"Today's parents and teachers want internet safety tools and skills. We must get more actively involved in our children's use of new media and in teaching them to use the internet safely, which is vital to their future in the information society," said Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding.
"I am particularly glad that Parliament and Council very quickly found an agreement on the Commission proposal, thereby enabling us to take rapid and effective action to make the internet safer and more trustworthy," she added.
The proposed four-year programme, put forward by the Commission in March, is intended to have a budget of €45 million and will tackle not only internet safety but other media, such as videos. 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: hotlines that enable the public to report illegal content and which pass the reports on to the appropriate body for action. The programme will fund individual hotlines and network co-ordination, and will be extended to help lines for children worried by illegal and harmful content.
- Tackling unwanted and harmful content: funding for technology that enables users to limit the amount of unwanted and harmful content they receive, or that can be used to test the effectiveness of available filters. Funding will also be available for developing better filters and promoting exchanges of information and best practice on anti-spam enforcement.
- Promoting a safer environment: the EU supports self-regulation, which offers flexibility and understanding of needs in an area combining high technology, rapid change and cross-border activity. The Commission will provide a Safer Internet Forum for national co-regulatory or self-regulatory bodies to exchange experience.
- Awareness-raising: the Commission will support information exchange on safer internet use, particularly for personalised, interactive and mobile applications.