PROJECT BEACON CAMPAIGN FOR PREVENTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL ABUSE AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Media dissemination in Bulgaria – News from ECPAT Bulgaria 

On 23 November one of the three most popular Bulgarian TV channels NovaNews broadcast in its programme Social Network a 30-minute interview with Lydia Zagorova, ECPAT Bulgaria, where she spoke in detail about the campaign and Project Beacon – Protect children from sexual abuse and sexual exploitation online. She spoke about the dangers from posting CSAM online and the need of wide prevention among children and adults. Also about the possibility and the practice of the technology companies to use automatics instruments for scanning, identification, reporting and elimination of CSAM online. She put the accent on the public necessity of involving the European Parliament and the Members of the European Parliament in creation of new legislation that will make it mandatory for technology companies to turn on automatic tools to scan and detect for images of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials. The survey results from the Project Beacon also were commented as analysis of the public opinion of the European citizens from 8 EU countries about the balance between the privacy and the child protection online.

Summary results from a public poll in 8 EU Member States

realized by Defence for Children – ECPAT The Netherlands and ECPAT International under Project Beacon, 2021

                    New survey shows people do not think the internet is safe for children!

73% of adults believe children cannot go online without being approached by adults looking to harm them

On 17 November 2021, ECPAT, the world’s biggest influencing network solely focused on ending the sexual exploitation of children, released a launch on the findings from research in eight countries across the European Union in which they explored public attitudes towards online child protection. The research was carried out in the following countries: France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands.

ECPAT released  the following findings from research exploring public attitudes towards online child protection:

• Commissioned by ECPAT International in partnership with their member Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands, the research delivered by YouGov was based on representative adult populations over 18 years old the 8 EU countries.

• 73% of respondents believed children cannot go online without being approached by adults looking to harm them.

• Nearly 7 out of 10 people feel that there is not much privacy online anyway. Those who believe online privacy does not exist (68%) outnumber those who believe it does (25%) by more than two to one.

• 68% of respondents across all the countries surveyed support plans by the European Union to introduce new legislation to mandate online providers to use automated tools to help keep children safe online.

ECPAT calls on the European Union to bring forward new legislation that will make it mandatory for technology companies to turn on automatic tools to scan and detect for images of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials. Coming from some of the largest countries in the European Union, the message is clear: the public wants action taken to protect children online. They want to see automated tools that can help to keep children safe online to always be used, with online platforms having a legal duty to do so.

Legislation:

• The importance for the EU of ensuring the rights of children in digital environments is

clearly reflected in ongoing processes across the EU, including but not limited to the Digital Services Act, proposal for legislation on the detection, removal and reporting of CSAM as part of the EU Strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse, and the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child. However, the Commission itself points out the need to improve coordination and ensure coherence in the protection and combating of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

• These findings follow changes in late 2020 when new regulation in the European Unionplaced technology companies deploying specialised tools to voluntarily detect child sexual abuse material into legal limbo with the e-Privacy Directive. As a result,  some technology companies stopped scanning for images of child sexual abuse and exploitation leading to enormous consequences. A temporary agreement was enacted to allow technology companies to resume scanning, but some are yet to do so.

• The European Union is currently exploring whether to create new legislation that will mandate online service providers (e.g., social media platforms) to use automated technology tools to detect and flag signs of online sexual exploitation and abuse. These tools will continuously check the personal activity of all users on the platform, looking for signs of online sexual exploitation and abuse. However, this automated technology means users give away some of their personal privacy, because the tools scan images and messages to protect children.

• In all these processes, listening to and reflecting public opinion remains central to the work of the EU Institutions. However, the complexity and range of processes may not always be accessible to the public. ECPAT offers this research as a contribution to efforts to build more effective fight against child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Definitions:

• Hash Detection –Hash-based child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) detection tools compare a user image to known CSAM to see if there is a match. The images are not compared directly but with hash values that are generated for both the user image and individual CSAM. A hash function is an umbrella term for any function that converts input (e.g., text, an image) to a fixed-size output, which is known as the hash value. The hash value is a sequence of alphanumeric characters considered a ‘fingerprint’ of the image. Two hash values that are identical to one another indicate two identical images.

• Grooming detection technologies (GDT) help determine if a child is being groomed for sexual abuse. Typically, these technologies are discussed in relation to text-based conversations as explained grooming often takes place on messaging platforms. GDTs usually take the form of keyword detectors or more advanced ML-based techniques. However, certain metadata analysis can also be used to supplement the grooming detection process.

Why was the research conducted?

ECPAT wanted to explore the views of members of the public, in some of the largest countries in the European Union on the issues of child protection, data privacy and the balance, if any, between them.

ECPAT wanted to gather this data to better understand the public’s perceptions on the issues of privacy vs. child protection online.

