What is the problem? Children are not safe online

More and more European children go online via mobile phones and game consoles. More than 50% of 13-16 year olds go online from their bedroom and more than half of 9-16 year olds have a social networking profile. At the same time, young people are a vulnerable group as they do not always see the risks of their online actions such as sharing personal information online or talking to people they have never met in real life. In this rapidly changing context, addressing risks and strengthening the online safety of children is a shared responsibility of individuals as much as of private and public bodies, both at home and globally.

Why is EU action required? EU wide action is needed for children's safety online

Many of the providers of products and services that have an impact on the online safety of children, such as social networking sites, mobile phones, online applications and content or games consoles are global or European players.

A general pan-European approach should be adopted since purely national systems risk producing fragmentation.

What will the Commission do?

In 2011 :

• The Commission will launch a review of the current self-regulation agreements in the field of protection of minors. To this end, it will bring together manufacturers of mobile devices and game consoles, Internet service providers, social networking services providers, mobile applications and content providers, consumer organisations, researchers, children' organisations, youth, parents and teachers to identify gaps and new measures that need to be implemented by the industry for the protection and empowerment of youngsters using new technologies. This input is expected to feed into the definition of new industry initiatives in self-regulation.
• In May and July the Commission will release, in two batches, the results of the 2^nd independent assessment of the implementation of the Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU, the self-regulatory agreement signed by major social networking sites active in Europe in 2009

Contact:

patricia.manson@ec.europa.eu