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The European Commission outlined an action plan against cyberbullying at the European Parliament on Tuesday, aimed at helping young victims of online bullying to safely report abuse and receive help.
Part of the plan is the rollout of an EU-wide app that should let children confidentially report bullying to a national helpline, safely store and send evidence, and receive help from law enforcement, education or child protection services.
While still in its early stages, the EU executive said it will develop an app blueprint for the bloc’s 27 member states to adapt for local use, drawing on successful existing models such as France’s “3018” app and helpline.
Cyberbullying is a phenomenon afflicting as many as one in six children between the ages of 11 and 15, the Commission said.
“Children and young people have the right to be safe when they are online,” said EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen. “Cyberbullying undermines this right, leaving them feeling hurt, lonely, and humiliated. No child should be made to feel this way.”
“Based on shared understanding of what cyberbullying is, we call for all Member States to develop coherent national cyberbullying policies,” she added.
‘Addictive design features’ also under scrutiny
The proposal comes as the EU pushes on multiple fronts to shield children from harmful social media impacts, from exploring a bloc-wide ban for younger teens, to working on a new age verification tool, to clamping down on “addictive” features in apps.
Last week, the Commission found that TikTok’s addictive design breaches Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and fails to adequately protect users.
Regulators’ preliminary findings reflect mounting pressure on social media platforms over screen time, particularly for children and teenagers. Regulators worldwide are increasingly questioning whether tech companies are doing enough to protect young users from addictive design features.
“The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for the effects they can have on their users. In Europe, we enforce our legislation to protect our children and our citizens online,” Virkkunen said on Friday.
Beyond the app proposal, its bullying “action plan” calls for targeted enforcement of existing EU laws to help curb the phenomenon.
That includes toughening rules under the DSA to protect minors from harmful content, and backing targeted enforcement of its AI Act to help combat the use of deepfakes for bullying.
Additional sources • AFP