Messages to the MEPs and the policy makers:

 It is important for policy makers to know what the public finds important when developing legislation. There have been some developments why it is important that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) know what EU citizens consider important:

• The usage of tools to detect and remove online child sexual abuse has declined since December 2020, when EU Member States needed to have transposed the new EU telecom rules into national law, following the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) that came into force in December 2018.[1] With internet-based communications services becoming subject to the strict confidentiality requirements, a temporary regulation was adopted in July 2021, permitting providers to use specific technology to combat child sexual abuse online.[2] The temporary regulation is limited until 3 August 2024. Due to the unclarity and the inclusion of extra privacy-preserving points, some ICT companies (such as Facebook) have stopped using the detection software. The number of reports of online child sexual abuse in Europe dropped dramatically after 20 December (58% less reports from Europe in 3 months).[3]

• Commission is working on a long-term legislation to tackle child sexual abuse online. In July 2020, the European Commission published the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse. The strategy provides a comprehensive response to the growing threat of child sexual abuse, both offline and online. The strategy focuses, inter alia, on legislation to effectively tackle child sexual abuse online, including by requiring relevant online service providers to detect, remove and report known child sexual abuse material to authorities. The Commission also wants to develop an European centre to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

• The European Institutions are currently debating The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, which aim to create a safer digital space where the fundamental rights of users are protected and to establish a level playing field for businesses.

About ECPAT International

ECPAT is an international organization with 122 members in 104 countries who coordinate research, advocacy, and action to end the sexual exploitation of children.

ECPAT engages in multi-country and multi-sector collaborations, working with law enforcement, private sector organisations, and governments around the world to prevent future sexual crimes against children. They look at this issue in all its settings, including child sexual exploitation through prostitution; trafficking for sexual purposes; child early and forced marriage, sexual exploitation in travel and tourism, child sexual exploitation online.

Since 2020, ECPAT has been implementing Project Beacon, a campaign of information and advocacy focused on technology and children’s rights in the EU.

In November 2021, ECPAT Bulgaria – national member of ECPAT International realizes and support the Project Beacon campaign in Bulgaria.

For comment or interviews contact:
Celine Verheijen, Project manager, Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands
c.verheijen@defenceforchildren-ecpat.nl 
+31 (0)642053860
Amy Crocker, Interim Programme Advisor Online Child Sexual Exploitation, ECPAT International
amyc.ecpat.org
+31 (0)621406200

For contacts in Bulgaria:

GeorgiVanchev,Communication and advocacy consultant, Project Beacon, gvanchev@yahoo.com, +359 878 400071

Lydia Zagorova,Chairperson, ECPAT Bulgaria – Neglected Children Society; ecpatbulgaria@gmail.com, +359 878 400074
[1] https://www.stibbe.com/en/news/2019/january/the-european-electronic-communications-code-is-now-in-force–10-takeaways

[2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-promoting-our-european-way-of-life/file-temporary-derogation-from-the-e-privacy-directive-for-ott-services

[3] https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2020/we-are-in-danger-of-losing-the-global-battle-for-child-safety

 AMSTERDAM,  17 November 2021

ECPAT, the world’s largest NGO network solely focused on ending the sexual exploitation of children,  today released findings from new qualitative and quantitative  research which was carried out  among adults in eight  European Union Member States:  France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

The research explored public knowledge of and attitudes towards children’s safety online, how this intersects with concerns about privacy.

Key findings of the quantitative  research included: 

• 73% of adults believe children cannot go online without being approached by
  adults looking to harm them.

• This broke down as 77% among female respondents and 69% among males.

• 76% of respondents are willing to give up some of their personal privacy online to allow for automated technology tools to scan and detect images of child sexual abuse and detect other forms of sexual exploitation of children.

• Nearly 7 out of 10 people feel that there is not much, if any, privacy online anyway. Those who believe online privacy does not exist (68%) greatly outnumber those who believe it does (25%).

• 68% of respondents in the eight countries support plans by the European Union to introduce new legislation on the detection of child sexual abuse material by private companies (Italy (75%); Spain (75%); Netherlands (72%)).

The research findings were broadly consistent across all eight countries.

Noteworthy finding in the qualitative research:

• Most respondents in the qualitative research groups did not know that hash detection tools to address online child sexual abuse material existed or that anti-grooming tools had been developed. Once participants learnt about these tools, they were angry that they weren’t being used and turned on at all times. Participants in these groups held to this view even when they were told that their data could be scanned to achieve this.

For your further consideration

• The importance for the EU of ensuring the rights of children in digital environments is clearly reflected in ongoing processes across the EU, including but not limited to the Digital Services Act, proposal for legislation on the detection, removal and reporting of CSAM as part of the EU Strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse, and the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child. However, the Commission itself points out the need to improve coordination and ensure coherence in the protection and combating of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

• In all these processes, listening to and reflecting public opinion remains central to the work of the EU Institutions. However, the complexity and range of processes may not always be accessible to the public. ECPAT offers this research as a contribution to efforts to build more effective fight against child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Background

Commissioned by ECPAT International in partnership with Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands, the quantitative research was delivered by YouGov, based on representative adult populations (18+) in the countries listed above. Total sample size was 9,410 adults participated in France,  Germany, Hungary,  Italy, Netherlands, Poland  Sweden, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Spain. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2^nd – 11^th September 2021.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been given an even weighting for each country to produce an ‘average’ value. The qualitative data was gathered in 7 countries (all the countries above minus Sweden) through online Remesh sessions with 210 people. This was done in the first part of 2021 within 4 months time by Ourageous Company.

