An EU Safety, Awareness, Facts and Tools (SAFT) survey last year found that 46% of children in Northern Europe who chat on the internet say someone has used it to ask to meet them. Fourteen percent admitted to having actually met someone in this way, but only 4% of parents believe that their children have done so.
This underestimation by parents of their children's exposure to harmful content and dangerous situations on-line has also been highlighted in other EU-funded surveys, says the Commission. The Safer Internet plus programme aims to change this, by "empowering" parents and teachers to use on-line safety tools.
"Children should have the right to use the internet freely, to chat, to learn or to play games," commented Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen. "But to move freely on-line, children must be protected from risks of being exploited or cheated by adults."
Safer Internet plus, which will cost €50 million and will last four years, has still to be approved by Member States. It builds on work carried out by the EU since 1996, but will focus more on internet end users – parents, teachers and children – than has been the case to date.
The four main aspects of the scheme are:
Fighting illegal content – funding of hotlines and the network co-ordination behind them, in order that members of the public can report illegal content, which will then be passed on to an appropriate body for action.
Tackling unwanted and harmful content – funding for technological solutions to allow end users to limit the amount of this type of content that they receive. Also funding for developing filtering technology, and promoting the exchange of information and best practice on anti-spam enforcement.
Promoting a safer environment – the provision of a platform for national bodies to exchange experiences in regulating the internet – The Safer Internet Forum.
Raising awareness – encouraging the provision of information and education on safer internet use, particularly as regards personalised, interactive and mobile applications.
