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On October 24th, MEP Javier Zarzalejos was one of the main speakers at the conference \u201cHow to Protect Minors on Social Media,\u201d<\/em> held at the European Parliament Office in Spain. Zarzalejos took part in the second panel of the day, focused on combating online child sexual abuse, alongside the Director of FAD Juventud, Beatriz Mart\u00edn Padura, and the founder of the project \u201cEl origen del mal,\u201d Beatriz Izquierdo Pliego, under the moderation of journalist Lucas Proto.<\/p>\n The discussion addressed emerging challenges in the detection, prevention, and prosecution of online child sexual abuse, with particular attention to the role of artificial intelligence, criminal networks, and the need to strengthen the European legislative response.<\/p>\n In his remarks, the MEP warned of the \u201ccritical\u201d situation facing the protection of minors in the digital environment and called for decisive European-level action to combat online child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n Zarzalejos stressed that \u201cthere is no dilemma between protection and privacy,\u201d insisting that both principles can and must be safeguarded simultaneously. He also warned about the increase in child sexual abuse material online and the growing sophistication of predators, who use both extortion strategies and generative and conversational AI tools.<\/p>\n He recalled that the European Parliament adopted its position on the regulation to prevent and combat such content two years ago, but lamented that Member States have still not reached an agreement to move forward: \u201cThe delay is unsustainable. Either we act now, or the situation will explode.\u201d<\/p>\n After emphasizing the shared responsibility of institutions, platforms, and civil society, he called for harmonized and directly applicable European legislation that would enable effective action against a cross-border and rapidly worsening phenomenon.<\/p>\n The event was opened by the Director of the European Parliament Office in Spain, Mar\u00eda Andr\u00e9s Mar\u00edn, and the Minister for Digital Transformation, \u00d3scar L\u00f3pez, who both highlighted the importance of strengthening children\u2019s digital safety from all institutional angles.<\/p>\n This was followed by an address from Carlos Aguilar, Commissioner at the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), who discussed the role of oversight and regulation in an increasingly complex and dynamic digital ecosystem.<\/p>\n The first roundtable, dedicated to the impact of social networks on minors\u2019 mental health, brought together MEP Laura Ballar\u00edn Cereza (S&D), the president of Adolescencia Libre de M\u00f3viles<\/em>, Mar\u00eda Fern\u00e1ndez And\u00fajar, and the Director-General of Red.es, Jes\u00fas Herrero, in a dialogue moderated by El Confidencial<\/em> journalist Lucas Proto Mart\u00ednez Royo. The speakers analyzed the relationship between hyperconnectivity, online social pressure, and young people\u2019s emotional well-being, as well as the preventive measures needed to mitigate these effects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On October 24th, MEP Javier Zarzalejos was one of the main speakers at the conference \u201cHow to Protect Minors on Social Media,\u201d held at the European Parliament Office in Spain. Zarzalejos took part in the second panel of the day, focused on combating online child sexual abuse, alongside the Director of FAD Juventud, Beatriz Mart\u00edn…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events"],"yoast_head":"\nA conference focused on digital child protection<\/strong><\/h4>\n