Combating child sexual abuse online package

Key points

The EESC:

• Welcomes both Commission documents as very well timed given that children are using the internet at an earlier age and almost daily and that Europol has noted an increasing demand for child sexual abuse material.
• Supports the educational dimension of the strategy, as it is essential to strengthen skills, digital literacy and awareness of the use of personal data so that all children, whatever their circumstances, can make informed use of the internet so as to protect themselves from potential dangers.
• Welcomes the intention to organise media literacy campaigns for children and their legal guardians, via different networks and strongly encourages extending them to include organised civil society organisations, as they have long-standing grassroots and front-line experience.
• Supports the principle of the proposed regulation, but has reservations as regards the disproportionate nature of the measures envisaged and the danger of the infringement of the presumption of innocence.
• Agrees that combating child pornography online is legitimate and necessary, but imposing a private detection system prima facie for a certain type of content poses a risk of widespread monitoring of all virtual exchanges.
• Aims to safeguard the interests of all, including secrecy of correspondence and respect for privacy.
• Supports the creation of a new European agency and would welcome Eurojust's operational involvement in the structure envisaged by the Commission.