The EU wants to make sure that children and young people are protected, empowered and respected whenever they go online, and that they can access and enjoy what the online world has to offer.
As part of our plans to make Europe a great and safe place to live, both offline and online, the Commission adopted in 2022 a strategy for a better internet for kids (“BIK+") which is extensively supporting the implementation of protection of minors under the Digital Services Act.
The European strategy for a better Internet for kids (BIK+)
The BIK+ strategy aims to improve children’s well-being online through a safe, age-appropriate digital environment that respects their best interests.
The 3 pillars of BIK+
A safe digital environment to protect children from harmful and illegal online content, conduct, contact and risks as young consumers.
Empower children in the digital world and give them the necessary skills to make safe choices and express themselves online.
Improve children’s active participation, with more child-led activities to foster innovative and creative digital experiences.
What are the issues
96% of young people aged 16-29 years in the EU reported using the internet every day, compared with 84% of the adult population. 84% of young people used the internet to participate in social media networks.
Worldwide adults and adolescents alike spend on average around 6.5 hours on screen for work, entertainment, news etc.
Young people use several (2-5) different social media platforms on a daily basis in a complementary way, to chat, browse posts, watch videos and share content and present themselves.
69% of 9- to 22-year-olds use social media or play games online for more than 3 hours a day during the weekdays.
44% of young people feel they are not in control of their social media and digital services consumption, and 26% report a sense of loneliness and exclusion related to such services.
For over five years, cyberbullying has consistently been the biggest issue for young people contacting the EU-funded Safer Internet Centres across Europe: in 2022 and 2023 there has been a 34% increase in the number of reports from young people about cyberbullying.
What the BIK+ will change
BIK aims at creating a balanced and healthy digital environment for children and young people in the Digital Decade, through protection, empowerment and youth participation.
BIK+ reaches every year more than 30 million people in Europe, through the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) portal and the co-funded European network of Safer Internet Centres, which are the back bones of BIK+.
Safer Internet Centres (SICs) across Europe provide information, educational resources, public awareness tools, counselling and reporting on key issues such as cyberbullying and child sexual abuse material, via helplines and hotlines.
The BIK portal provides a central access point to tools, resources, good practices, guidance, and awareness raising services on child online safety and empowerment, connecting key stakeholders from Europe and beyond. Check for example the guide to apps and the Teacher corner
According to the BIK Policy monitor 2024, two years after the adoption, BIK+ is an important policy priority in nearly all European countries.
National legislation and policies have been found to extensively address online safety and digital protection, digital empowerment, and active participation – the priority pillars of the BIK+ strategy.
The BIK+ strategy supports the implementation of the DSA provisions on protection of minors by actions such as:
- Facilitating an EU approach to age verification, including through a study on criteria on age assurance, a self-assessment tool for digital services providers and preparing a technical solution that can be used before the EU Digital Wallet ecosystem is fully developed.
- Gathering information via the SICs network on emerging risks and online harms, national surveys, and youth panels.
- Bringing the DSA closer to the users, in particular children, carers and educators through the DSA schoolyard initiative.
Further work is ongoing to:
- protect young consumers against digital marketing practices;
- spotlight media literacy campaigns across the EU.
Annual events
Safer Internet Forum is Europe's main event focused on online safety for children. Led by young people, the Forum showcases how involving minors can positively influence talks regarding their digital surroundings.
Safer Internet Day is celebrated worldwide on the second Tuesday of February, with huge coverage in mass media and hundreds of events involving schools, NGOs, researchers, decisions makers and digital industry.
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