Keeping children safe in the digital world: Commission announces the creation of new expert group on child safety online
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Today it is Safer Internet Day 2019 and we are celebrating it along with the creation of a new Expert Group on Safer Internet for Children to help improve coordination and cooperation between EU Member States and propose concrete actions to keep children safe when using the internet.
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, said: “I am pleased to announce the creation of the expert group today, on Safer Internet Day 2019. On this day, we focus more than ever on ways to enhance safe, positive and inclusive use of digital technology, especially among children and young people. This year’s slogan, Together for a Better Internet, is a timely reminder that no country or organisation can act effectively on its own when it comes to internet safety. The coordination and cooperation between Member States is just as important in that regard as the valuable work it will do on proposing concrete actions.” Commissioner Gabriel made the announcement during a visit to Child Focus, the Belgian safer internet centre, to mark Safer Internet Day 2019. She met with Bulgarian- and French-speaking school pupils in Brussels to discuss their experiences and awareness of how to stay safe when online. She then participated in a citizens’ dialogue with about 500 pupils of the European school. Commissioner Gabriel also used the occasion of Safer Internet Day to highlight the successful awareness-raising campaign #SaferInternet4EU which she launched on 5th February 2018 and reached around 15,500 schools and nearly 30 million EU citizens with hundreds of initiatives, events and tools to protect children from online threats. For more information about the new Expert Group on Safer Internet for Children see here and for more information on Safer Internet for the EU see this Factsheet. (For more information: Nathalie Vandystadt – Tel.: +32 229 67083 – Marietta Grammenou Tel.: +32 229 83583)
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