For comment or interviews contact:
Celine Verheijen, Project manager, Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands
c.verheijen@defenceforchildren-ecpat.nl 
+31 (0)642053860
Amy Crocker, Interim Programme Advisor Online Child Sexual Exploitation, ECPAT International
amyc.ecpat.org
+31 (0)621406200

Important Notes

Research Methodology – 8  country datasets are available.  A merged EU dataset is available. All figures from the quantitative data, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 9,410 adults participated in France,  Germany, Hungary, Italy,Netherlands, Poland  Sweden, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Spain. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2^nd – 11^th September 2021.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been given an even weighting for each country to produce an ‘average’ value.

Legislation – These findings follow changes in late 2020 when new regulation in the European Union placed technology companies deploying specialised tools to voluntarily detect child sexual abuse material into legal limbo with the e-Privacy Directive. As a result, some technology companies stopped scanning for images of child sexual abuse and exploitation leading to enormous consequences. A temporary agreement was enacted to allow technology companies to resume scanning, but some are yet to do so.

The European Union is currently exploring whether to create new legislation that will mandate online service providers (e.g., social media platforms) to use automated technology tools to detect and flag signs of online sexual exploitation and abuse. These tools will continuously check the personal activity of all users on the platform, looking for signs of online sexual exploitation and abuse. However, this automated technology means users give away some of their personal privacy, because the tools scan images and messages to protect children.

Definitions:

• Hash Detection –Hash-based child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) detection tools compare a user image to known CSAM to see if there is a match. The images are not compared directly but with hash values that are generated for both the user image and individual CSAM. A hash function is an umbrella term for any function that converts input (e.g., text, an image) to a fixed-size output, which is known as the hash value. The hash value is a sequence of alphanumeric characters considered a ‘fingerprint’ of the image. Two hash values that are identical to one another indicate two identical images.

• Grooming detection technologies (GDT) help determine if a child is being groomed for sexualabuse. Typically, these technologies are discussed in relation to text-based conversations as explained grooming often takes place on messaging platforms. GDTs usually take the form of keyword detectors or more advanced ML-based techniques. However, certain metadata analysis can also be used to supplement the grooming detection process.

About ECPAT International:

ECPAT is an international organization with 122 members in 104 countries who coordinate research, advocacy, and action to end the sexual exploitation of children.

ECPAT engages in multi-country and multi-sector collaborations, working with law enforcement, private sector organisations, and governments around the world to prevent future sexual crimes against children. They look at this issue in all its settings, including child sexual exploitation through prostitution; trafficking; child early and forced marriage and child sexual exploitation online.

Since 2020, ECPAT has been implementing Project Beacon, a campaign of information and advocacy focused on technology and children’s rights in the EU.

In November 2021, ECPAT Bulgaria – national member of ECPAT International realizes the Project Beacon campaign in Bulgaria.

WHAT DO EU CITIZENS THINK ABOUT CHILD PROTECTION ONLINE?

Summary results from a public poll in 8 EU Member States

realized by Defence for Children – ECPAT The Netherlands and ECPAT International under Project Beacon, 2021

 New survey shows people do not think the internet is safe for children!

73% of adults believe children cannot go online without being approached by adults looking to harm them

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, 17 November 2021 – Today, ECPAT, the world’s biggest influencing network solely focused on ending the sexual exploitation of children, released findings from research in eight countries across the European Union in which they explored public attitudes towards online child protection.

Key findings of the research included: 

• 76 per cent of respondents are willing to give up some of their personal privacy online to allow for automated technology tools to scan and detect images of child sexual abuse and detect other forms of sexual exploitation of children.
• Nearly 7 out of 10 people feel that there is not much, if any, privacy online. Those who believe online privacy does not exist (68%) outnumber those who believe it does (25%) by more than two to one.
• An average of 73% of adults believe children cannot go online without being approached by adults looking to harm them. 77% of female respondents held this view, as did 69% of male respondents.
• 68 per cent of respondents in the eight countries support plans by the European Union to introduce new legislation on the detection of child sexual abuse material by private companies (Italy (75%); Spain (75%); Netherlands (72%)).
• The research findings were broadly consistent across all eight countries.

Commissioned by ECPAT International in partnership with their member Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands, the qualitative and quantitative research delivered by YouGov was based on representative adult populations (18+) in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden.

The research shows widespread public support (68%) for the use of technical tools to identify child sexual abuse material and for the European Union to introduce legislative change to help improve child safety (1).

Most respondents in the qualitative research groups did not know that hash detection or anti-grooming tools existed. Once participants learnt about these tools they were angry that they weren’t being used and turned on at all times. Participants in these groups  held to this view even when they were told that their data could be scanned to achieve this.

Coming from some of the largest countries in the European Union, the message is clear: the public wants action taken to protect children online. They want to see automated tools that can help to keep children safe online to always be used, with online platforms having a legal duty to do so.

