On November 18, the European Day on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, the EU CSA Legislation Advocacy Group circulates a new joint letter signed by civil society organisations to call on EU policy-makers to make the internet a safe place for children and to concentrate on effective measures based on the European Commission’s proposal to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

Civil Society and Child Rights Organisations Call to Action: We must make the Internet a Safe Place for Children

November 18, 2022 - European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse

Every child should have the chance to be safe, curious, and happy - to simply be a kid. Unfortunately, the reality of childhood is very different for a growing number of children who experience sexual abuse and exploitation. Recent surveys show that more than half of children, both boys and girls, experience sexual harms online during childhood. This includes being sent sexually explicit content from an adult or unknown persons, being asked to keep part of their sexually explicit online relationship a secret, having sexually explicit images of them shared without their consent or being asked to do something sexually explicit online they were uncomfortable with. In extreme cases, grooming for child sexual exploitation may lead to child disappearances.

The horrors of abuse are cruel enough - but as the internet has evolved and grown, so has the viral spread of child sexual abuse materials - the evidence of that abuse: 85 million of images and videos were reported globally in 2021 - with Europe hosting over 62 % of this material. This sharing and resharing revictimizes these children over and over.

This proliferation of abuse materials makes it hard for those children to live normal and healthy lives. In a survey conducted in 2017, nearly 70 % of respondents indicated they worry constantly about being recognised by someone who has seen images of their abuse, 83 had suicidal ideation, 60 % attempted suicide.

The spread of child sexual abuse material is not the only harm that our children experience as a result of their abuse. For example, chat functions allow perpetrators to groom children online, either to meet in real life or to solicit sexually explicit imagery from them and extort them with it afterwards to continuously provide more. And livestream technology is used to stream the abuse of children while criminals watch and guide the abuse from around the globe.

Every single day, children’s rights to protection from sexual abuse and exploitation are violated. Overwhelming as this may seem, we are far from powerless to act. And we have a moral as well as legal responsibility to fight this heinous crime. Today, on the European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, we want to explain why this moment is so critical for Europe and the world.

We are not helpless. Advances in technology and law enforcement, along with a strong child protection ecosystem, could provide the tools we need to eradicate child sexual abuse materials from online platforms. All of this could be applied proportionately, with strictly regulated technologies that respect the privacy of internet users.

What has been done to date by the entire child protection ecosystem, including technology companies, merits applause. All voluntary actions must be continued with a solid legal basis and regulatory framework. But, when looking at the exponentially growing scope of the problem, it’s clear that this won’t be enough. The European Union must live up to its promise to make the internet a safe place for children.

Earlier this year, the European Commission proposed legislation to do exactly that. This legislation is currently being reviewed and considered in the European Parliament and by Member States in the Council of the European Union. We, the signatories of this letter, thank all parties involved for their hard work and high ambitions. This is an opportunity that EU policy-makers can’t afford to miss. Citizens across the EU have expressed widespread support (68 %) for the EU to introduce long-term legislation that will keep children safe online and for the use of automated tools to identify child sexual abuse materials. We call on everyone with a stake in fighting this problem to concentrate on effective solutions to strengthen the Commission’s proposal and ensure it brings tangible outcomes for child protection online.

We all bring different expertise to the table. Together, we can find solutions that will help us build a world where children can be safe, curious, and happy - one in which every child is free to simply be a child.

If you would like to support and sign the letter, please send an email to csa.euadvocacy@gmail.com

List of signatories:

1. Association Meilleur Avenir pour Nos Enfants (AMANE) (Morocco)
2. ASTRA - Anti-trafficking Action (Serbia)
3. Brave Movement (International)
4. Child Helpline International (International)
5. Child Rescue Coalition (International)
6. Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk / German Children´s Fund (Germany)
7. Different & Equal (Europe/Albania)
8. ECPAT Germany (Germany
9. ECPAT International (International)
10. ECPAT Luxembourg (Luxembourg / International)
11. ECPAT Sweden (Sweden)
12. Empowering Children Foundation (Poland)
13. Eurochild (Europe)
14. Hintalovon Child Rights Foundation (Hungary)
15. "Hope For Children" CRC Policy Center (International)
16. International Falcon Movement - Socialist Educational International (IFM-SEI) (International)
17. International Justice Mission's Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (International)
18. Internet Watch Foundation (International/United Kingdom)
19. Lasten perusoikeudet - Children´s Fundamental Rights ry (Finland)
20. Missing Children Europe (Europe)
21. Montessori Bundesverband Deutschland e.V. (Germany)
22. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (International)
23. National Network for Children in Bulgaria (NNC), NNC's Legal Aid Network (Bulgaria)
24. National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) (United Kingdom)
25. Stiftung Digitale Chancen (Germany)
26. Sentinel Foundation (International / Latin America)
27. SOLWODI Deutschland e.V. (Germany)
28. Suojellaan Lapsia, Protect Children ry. (PC) (International/Finland)
29. Terre des Hommes (International)
30. The National Child Protection Task Force (International)
31. Thorn (International)
32. Vatra Psycho - Social Centre (Albania)
33. WeProtect Global Alliance (International)
34. #stop_sexting project (Ukraine)

The open letter can be downloaded as a PDF here.

