Safer Internet Day: 5 ways the EU is working to make the internet a better place

Today marks the 20th edition of Safer Internet Day. Since the first edition in 2004, the way we use the Internet had changed dramatically, and so have the risks associated with it.

This doesn’t mean we have to avoid the digital world – just that we need to work together for a better Internet. This is the aim of Safer Internet Day, and it’s what the EU has been working towards through various policies, events and funding.

Let’s take a look at 5 ways the EU is helping to build a safer Internet:

1.??????The Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles

The EU recently agreed a Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles. This declaration contains key commitments on safety and security online, with signatories committing to ensuring people have effective control over their data, protecting people, businesses and public bodies against cybercrime, protecting and empowering children online and more.

2.??????The Digital Services Act

The Digital Services Act will introduce rules to keep us safe online. It will protect us from dangerous goods and illegal content by making it easier to report and introducing user-friendly flagging systems. It will also help us tackle cyberbullying by making sure any non-consensual private images and other abusive, illegal content that are shared can be quickly flagged by users

3.?????Better Internet for Kids

The Better Internet for Kids Strategy outlines a vision for age-appropriate digital services that ensures every child in Europe is protected, empowered and respected online. It focuses on ensuring safe digital experiences to protect children from harmful and illegal content, contact and conduct online.

The Better Internet for Kids Strategy is also the catalyst for a number of other projects, including the Safer Internet Forum, which brings together key players to discuss trends, risks and solutions related to child safety online.

4.??????Audiovisual Media Services Directive

Adopted in 2018, the revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive strengthened rules to protect children from harmful and illegal content online. It introduced requirements for on-demand services to reduce the chances that minors will discover harmful content, and to introduce tools such as reporting and flagging, age verification, and parental control.

5.??????Safer Internet Centres

Co-funded by the European Commission, Safer Internet Centres offer a range of services to help people online. Their helplines offer advice to young people, parents and carers about harmful content, contact and conduct online and cover issues from cyberbullying to grooming to data privacy. Meanwhile, their hotlines offer a way to report illegal content anonymously.

Read more about #SID2023 here.