iCmedia promotes the protection of children online in the European Parliament

On Wednesday April 27 iCmedia co-organized the breakfast debate: ” Children online: Internet, cyber-crime and sexual abuse online” at the European Parliament.  The debate took place within the framework of the European Internet Forum (EIF). EIF’s mission is to help to provide European political leadership with recent developments of European and multilateral public policies responsive to the political, economic and social challenges of the worldwide digital transformation.

The international law and the European law, especially through the DIRECTIVE 2011/92/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, set high standards for the protection of children against sexual abuse. However, its transposition into national legislation seems far from being effective.

The Member of the European Parliament, Nathalie Griesbeck, opened the discussion with a call for action on political leaders: “Under Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the “best interest of the child” must be the central principle in all legal instruments protecting children’s rights. Therefore, the EU has an obligation to determine the impact of all relevant measures on children’s rights.”

On the crucial question, what else can be done to ensure child’s safety online, Cathal Delaney, Team Leader for Child Sexual Abuse in the Europol Cybercrime Centre; Delphine Moralis, Secretary General of Missing Children Europe and Veronica Donoso, Executive Director of INHOPE, came together with the following points:

• The need for a more effective transposition of the Directive.
• The need for a much wider budget allocated to the fight against cybercrime and online sexual abuse, both at the national and European level.
• The importance of prevention and awareness as key elements for the success in the fight against cybercrime and exploitation.

The debate concluded with calling for a joint fight under the statement: “We are better, faster and stronger, if we work together”.