What a child is told (Was ein Kind gesagt bekommt) is the title of a poem by Bertold Brecht from 1937. It contains many sayings that you yourself may remember from your own childhood and ends with the words: "A child keeps its mouth shut". The poem is only available in German.

Today, children are raised differently, and this is also an achievement of the United Nations, which adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a human rights treaty in 1989. The 196 states around the world that have since ratified the Convention have thus committed themselves to implementing the rights guaranteed therein for children under the age of 18. Article 44 of the UNCRC stipulates that every five years, states must submit a report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, documenting the measures they have taken to implement children’s rights and the progress they have made. These reports are reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and then discussed with government representatives at a hearing in Geneva.

In 2019, the German government jointly submitted the 5th and 6th State Report, which was discussed before the Committee on the Rights of the Child in September 2022. Subsequently, the Committee published its so-called Concluding Observations. The increasing importance of the digital environment for the exercise and protection of children’s rights is reflected in the prominent treatment of these in the Committee’s remarks.

Recalling its general comment No. 25 (2021) on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment, in §21 the Committee recommends that the State party:

1. Allocate sufficient technical, financial and human resources to the newly established federal agency for child and youth protection in the media and ensure that it develops regulations and safeguarding policies to protect the rights, privacy and safety of children in the digital environment and to protect them from harmful content and online risks;
2. Strengthen the implementation of laws that protect children in the digital environment, including the reformed youth protection act and the act to enhance the assertion of legal rights in social media networks, such as by providing for mechanisms to prosecute violations of children’s rights in the digital environment;
3. Enhance the digital literacy and skills of children, parents and teachers, including by incorporating digital literacy into school curricula

With reference to its 2019 guidelines regarding the implementation of the Optional Protocol, in §43 the Committee recommends that the State party:

1. Expand the scope of the Media Youth protection Act to encompass all online applications and services where children are active and expand the definition of illegal content to the production of sexual abuse material of children between 14 and 17 years of age;
2. Take all necessary measures to prevent, prosecute and eliminate the exploitation of children online and in travel, tourism and prostitution, including by: (i) requiring the digital business sector to put in place child protection standards; (ii) ensuring that Internet service providers control, block and promptly remove online sexual abuse material; (iii) encouraging travel enterprises to sign the code of conduct for the protection of children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism; (iv) undertaking awareness-raising campaigns aimed at prevention for professionals working with and for children, parents and the public at large;
3. Ensure that remedies are available to all child victims of offences under the Optional Protocol, including by expanding the scope of the victim protection law to allow for victims without a regular residence status to apply for compensation.

The full concluding observations on the 5th and 6th State Reports from Germany, and thus what the German government is being told by the Children’s Rights Committee, is available for download here.

Ethiopia’s government will host the UN Internet Governance Forum 2022 at the UN-ECA Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from November 28 to December 2, 2022. The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a global multi-stakeholder forum for dialogue on Internet governance issues, which is convened by the United Nations Secretary-General. It will be organized in a hybrid format bringing together stakeholders from around the world to discuss the overarching theme: Resilient Internet for a shared sustainable and common future. Participants representing governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, the technical community, and civil society (including academia) are expected to have meaningful IGF sessions both online and in a physical (hybrid) form.

The host country has created a website for this year’s IGF that offers helpful information regarding hotels close to the venue, attractions, transportation, Covid-19, applying for a visa and customs.

Visas are required for all foreign visitors to Ethiopia, with the exception of nationals of Kenya and Djibouti; and Diplomatic and UN passport holders. Before applying for a visa, you must first register for the IGF 2022 through the UN Accreditation Process and wait for the approval confirmation to be sent to your email. The approval usually takes a few days. After receiving the confirmation, you can email it together with a scanned copy of your passport biopage to the Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MinT) at igf2022@mint.gov.et. The Ministry will then send you the necessary documents to apply for a visa online which are: an invitation letter, application letter, and note verbal. More information on this process can be found on the host countries website.

In our focus article “IGF 2022: Children’s and young people’s rights” you can find information on sessions that relate to children’s and young people’s rights in the digital environment.