For comment or interviews contact:
Kirsten Walkom, Executive Vice President, Smith & Company
kwalkom@smithandcompany.com 
+44 7542013310
Kieran Rumsby, Communications Associate, Smith & Company
krumsby@smithandcompany.com 
+44 7594680497

Important notes:

Research Methodology – 8  country datasets are available. A merged EU dataset is available. All figures from the quantitative data, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 9,410 adults participated in France,  Germany, Hungary,  Italy, Netherlands, Poland  Sweden, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Spain. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2^nd – 11^th September 2021.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been given an even weighting for each country to produce an ‘average’ value. The qualitative data was gathered in 7 countries (all the countries above minus Sweden) through online Remesh sessions with 210 people. This was done in the first part of 2021 within 4 months time by Ourageous Company.

Legislation – These findings follow changes in late 2020 when new regulation in the European Union placed technology companies deploying specialised tools to voluntarily detect child sexual abuse material into legal limbo with the e-Privacy Directive. As a result, some technology companies stopped scanning for images of child sexual abuse and exploitation leading to enormous consequences. A temporary agreement was enacted to allow technology companies to resume scanning, but some are yet to do so.

The European Union is currently exploring whether to create new legislation that will mandate online service providers (e.g., social media platforms) to use automated technology tools to detect and flag signs of online sexual exploitation and abuse. These tools will continuously check the personal activity of all users on the platform, looking for signs of online sexual exploitation and abuse. However, this automated technology means users give away some of their personal privacy, because the tools scan images and messages to protect children.

Definitions

• Hash Detection –Hash-based child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) detection tools compare a user

image to known CSAM to see if there is a match. The images are not compared directly but with hash values that are generated for both the user image and individual CSAM. A hash function is an umbrella term for any function that converts input (e.g., text, an image) to a fixed-size output, which is known as the hash value. The hash value is a sequence of alphanumeric characters considered a ‘fingerprint’ of the image. Two hash values that are identical to one another indicate two identical images.

• Grooming detection technologies (GDT) help determine if a child is being groomed for sexual

abuse. Typically, these technologies are discussed in relation to text-based conversations as explained grooming often takes place on messaging platforms. GDTs usually take the form of keyword detectors or more advanced ML-based techniques. However, certain metadata analysis can also be used to supplement the grooming detection process.

About ECPAT International

ECPAT is an international organization with 122 members in 104 countries who coordinate research, advocacy, and action to end the sexual exploitation of children.

ECPAT engages in multi-country and multi-sector collaborations, working with law enforcement, private sector organisations, and governments around the world to prevent future sexual crimes against children. They look at this issue in all its settings, including child sexual exploitation through prostitution; trafficking; child early and forced marriage and child sexual exploitation online.

Since 2020, ECPAT has been implementing Project Beacon, a campaign of information and advocacy focused on technology and children’s rights in the EU.

For contacts about campaign in Bulgaria:

GeorgiVanchev, Communication and advocacy consultant, Project Beacon, gvanchev@yahoo.com; +359 878 400071

Lydia Zagorova, Chairperson, ECPAT Bulgaria – Neglected Children Society; ecpatbulgaria@gmail.com; +359 878 400074

Project Beacon – Public Polling in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands

As these findings are being released across Europe in multiple languages, it is important that we include a few key messages consistently in all of the national and EU-wide releases. Please find these messages below.

Key Messages

• ECPAT released findings from research exploring public attitudes towards online child protection. It was carried out in eight countries across the European Union.

• Commissioned by ECPAT International in partnership with their member Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands, the research delivered by YouGov was based on representative adult populations (18+) in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden, and The Netherlands.

• 73% of respondents believed children cannot go online without being approached by adults looking to harm them.

• Nearly 7 out of 10 people feel that there is not much privacy online anyway. Those who believe online privacy does not exist (68%) outnumber those who believe it does (25%) by more than two to one.

• 68% of respondents across all the countries surveyed support plans by the European Union to introduce new legislation to mandate online providers to use automated tools to help keep children safe online.

• ECPAT calls on the European Union to bring forward new legislation that will make it mandatory for technology companies to turn on automatic tools to scan and detect for images of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials.

• Coming from some of the largest countries in the European Union, the message is clear: the public wants action taken to protect children online. They want to see automated tools that can help to keep children safe online to always be used, with online platforms having a legal duty to do so.

Balance between online privacy and child protection online

1. Why was the research conducted?

• ECPAT wanted to explore the views of members of the public, in some of the largest countries in the European Union on the issues of child protection, data privacy and the balance, if any, between them.
• ECPAT wanted to gather this data to better understand the public’s perceptions on the issues of privacy vs. child protection online.

It is important for policy makers to know what the public finds important when developing legislation. There have been some developments why it is important that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) know what EU citizens consider important:

• The usage of tools to detect and remove online child sexual abuse has declined since December 2020, when EU Member States needed to have transposed the new EU telecom rules into national law, following the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) that came into force in December 2018.[1] With internet-based communications services becoming subject to the strict confidentiality requirements, a temporary regulation was adopted in July 2021, permitting providers to use specific technology to combat child sexual abuse online.[2] The temporary regulation is limited until 3 August 2024. Due to the unclarity and the inclusion of extra privacy-preserving points, some ICT companies (such as Facebook) have stopped using the detection software. The number of reports of online child sexual abuse in Europe dropped dramatically after 20 December (58% less reports from Europe in 3 months).[3]

• Commission is working on a long-term legislation to tackle child sexual abuse online. In July 2020, the European Commission published the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse. The strategy provides a comprehensive response to the growing threat of child sexual abuse, both offline and online. The strategy focuses, inter alia, on legislation to effectively tackle child sexual abuse online, including by requiring relevant online service providers to detect, remove and report known child sexual abuse material to authorities. The Commission also wants to develop an European centre to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

• The European Institutions are currently debating The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, which aim to create a safer digital space where the fundamental rights of users are protected and to establish a level playing field for businesses.

