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Safer Internet Day 2020: together for a better internet

Safer Internet Day 2020 wants to put everyone together, to strive for a better internet for all.

Safer Internet Day 2020: let's get together for a better internet

EC

Poster of the safer internet day campaign showing a cartoon depicting a smartphone with human features such as eyes, hands and feet, holding a globe and text Safer Internet Day 2019

Today, 11 February, we celebrate Safer Internet Day 2020. The event, at its 17th edition, wants to raise awareness on how collective efforts can make the difference to make a better internet for the future. Internet does not know borders, but so do the risks and dangers: a cross-border multi-stakeholder approach is needed to ensure a safe and responsible online experience for everybody.

Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market, said: “The internet is a place for everyone, which means that making it a safer place must be the work of all of us. The European Commission is committed to working with the whole of society, to do whatever it takes to make the web a safe place and make Europe fit for the digital age

To mark the day, the European Commission will hold two important initiatives to stress our responsibility for a better internet:

  • A discussion with the INHOPE network and experts from industry, academics and law enforcement on how AI can be used to identify and remove child sexual abuse material online.
  • A youth-led initiative to challenge ICT industry to improve transparency and child-friendliness of privacy statements. This work will be done together with representatives from the ‘Alliance to better protect minors online’ initiative, which was launched on Safer Internet Day 2017. The Alliance is composed of almost 40 key players, from leading media and ICT companies, devices and toys manufacturers to civil society and UNICEF work together to address emerging risks that minors face online, defining actions to protect and empower them and promote the exchange of best practices.

Organised by the EC-funded Safer Internet Centres’ network and the SID Committees worldwide, Safer Internet Day brings together thousands of people and organisations in informal and formal education activities.  Safer Internet Day is now celebrated in around 150 countries, with millions of people reached; in 2018, over 15500 schools where reached and nearly 10000 organisations were involved across Europe.