CONFERENCE ‘HOW CAN WE USE TECHNOLOGY TO ENSURE SAFETY FOR CHILDREN ONLINE ?’
On November 15, in the context of the celebration of the first week of technological awareness in the European Parliament promoted by Vice President Eva Kaili, a conference was held to discuss how technology can help protect minors online.
Under the title How can we use technology to ensure safety for children online?, the host of the event, Eva Kailli, the Home Office Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, the actor and co-founder of Thorn, Ashton Kutcher, the Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic representing the Presidency of the Council of the EU, Radek Kaña, the representative of UNICEF in the European Union, Geert Cappelaere, and the MEP and rapporteur for the Law Proposal to establish rules for prevent and combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, Javier Zarzalejos met for the event.
In the opinion of Zarzalejos, the legislative proposal of the European Commission represents an opportunity for the Union to lead the fight against sexual abuse of minors online and establish world standards. The MEP wanted to acknowledge and thank the efforts made by some of the companies that operate on the Internet, investing in research and development of technologies that help detect, eliminate and report material that abuses minors.
He recalled, however, that the proactivity of some companies contrasts with the inaction of others and, for this reason, the legislative proposal intends to make the hitherto voluntary detection of child abuse material mandatory.
During the debate, the MEP explained that this new obligation for operators is accompanied by numerous safeguards to protect the privacy of Internet users, is inspired by the principle of technological neutrality and does not prescribe the use of any specific technology with the main objective of being a long-term legislation and that it will continue to be valid in the future when the technologies used today for the detection of child abuse online develop and become more and more effective.