For the 10th consecutive year, the Council of Europe is supporting the Safer Internet Day Campaign and is joining forces with numerous stakeholders to work together for a better and safer internet for all, and especially for children and young people.
Safeguarding and promoting the rights of the child in the digital environment and keeping them safe online are at the heart of the Council of Europe’s work. The right to access to and safe use of technologies remains one of the key priorities in the Council of Europe’s current Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022–2027) and is addressed through its standard-setting, monitoring and co-operation activities.
In celebration of this year’s Safer Internet Day, we are launching a new Training for Trainers module for frontline professionals on safeguarding children from online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Developed as part of the regional project “End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse@Europe Plus (EndOCSEA@Europe+)” focusing on Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Montenegro, this comprehensive and practical module aims to guide national trainers to build the capacities of teachers, social workers and healthcare professionals to effectively safeguard children from online risks.
As rapidly evolving technologies continue to shape the digital landscape, they present both opportunities and challenges in protecting children’s rights and ensuring their safety. Our recent Mapping study on the rights of the child and artificial intelligencec highlights the urgent need for stronger legal frameworks to protect children in the age of AI. It underscores the importance of adopting a child-rights based approach, incorporating child rights impact and risk assessments, and meaningfully engaging with children and young people on these topics. In response to these emerging challenges, the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF) is developing a Child Rights Impact Assessment Tool (CRIA) on Artificial Intelligence. This tool will support member states in better navigating the complexities of AI and ensuring that children’s rights are effectively upheld in an increasingly digital world.
In April 2025, a session of the Mid-Term Review Conference of the Strategy for the Rights of the Child will allow the CDENF, together with key stakeholders and experts, to take stock of existing Council of Europe standards and tools upholding children’s rights in the digital environment, as well as to explore concrete examples of national implementation.
The Council of Europe remains deeply committed to combating sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children online, through the Convention on the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention), as well as bilateral and regional projects. State Parties to this Convention commit to criminalise any type of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse against children, online and offline.
On 7 November 2024, the Lanzarote Committee adopted a Declaration on protecting children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse facilitated by emerging technologies recalling that sexual offences against children should remain criminalised whatever the means used to commit them, including emerging technologies like AI-generated or altered child sexual abuse material.
Furthermore, the 2024 edition of the annual awareness-raising Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (18 November) focused on threats and opportunities of emerging technologies in the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
Last but not least, the Council of Europe continues to translate and disseminate as widely as possible its latest resources for policy makers, professionals working for and with children, parents, caregivers and children in order to raise awareness on children’s rights in the digital environment and online safety.
Children’s rights in the digital environment
Council of Europe’s profile on Safer Internet Day
The Council of Europe within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" for 2023-2026 is implementing the Project “Protecting the Rights of Ukrainian Children during and in post-war context”.
