Network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs) -

Provision of the four key elements required of a Safer Internet Centre, namely:

• A centre for raising awareness among children, parents/carers, teachers and educators as well as other relevant professionals working with children about online opportunities and risks for the under 18s, producing and promoting localised age-appropriate resources to address current and emerging risks and opportunities.
• A helpline to give advice and support to parents and children on issues related to children's use of digital technologies and services; to provide assistance on mental health issues relating to the exposure to age-inappropriate content online, including pornographic and violent content; to strengthen support to victims of cyberbullying, close cooperation with the national Child Helpline 116111 service is required.
• A hotline for tackling the spread of online CSAM (i.e., receiving, analysing, and processing reports of such material). Closer cooperation with law enforcement and the private sector should be further explored in the context of the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse and the proposed Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse and recast of the Directive 2011/93/EU on child sexual abuse.
• A youth panel to engage directly with children from different demographic groups, including the organisation of regular youth participation activities, allowing them to express their views and pool their knowledge and experience of using online technologies. Adequate turnover, geographic balance and an open selection of participants is required.

The objective of the topic is to continue to support national Safer Internet Centres (SICs), which may be composed of one or more NGOs, government bodies/agencies, and/or private sector organisations. SICs provide online safety information, educational resources, public awareness tools and counselling and reporting services (through dedicated helplines and hotlines) for young people, teachers/educators, and parents/carers. The activities performed by the SICs help minors tackle online risks and become media-literate, resilient, digital citizens. The hotline work strand allows the public to anonymously report suspected online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) for assessment and takedown. The Safer Internet Centres also address the needs of children with specific or special needs, including those with disabilities and those hailing from disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds, to ensure no child is left behind.

Considering the new role for the Commission as an enforcement body for the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs), the Safer Internet Centres will strategically assist the Commission and cooperate with the DSCs in this role, in particular through data collection in the EU member states.

The funding will ensure the continuation of the well-established European network of national SICs, by enabling the awarded consortia to provide at least:

• A centre for raising awareness among children, parents/carers, teachers and educators as well as other relevant professionals working with children about online opportunities and risks for the under 18s. The focus will be to identify and address:
  • specific and general known risks (e.g. harmful and illegal content, cyberbullying, age-inappropriate content; sexual extortion, addictive design and manipulation, disinformation);
  • specific and general emerging risks (e.g. new apps, games, online challenges and trends; AI and generative AI, including AI generated pornographic and violent content such as CSAM; virtual, augmented and extended reality; the internet of things and other technological changes raising new social and ethical challenges that impact children);
  • issues such as mental and physical health risks related to the use of technologies (e.g. self-harm, cyberbullying, risky online challenges, promotion of eating disorders, screen addiction, social isolation, exposure to age-inappropriate content online, including pornographic and violent content , and sexual extortion);
  • risks facing children as young consumers (e.g. nudges to spend money, aggressive marketing strategies, lootboxes).
• A helpline to give advice and support to children and adults around them on issues related to children's use of digital technologies and services; to provide assistance on mental health issues relating to the exposure to age-inappropriate content online, including pornographic and violent content; to strengthen support to victims of cyberbullying, close cooperation with the national Child Helpline 116111 service is required.
• A hotline for tackling the spread of online CSAM (i.e., receiving, analysing, and processing reports of such material). Closer cooperation with law enforcement and the private sector should be further explored in the context of the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse, proposed Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse and recast of the Directive 2011/93/EU on child sexual abuse.
• A youth panel to engage directly with children from different demographic groups, including the organisation of regular youth participation activities, allowing them to express their views and pool their knowledge and experience of using online technologies. Adequate turnover, geographic balance and an open selection of participants is required.

SICs shall strengthen their support to children in vulnerable situations (such as children with disabilities, children from a minority, racial or ethnic background, refugee children, children in care, LGBTQI+ children, as well as children from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, who all may face additional challenges in the digital environment). For example, to address the digital divide, they should offer non-formal education and training to these groups and communities.

In addition, SICs will:

• support the monitoring of the impact of the digital transformation on children’s well-being in cooperation with the BIK platform;
• support the implementation of relevant EU strategies and legislation;
• promote the distribution of relevant online training modules (MOOCs) for teachers;
• expand the role of BIK Youth Ambassadors and BIK Youth Panels to support peer-to-peer activities at national, regional and local level;
• provide trustworthy resources for and carry out campaigns targeting children, parents, carers and teachers, educators and other relevant contacts working with children (e.g. sports coaches, club leaders). Training on children’s rights online should also be included in these initiatives to create a stronger awareness that children’s rights online are the same as offline, as stipulated by UN General Comment No. 25 (2021) on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment (CRC/C/GC/25), and as protected under the DSA, as well as awareness of help and reporting resources and pathways;
• act as a one-stop-shop for reliable and age-appropriate information;
• provide digital literacy training in formal and informal education settings (e.g., youth participation activities, workshops, classroom visits, competitions, peer to peer activities).
• support parents, carers, teachers, educators and other professionals working with children to better understand the risks and opportunities of children accessing digital content and services (e.g., information sessions, train the trainers programmes, and online and offline material);
• identify emerging risks through the helpline service, and communicate this promptly to local, national, and European actors;
• support access to resources and services by public authorities, including law enforcement agencies, and exchanges with hotline analysts to develop better preventive measures and to remove online child sexual abuse material (CSAM);
• cooperate with popular platforms and digital services to assist the public, in particular children, when confronted with harmful and illegal content. This will include, but not be limited to, SICs formally recognised as “trusted flaggers” under the DSA.

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