (an educational program of the People in Need organisation).
Our joint work is based on three pillars, which are the prevention centre, the helplines and the hotline for reporting illegal digital content.
In the prevention centre, we focus on activities that are intended to spread awareness and deepen the knowledge of children, teachers, parents or educators on the topics of internet safety. Through the services provided by LB and DKC, we help children and adolescents to overcome difficult life situations that they have found themselves in, in connection with online risks such as cyberbullying, sexting, cybergrooming and others. These services are available free of charge to children and adults from the entire Czech Republic by telephone, chat and e-mail (children's crisis lines in 24/7 mode). Thanks to DKC outpatient care, we also help children in cases where they have become direct victims of crimes over the Internet. The operators of our STOPonline.cz hotline evaluate reports and, based on this, secure illegal content on the internet, including sexually explicit content depicting children and youth.
The activities of SIC CZ have an international scope. We are part of the Insafe and INHOPE networks, which bring together Safer Internet Centres and hotlines in Europe and the world. On behalf of the Czech Republic, we present developments and trends in online security topics abroad, and we are an official partner of the European Commission for safer internet topics.
Find consortium member websites as follows:
Awareness centre
First of all, it is important to point out that safer internet awareness and education activities are at a very high level in the country, thanks to the involvement of many non-governmental organisations, public bodies, businesses, media, universities, as well as schools.
Every year, many materials (resources) are produced, including audio-visual content, documents and workshops, and expert conferences and events are organised. As the Safer Internet Centre, we would like to contribute towards the individual projects not to be launched as competitive, but we aim to connect them.
We are pleased to cooperate with the Vice-President of the European Parliament Dita Charanzová and the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization and Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš. Both are fully aware of the importance of the safer Internet topic and its challenges for society.
From 2022, the non-profit organisation People in Need with educational programmes under the JSNS project is part of the Safer Internet Centre CZ. It has been contributing to the education of responsible young people since 2001. Through films, discussions, video games and various learning activities, it brings important topics and specific stories to schools. One of the essential areas of activity is media literacy, which is one of the priorities of SIC CZ for the period 2023-24.
All project partners are involved in the activities of the awareness centre. As a project coordinator, CZ.NIC not only leads the awareness centre but also supports synergies between individual partners.
Helpline
Linka bezpečí (Safety Line)
Children and students who have found themselves in a difficult life situation or are dealing with everyday worries and problems that they do not know how to cope with can find help at the Safety Line. The line also runs a specialised parent counselling centre, is dedicated to prevention, and regularly participates in professional and public events that contribute to the development of mental health care for children and adolescents.
Dětské krizové centrum (Children's Crisis Center)
The Children's Crisis Center specialises in professional help for abused, sexually abused or neglected children (CAN syndrome). In addition to crisis and professional psychosocial assistance to families with children at risk of negative phenomena, it works in the field of prevention, children's rights, and runs a professional clinic for child victims of sexual abuse.
Hotline
The operator of STOPonline.cz is the CZ.NIC association, which also leads the national CERT/CSIRT.CZ team. The employees of the hotline organisationally fall under the aforementioned CERT team. The connection of the hotline with the national CERT team is unique and provides an opportunity to share and use the skills and knowledge of leading national experts in cyber security.
STOPonline.cz has signed memoranda of cooperation with the following institutions:
- Police of the Czech Republic.
- Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.
- National Cyber and Information Security Agency.
The cooperation is primarily about the identification and removal of illegal content, setting principles and procedures in accordance with examples of good practice, or in the field of security and prevention. The hotline receives over 4,000 reports a year.
Youth participation
The Youth Panel is an integral part of the SIC CZ. The number of young panellists is around twenty and they are currently high school students. The panel is led by one of them, who won a tender for the position of its manager.
Among other things, we passed the existing Instagram account of SIC CZ to our youth panellists and we support them in the creation and communication of safer internet topics and activities in general. They are currently working on their own comic, which they will communicate on social networks. At the same time, we connect them with the activities of all project partners.
Last but not least, the Czech youth panellists are involved at the international level, primarily for Insafe events.
Key successes
SIC CZ is successful in spreading safer internet awareness and education issues in the Czech Republic and connecting various national actors to the topics concerned.
Since 2019 (when CZ.NIC took over the management of the project), we have managed to create and distribute a whole range of specific audiovisual, printed and other creative outputs, some of which have received international awards. In this respect, we want to mention the #Martyisdead TV series inspired by real cases of cyberbullying. As the first ever Czech TV content, it won the global EMMY Award (in the category of Short-Form Series) and received many other prizes at international film festivals around the world.
Although we work with modern formats such as video games, podcasts, online tools, social networks or 3D printing, we also use more traditional ones including paper books, poems for children or physical notice boards (we have distributed them to over 4,000 basic schools).
At the same time, the composition of our consortium is important to mention. Thanks to the combination of knowledge, experience, energy and passion of CZ.NIC, LB, DKC and JSNS, we can operate two "independent helplines", strengthen the capacities of the awareness centre in digital and media education, ensure the operation of an ambulance providing care for children who have become victims of crimes, or further ensure the operation of the STOPonline hotline. This is to mention that the hotline is an integral part of the CSIRT.CZ team, so there is a direct connection with leading national experts in cyber security.
As to our national partners, we managed to attract leading actors, including the Office of the Government. Last but not least, we have also increased our international involvement within Insafe and INHOPE.
Key partners/promoters
The Safer Internet Centre CZ (SIC CZ) cooperates with a number of partners at the national, cross-border and international level.
The "Advisory Board" of SIC CZ is a key platform for sharing experiences, searching for synergies, and mutual support. Its members are more than 30 institutions, organisations and companies that have decided to devote part of their energy, enthusiasm and skills to the benefit of the internet and safer technologies for children and adolescents. While selected activities are carried out in harmony with each other, others are at least mutually informed and we work together to bring them to the public's attention. Examples of successful cooperation are the activities held during the annual Safer Internet Day, the participation of partners in seminars and conferences organised by one of the members of the Advisory Board, the mutual sharing of capacities for the implementation of awareness-raising and educational events, or direct cooperation on specific projects and media campaigns.
At the international level, we primarily appreciate the support of Insafe and INHOPE. Together with other European and non-European SICs and hotlines, we regularly identify and solve current challenges in the area of a safer Internet for children and dealing with illegal content on the internet. We are part of selected working committees and participate in the preparation and running of major events such as the Safer Internet Forum or Safer Internet Day. An interesting experience for us is getting in touch with the world's leading providers of digital services and platforms, who are increasingly aware of the need to set up and secure their solutions so that they become comfortable and safe for children and young people. The same applies to presentations provided by leading academics.
In general, it is good to see that the issues of safe use of modern technologies, spreading awareness about the challenges of the digital world or media and digital education resonate across society and we can, together with others, further develop them for the benefit of our children and adolescents.
We would like to thank all partners for their support and cooperation on such an important topic as the safety of children and young people on the internet.
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