2. What was the research methodology?

• Research was conducted online in 2021.
• The research was split into two parts – a smaller, non-representative qualitative phase and public opinion polling, quantitative, that was representative.
• The first phase saw groups of 30 x adults being recruited randomly across 7 countries to take part in an online research session to explore the topic. Countries were Poland, Hungary, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Spain.
• The second phase, the public opinion polling, involved more than 9.000 adults (representative of the national adult populations).
• There were at least 1.000 adults per country, with 2.000 in Germany.
• All participants were asked the same 5 x questions.
• The polling was conducted in all of the above countries plus Sweden.
• Polling was undertaken as part of YouGov’s online omnibus polling.
• All research was conducted in the local language.

3. What does phase 1, the qualitative data, tell us about the views of the groups in those 7 countries?

NB – phase 1 is not representative data – it is a snapshot of the views of a group of people.

• Most people in these groups had never heard of hash detection tools or anti-grooming tools, however when they heard about them, they wanted these tools used.
• When participants in these groups heard that these tools were not being used (or might not be used) they were angry.
• Participants saw this topic as complicated, complex and beyond the scope of individuals, families, individual companies or nations to solve – they felt powerless to protect all children, including their own.
• They were not clear who was the best person to act, but saw the EU as the likely best (or least bad) place for the problem to be addressed.

4. What does phase 2, the quantitative data, tell us about the views of the groups in those 7 countries?

NB – This data, from 8 countries, is representative of the adult population.

Looking at the data aggregated across all 8 countries:

• 76% of respondents are willing to give up some of their personal privacy online to allow for automated technology tools to be used to scan and detect images of child sexual abuse and exploitation to protect children online.
• Nearly 7 out of 10 people surveyed feel that there is not much, if any, privacy online.
• Those who believe online privacy does not exist (68%) outnumber those who believe it does (25%) by more than two to one.
• 77% of female respondents believe that children cannot use the internet safely without being approached by adults seeking to harm them online compared to 69 percent of male respondents.
• 68% of respondents in the eight countries support plans by the European Union to introduce new legislation to make it a legal duty for online platforms to always use automated technology tools for the detection of child sexual abuse material.
• The research findings were broadly consistent across all eight countries.

5. What might this quantitative data mean for the EU?

• Among some of the EU’s largest countries, the message is clear; the public want action taken to protect children online.
• There is strong support for proposed EU legislation, among these 8 countries
• Therefore, the EU needs to prioritize the online protection of children and integrate it in its legislation, such as the Digital Service Act, Digital Market Act and the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse.

6. Are EU citizens equipped to respond to these issues? Did they understand the implications of using detection tools?

• In the survey it was explained to the respondents that the tools continuously check the personal activity of all users on the platform, which means that users give away some of their personal privacy, because the tools scan images and messages in order to protect children.
• Three out of four people across the 8 countries in Europe believed protecting children from abuse was as important or more important than the protection of their own privacy.

[1] https://www.stibbe.com/en/news/2019/january/the-european-electronic-communications-code-is-now-in-force–10-takeaways

[2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-promoting-our-european-way-of-life/file-temporary-derogation-from-the-e-privacy-directive-for-ott-services

[3] https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2020/we-are-in-danger-of-losing-the-global-battle-for-child-safety

What does the public really think about the issues of policies regarding privacy and child protection online?

Over the last few years, conversations weighing the balance between online privacy and how to keep children safe online have increased, , but the issues are often confusing for non-experts. And while the debate is increasingly relevant for all internet users and the public, there is a risk that interest groups and even policymakers are speaking on behalf of the public without really knowing their views. This led the ECPAT network to ask, ‘what does the public really think about the issues of privacy and child protection online?’

In partnership with our member Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands and delivered by the internationally-recognised research company, YouGov, ECPAT conducted research in eight countries, across the European Union, to explore public attitudes towards online child protection and privacy.

The impetus for the study was the heated debate that took place in relation to a new regulation providing a temporary derogation from the Electronic Communications Code as part of the ePrivacy Directive. This regulation authorises technology companies, temporarily and with certain conditions and safeguards, to deploy specialised automated tools to voluntarily identify and detect child sexual abuse material. (You can learn more about the risks and impact of the regulation here.)

Our research was gathered from 9,410 adults in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Spain in September 2021. The research has shown widespread public support for the use of tools to identify child sexual abuse materials, and for the European Union to introduce ensure longer-term changes to legislation that will keep children safe online.
The message from some of the largest countries in the European Union is clear: the public wants action to keep children safe, and they see automated tools as the answer. You can read our summary report of the research here and/or download the full data here.

