The European Commission has presented a plan against cyberbullying to strengthen the protection of the mental health of young people and bring more effective help to victims across Member States. One of the main measures will be an EU-wide application for reporting harassment.
On Tuesday, the European Commission (EC) presented an action plan against cyberbullying with the aim of protecting the mental health of young people online. The plan focuses on better assistance to victims, more coordinated action by Member States and prevention of harmful behavior on the Internet. TASR informs about it according to the EC press release.
One of the key measures is to create an EU-wide application through which victims of cyberbullying can easily report harassment and get help from national helplines. At the same time, the application should enable safe storage and sharing of evidence. The EC will prepare an application concept that member states will be able to adapt and connect to the relevant national services.
Application for victims
“Every young person across the EU should be equally protected from cyberbullying,” reads the press release. Member States should develop comprehensive national plans and use a common understanding of cyberbullying to collect and compare data.
At the same time, the EC plans to review existing EU initiatives for the protection of minors in the online space. If necessary, he wants to tighten the guidelines of the Digital Services Regulation (DSA) or more rigorously apply the Regulation on Artificial Intelligence, especially when it comes to prohibited practices and transparent labeling of content created with AI. Prevention is also an important part of the plan.
Safety regulations
“Children and young people have the right to safety when using the internet. Cyberbullying threatens this right and makes them feel hurt, alone and humiliated. No child should feel this way,” noted EC Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen.
The EC will implement the action plan against cyberbullying in cooperation with member states, industry, civil society, international organizations and children themselves. It is also preparing other initiatives at the same time.
