COFACE Families Europe – October 2017 newsletter now published

COFACE Families Europe has recently published the October 2017 edition of its newsletter. This edition features several items which touch upon the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) areas of work.

Date 2017-11-06 Author COFACE Families Europe
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In this edition, COFACE Families Europe looks beyond the AVMSD and the GDPR for child online protection. The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) has been discussed for a while and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will enter into force next year. COFACE Families Europe was invited to an ERGA European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services workshop in October 2017 to discuss the implications of both of these pieces of legislation for families and, specifically, child protection online.

COFACE Families Europe has actively contributed to both pieces of legislation and pushed for several core principles in order to better protect children. Its main focus was to protect children from advertising and marketing, especially online and with respect to unhealthy food and beverages (HFSS – High in Fat, Sugar or Salt), given that the AVMSD already regulated "traditional" media quite extensively. As regards harmful content (violence, drugs, sex…), COFACE Families Europe especially insisted on the necessity for online service providers to enforce their own terms of service and community standards given that they explicitly forbid harmful content, but do a poor job of identifying it and taking it down.

Also in October 2017, EFIN, BEUC and CEPS-ECRI jointly organised a conference on the theme of Big Data, Fintechs and the role these technological developments play in addressing financial exclusion. The conference was split between three panels: insurance, payments services and credit. In the credit panel, Martin Schmalzried was invited to speak on behalf of COFACE Families Europe. The main points raised included:

  • Socialisation of risk by restricting the data used for creditworthiness assessments.
  • Innovation in regulation to create a predictable regulatory environment for financial services
  • Use Big Data for prevention, not punishment.

Also featured, in this month's edition of the newsletter is a new guide for parents on screens and children, Enfants et écrans: reprenez la main, published by UNAF, which offers many tips and tricks for becoming aware of family habits, reducing screen time and protecting children from inappropriate content. The guide was developed in partnership with the Groupe de Pédiatrie Générale, an association attached to the French Society of Pediatrics. The objective is to spread a message of prevention and advice to parents and health professionals around the use of screens by children.

Read the full October 2017 edition of the COFACE newsletter here for a whole host of other updates on issues affecting families in Europe.

* COFACE Families Europe has been involved for 59 years in building a strong social, family-friendly Europe. It brings forward the voice of millions of families, gathering 58 organisations from all over Europe. COFACE Families Europe advocates for strong social policies that take into consideration family needs and guarantee equal opportunities for all families. Find out more at www.coface-eu.org.

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