Join us in calling on EU institutions to mandates that technology companies to always keep the automated tools that can detect, remove, and report images of child sexual abuse and exploitation turned on!

Summary report is here:

https://ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Summary-Report-Polling-Research-16-November-21.pdf

Report could be find here:

https://ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Summary-Report-Polling-Research-16-November-21.pdf

Within the framework of Mario 3 Project the Greek delegation, led by Mr. George Moschos, Deputy Ombudsman in charge of children’s rights and the representatives of ARSIS Organisation had a meetings with the Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection (SACP) – Ms Ofelia Kaneva, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria – Ms. Maya Manolova and the Secretary of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (NCCTHB) – Ms. Kamelia Dimitrova. Neglected Children Society – ECPAT Bulgaria initiated and organized the visits of the Greek delegation as part of the implementation of Mario Project in Bulgaria. The meetings were also attended by representatives of the Greek partner within Mario Project – Nikos Gavalas, Legal Representative of ARSIS and Valbona Histuna, Project Coordinator at ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth, Thessaloniki.

 The Greek Deputy Ombudsman in charge of children’s rights, Mr. George Moschos and representatives of ARSIS – Greece, took part in a meetings in Sofia on December 16, 2016 and discussed with Ms. Maya Manolova, Ombudsman of Bulgaria, Ms. Ofelia Kaneva, Chairperson of SACP and Ms. Kamelia Dimitrova, Secretary of NCCTHB the possibility to reach a bilateral agreement between the Greek and Bulgarian authorities addressing the problems of Bulgarian children in street situation in Greece, the unaccompanied minors, migrant and refugee children.

 Neglected Children Society – ECPAT Bulgaria, in its capacity of a national partner within the international Mario Project, organized three meetings on December 16, 2016 between the Greek delegation and relevant representatives and experts from Bulgarian authorities, working in the child rights field. The visit was initiated by ECPAT as part of the national advocacy plan of the organization and in relation to the transnational activities within the project. In the end of the third phase of the 7-year-long Mario Project, the national partners from different countries had the responsibility to organise bilateral meetings for effective cooperation between countries of origin and countries of destination, as well as to take action toward better management of cases of children on the move and children victims of violence, trafficking and exploitation in Europe. Regarding the improvement of protection measures for Bulgarian children on the move in Greece, ECPAT Bulgaria organized three meetings for the delegation from Greece, led by the Greek Deputy Ombudsman in charge of children’s rights, Mr. George Moschos. In Sofia, the meetings were kindly hosted by the Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection, Ms. Ofelia Kaneva, and the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ms. Maya Manolova and the Secretary of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Ms. Kamelia Dimitrova. The meetings were attended by experts from the three institutions, as well as representatives of ECPAT Bulgaria. In addition to the exchange of information regarding the challenging areas and comments on the possibility for bilateral agreements, the three meetings in Bulgaria had the following goals: to present and discuss the international recommendations from the transnational research on Bulgarian children in street situation in Greece, carried out within Mario Project; to present the ideas about a European system for child protection and case management discussed in the Policy Paper, developed by Mario 3 Project partners; to present the “Advocacy Book. Recommendations for the protection of Bulgarian children on the move in the country and in Europe”, elaborated by ECAPT Bulgaria and published within Mario 3 Project.

According to the expectations raised in Mario Project, the bilateral expert meetings, supported by the results from the transnational research and the discussions about a potential bilateral cooperation, should provide the responsible state structures and organisations in the countries of origin and destination with an additional opportunity to discuss and overcome current challenges and risks children on the move are exposed to. In this sense, the bilateral expert meetings can be regarded as a platform for cooperation and joint activities to improve the protection of the identified children. It is also expected that the meetings will lead to:

• better coordination between state institutions on a bilateral level,
• enhanced awareness of state institutions regarding the situation of children on the move and the challenges they face,
• establishment of mechanisms for operational cooperation on individual cases.

During the meetings with the Greek delegation in Sofia the following topics were raised and discussed:

• clarifying the situation with the Bulgarian children on the streets in Greece – victims of exploitation, including by their families. ECPAT Bulgaria presented the Recommendations from the transnational research of Bulgarian children in street situation, which were addressed to the Bulgarian institutions and organisations;
• protection of Bulgarian children at risk in Greece and problems related to the interaction between Greek and Bulgarian institutions;
• possibilities to create European system for protection of children at risk, victims of trafficking and exploitation in EU Member States. ECPAT Bulgaria presented the Policy Document, which was elaborated within Mario 3 Project. The document lists measures to improve the protection of children in Europe and carry out better coordination between child protection systems;
• possible agreement for cooperation between the State Agency for Child Protection and the Ombudsman of Greece regarding issues, which fall within the competence of both parties, as well as a cooperation agreement between the Ombudsman of Bulgaria and Greece;
• presentation of the work of the State Agency for Child Protection in the area of child rights and transnational cases of children victims of trafficking and exploitation in EU Member States, difficulties in the international communication and communication with Greece; perspectives for joint work;
• presentation of the work of the Ombudsman of Greece in the area of child rights; initiatives to monitor and ensure protection for children at risk.

