The new Better Internet for Kids strategy is out! Introducing BIK+

Today, the European Commission has adopted a new European strategy for a Better Internet for Kids (BIK+), with the aim to improve age-appropriate digital services and to ensure that every child is protected, empowered and respected online. This new strategy comes ten years after the first BIK strategy, and during the European Year of Youth, spotlighting the voices and ideas of young people themselves.

Date 2022-05-11 Author BIK Team Section awareness, industry, news, policy, positive-content, research, sid, youth Topic media literacy/education Audience media specialist, organisations and industry, research, policy and decision makers, teachers, educators and professionals

Taking into account the European Parliament Resolution on children’s rights, the Council Conclusions on media literacy and the Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee, the BIK+ strategy is based on an extensive consultation process with children, complemented by targeted consultations with parents and carers, teachers and educators, ICT and media industry professionals, civil society, academics and international organisations.

BIK+ aims to complement and support the practical implementation of the existing measures to protect children online, develop young people’s digital skills and empower them to safely enjoy and shape their life online.

Our vision: Age appropriate digital services, with no one left behind and with every 
child in Europe protected, empowered and respected online.

The new European strategy for a Better Internet for Kids sets out the vision for a Digital Decade for children and young people, and works for a safer, better online experience including accessible, age-appropriate and informative online content and services that are in children's best interests.

The three pillars

The strategy is based on three key pillars:

  1. Ensuring safe digital experiences: protecting children and young people from harmful and online content, conduct, and online risks and improving their well-being in an age-appropriate digital environment. The European Commission will focus on a EU code for age-appropriate design, a European standard on online age verification, and on the support of reporting systems of illegal and harmful content, as well as cyberbullying.
  2. Digital empowerment: children and young people must acquire the necessary skills and competences to make informed choices and express themselves in the digital environment safely and responsibly. This will be achieved through media literacy campaigns and teaching modules targeted at children, teachers and parents via the network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs).
  3. Active participation: children and young people must be respected by giving them a say in the digital environment, with more child-led activities to foster innovative and creative safe digital experiences. This will be achieved by supporting more experienced children teaching their peers about online opportunities and risks, and by organising a child-led evaluation of the strategy every two years.

To implement these key pillars, the European Commission invites Member States, the industry and other stakeholders to come on board and support related actions.

Find more information about the new European strategy for a Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) in this factsheet and read the main questions & answers related to the strategy.

Read the official press release by the European Commission and the full text of the BIK+ strategy.

The BIK+ strategy has a dedicated section on the BIK portal which will be developed over time. Keep an eye on the page for further updates and developments regarding the strategy. 

 

 

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