Tech industry and Children's organisation call for holistic approach to tackle online child sexual abuse

An internet free of sexual abuse? It is one of the biggest challenges facing both civil society and the Tech industry today, when it comes to protecting users online.

As MEPs in the European Parliament LIBE committee consider the numerous amendments that have been tabled and as the Council of the European Union continues its work at technical level on the Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse online, DOT Europe and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) sat down together to talk about the proposal and how to achieve a better framework.

NGOs, the tech industry, but also other actors (such as law enforcement, hotlines, parents) have each a role to play in tackling child sexual abuse material online as this is the only way to find a workable way to tackle this challenge. This discussion shows how crucial it is to adopt a holistic approach to the debate. We are thrilled that IWF agreed to join us to highlight what needs to be addressed from the perspective of different stakeholder. It is interesting to see that as engaged and interesting stakeholders we call on policy makers to address some core issues, namely:

?? a holistic approach has to be taken to tackle the issue.

?? the proposal has to encourage?innovation and recognise voluntary measures to be taken by the industry-?using detection orders only as a last resort.

?? the proposal has to complement the existing mechanisms. Duplication of efforts must be avoided at all costs.?

"59% of the removed content online comes from an EU member state," says Michael Tunks - Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) . “To protect these children, we need to build on the good work already done by the Tech industry and civil society."

"Its valuable to show our industry and civil society share the common goal of keeping children safe online, and our positions on how to get that done, are actually not that different.” says Siada El Ramly - Director General of DOT Europe.

The #CSAM file is now being discussed in European Parliament and Council of the European Union. The Sweden in EU is expected to present a compromise text on the #CSAM file next week.

Read our press release: https://bit.ly/3OYzHdI

DOT Europe is the voice of the leading internet companies in Europe. DOT Europe’s mission is to develop ideas and support policy initiatives that foster an innovative, open and safe internet for Europe’s citizens and businesses.

DOT Europe represents 23 of the leading internet companies: Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Discord, Dropbox, eBay, Etsy, Expedia Group, Google, Indeed, King, Meta, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nextdoor, OLX, Shopify, Snap, Spotify, TikTok, Twitter, Yahoo, Yelp.

Its members produce and manage a variety of products, services and applications including browsers, entertainment platforms, social networks, marketplaces and review sites.

More information is available here:?https://doteurope.eu/