 The following topics were raised for discussion by the experts from the State Agency for Child Protection:

• problems with the illegal adoption of Bulgarian children in Greece;
• the situation of Bulgarian children residing in Greece without identity documents;
• protection of Bulgarian children abandoned by their parents;
• protection of Bulgarian children taken from their parents by the Greek authorities and accommodated at different institutions and services in Greece;
• problems regarding the protection of child refugees.

 The following topics were raised for discussion by the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings:

• comment on the existing cases of sale of babies, Bulgarian women giving birth to children in Greece and leaving them for adoption;
• information by the Greek partners about their relevant structures for prevention and combating trafficking in human beings, including trafficking in children in Europe.

 The meetings between the Greek Deputy Ombudsman in charge of children’s rights and the representatives of ARSIS with the Chairperson and experts of the State Agency for Child Protection, the Ombudsman’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria and the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings were carried out in an exceptionally constructive manner with professional discussion on the topics concerning children at risk.

During all three meetings, the Greek Deputy Ombudsman in charge of children’s rights, Mr. George Moschos, presented the work of the Greek Ombudsman related to child rights, focusing on three groups of problems related to children on the move in Greece and bringing them to the attention of the Bulgarian institutions:

1. The first group of problems was related to Bulgarian children on the move in Greece. The question at hand is how the two parties will handle cases of children who move from Bulgaria to Greece and work on the streets. According to data of the Deputy Ombudsman, there are approximately 200 such cases. In his opinion, the government and police in Greece attempt to solve the problem but are not satisfied with the results so far. Mr. Moschos stated that he wanted to know what specifically happens to these children in Greece, as well as when they return to Bulgaria, as they are holders of rights.

2. The second group of problems was related to unaccompanied children arriving from third countries (including children moving from Greece to Bulgaria and from Turkey to Bulgaria). According to Mr. Moschos, there is a problem with the standards and with the provision of effective protection, health care, school attendance, participation in social life, taking children’s opinion in consideration. Data shows that there are about 3000 unaccompanied minors in Greece, whereas the specialized shelters have a capacity of 1200 places.

3. The third group of problems was related to children born in Greece by a Bulgarian mother who move to Greece to give birth and arrange for a private adoption of the newborns. According to Mr. Moschos, the Greek legislation allows this but this practice must be regulated and in this respect, he expressed interest in the establishment of bilateral cooperation. He underlined that an agreement must be signed to have these cases registered by the Bulgarian authorities. That would help stop this practice where children are regarded as a source of financial transactions and business deals. At the moment, there are approximately 500 such cases known involving children born in Greece and privately adopted, which makes them lose their status of abandoned children.

During the meeting with the Greek delegation at the State Agency for Child Protection, Ms. Ofelia Kaneva and the Greek Deputy Ombudsman in charge of children’s rights, Mr. George Moschos, negotiated to draft an agreement and a joint declaration between the two parties.

 The Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection, Ms. Ofelia Kaneva, expressed readiness to cooperate in elaborating a bilateral agreement between Bulgaria and Greece on cases of children on the street. She underlined that a draft will be developed by March 2017 and sent to the Greek party, and she suggested that the teams which would work on the agreement from both countries should take part in joint meetings. The Greek Deputy Ombudsman took up the responsibility to support the process in Greece in setting up the team and invited representatives of the State Agency for Child Protection to visit and participate in a working meeting to develop the agreement. Ms. Kaneva took up the responsibility to finalise the discussion of specific duties on institutional level by March 2017, which will guarantee the rights of children and bilateral procedures in the future agreement between Bulgaria and Greece.

In the beginning of the meeting the Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection underlined that she hopes “for a broader and more active cooperation with the Greek side as the two countries face similar challenges”. Ms. Ofelia Kaneva also presented to the Greek delegation the priorities of the State Agency for Child Protection for 2017.

Ms. Kaneva also suggested to develop a joint declaration to reflect the experience of the two parties regarding the care for migrant children and to declare that these children are rights’ holders. The declaration should be related to the forthcoming agreement between Bulgaria and Greece. The Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection underlined that Bulgaria has good coordination between the institutions when providing support to unaccompanied children, using the possibilities offered by social services of residential type. Appropriate health and educational care is also provided but there is still more to be accomplished in this field.

During the meeting with the Ombudsman Ms. Maya Manolova she discussed with her Greek colleague Mr. George Moschos the problems with child rights protection in the two countries. The two of them agreed to cooperate in protecting the rights of child refugees, migrant children and unaccompanied children.

Ms. Maya Manolova explained that she had been in the position of Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria for one year and presented the institution’s work, pointing out that the National Ombudsman of Bulgaria has direct duties to protect the citizens and the rights of children. She noted that “there has been an Ombudsman in Bulgaria for 10 years now but this is not recognized by children” and that during her predecessors’ terms the topic of child rights has been slightly aside from the work of the Ombudsman. In her opinion there were 5 000 complaints in 2015 and 11 000 in the current 2016, but only 2 or 3 complaints submitted by children. The Ombudsman underlined: “We have too many responsibilities but protecting the rights of children is my main priority. In order to be most effective in protecting the rights of children, we established a specialized unit, which is run by Ms. Eva Zhecheva, whom we invited to our team from the State Agency for Child Protection, where she used to serve as a Chairperson.” Ms. Manolova explained that together with the Deputy Ombudsman, Ms. Diana Kovacheva, former Minister of Justice, they work to improve the legislation related to juvenile justice and protection of the interests of children in all areas.

Mr. George Moschos informed that the Greek Ombudsman for the rights of the child reviews annually 800 complains submitted by children, visits between 20 and 30 schools and holds numerous meetings with children. He underlined that during the past 2015 he was elected Ombudsman for the rights of the child for the fourth time. Mr. Moschos explained that the Greek Ombudsman’s Office has 7 Deputy Ombudsmen and the unit responsible for child rights employs 10 experts, whereas the entire service has 170 employees. Annually there are between 11 000 and 15 000 complaints.

The Greek Deputy Ombudsman underlined that there is a need for a bilateral agreement with the Bulgarian Ombudsman. He informed about Mrs.Manolova abo0ut the responsibility taken up by the Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection to create a working group for creating a bilateral draft agreement and expressed his wish for Ms. Manolova to cooperate on that matter.

Mr. Moschos informed that he was a member of the European Ombudsman Association and as such he had appealed for elaboration and provision of standards regarding child rights, the necessity of guardianship to be introduced and the need of exchanging information between different countries.

Ms. Manolova summarized the report prepared by the Institution of the Ombudsman regarding the unaccompanied child refugees submitted to the attention of the Parliament two months before, which had recommendations to all responsible institutions. They concerned mainly the creation of safe space for unaccompanied children seeking protection. During the meeting, Ms. Manolova informed the Greek guests about the joint work with Norway within the project “Capacity building of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria for independent monitoring and promotion of child rights”. Another topic for discussion during the meeting with the Greek Deputy Ombudsman was the forthcoming establishment of a Balkan network of Ombudsman in South-eastern Europe which Ms. Manolova had already discussed with the Ombudsmen of Macedonia and Serbia. Mr. Moschos informed that the question has recently been discussed in Skopje and he has suggested a joint Ombudsman meeting in May-June 2017 focusing on “all Ombudsman together for child rights”.

Ms. Eva Zhecheva shared that great results have been achieved regarding children victims of trafficking and exploitation in Bulgaria in contrast to the situation with child refugees. In her opinion, challenges first appear at the moment of identification of children at the border and later – with the coordination between the institutions. In Ms. Zhecheva’s opinion, resolving the problem requires coordination on a European level; strong national network to protect children in every European state and a systems of contact points in every EU Member State, when there are cases of children in a transnational situation. She also noted that in the future the Ombudsman would carry out independent monitoring of the implementation of the Coordination Mechanism for children victims of trafficking and child refuges, as well as all cases of children on the move.

Mr. Moschos expressed his wish that the Bulgarian Ombudsman would play the role of a strong communicator in the future joint activities between Bulgaria and Greece regarding the rights of children on the move.

During the meeting with the Secretary and the experts from the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings the group discussed the problems of Bulgarian children and adolescent – victims of trafficking and exploitation in Greece, the specific problems of begging children and Roma children and adolescents on the streets of Greece, as well as the the situation with Bulgarian women giving birth in Greece and the respective practice of private adoptions.

 The Report of the most important activities against trafficking in human beings, prepared by Maria Ververidou, senior expert at the Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Greece was presented during the meeting. The document outlines the legal and institutional framework of the fight against trafficking in human beings in Greece, the main areas of engagement; the development of the legal framework and the mechanism for identification of victims of trafficking; the interinstitutional cooperation against trafficking in human beings; the cooperation with the private sector; public awareness campaigns and training on the rights of children in schools; the creation of a parliamentary sub-committee on the issues of trafficking in human beings.

The Greek representatives and the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings agreed to cooperate in the area of protection of the rights of victims of trafficking, refugees, migrants, victims of labour and sexual exploitation, as well as to exchange information and establish a partnership between the Greek Office for monitoring and combating trafficking in human beings and the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.

At all three meetings between the Greek delegation and the State Agency for Child Protection, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria and the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings ECPAT Bulgaria presented its “Advocacy Book. Recommendations for the protection of Bulgarian children on the move in the country and in Europe”. The document outlines the problems regarding the protection of children on the move in Europe and was elaborated by Neglected Children Society – ECPAT Bulgarian within Mario 3 Project with the financial support of the OAK Foundation. The Advocacy Book presents an analysis from a survey on the problems of the Crisis Centres for children victims of trafficking and violence in Bulgaria and the recommendations to improve the care for children accommodated at these Centres; recommendations from transnational research within Mario Project on Bulgarian children in street situation in Greece; recommendations included in a Policy Document by the Mario Project partners to improve protection of children in Europe and create a European system for management of transnational cases of children on the move.

The three meetings of the Greek representatives with the Bulgarian institutions took place within the framework of the transnational activities of the Mario 3 Project – Joint action to protect children on the move from violence, trafficking and exploitation in Europe, financed by the OAK Foundation, coordinated by Terre des Hommes, Hungary and implemented by the national partner in Bulgaria Neglected Children Society – ECPAT Bulgaria.

16 December, 2016, Sofia