The protection of children against online violence
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 16082
| 03 December 2024
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted at the 1513th meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies (27 November 2024). 2025 - First part-session
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 2274
(2024)
1. The Committee of
Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 2274 (2024) “The protection of children against online violence”.
It has forwarded it to relevant bodies for information and possible
comments.
Note In view of the rise of digital technology
and children’s unhindered access to potentially harmful materials,
whether intentionally or unintentionally, the Committee of Ministers
shares the concerns expressed by the Assembly on this issue.
2. Protecting children from online violence is a complex task
due to the constantly evolving nature of digital platforms, the
global reach of the internet, the difficulty in regulating online
content across borders, and the need for co-ordination between multiple
stakeholders, including tech companies, law enforcement, and educators.
Additionally, balancing children's safety with privacy rights and
freedom of expression adds further complexity to these efforts.
These different dimensions are addressed by different bodies within
the Council of Europe (see below), with a view to addressing those
challenges which fall within the competences of our Organisation.
3. In response to paragraph 1.1 of the recommendation, the Parliamentary
Assembly will be aware that the Council of Europe Framework Convention
on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of
Law was adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 17 May 2024 and
opened for signature during a conference of Council of Europe Ministers
of Justice in Vilnius in September 2024. It is the first ever international
legally binding treaty aimed at ensuring that the use of AI systems
is fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of
law. The Committee of Ministers would underline that Article 18
of the Convention relates to the rights of persons with disabilities
and of children and provides that “Each Party shall, in accordance
with its domestic law and applicable international obligations,
take due account of any specific needs and vulnerabilities in relation
to respect for the rights of persons with disabilities and of children.”
5. With regard to paragraph 1.2 of the Assembly’s recommendation,
the Committee informs the Assembly that during its 9th plenary
meeting, the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF)
welcomed a “Feasibility study on age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality
education to strengthen responses for, inter alia, preventing
and combatting violence against children, including sexual violence
and harmful or risky behaviour”. The study emphasises the importance
of providing this education in formal, informal, and non-formal
settings to equip children with the skills to recognise and report
online violence. It also identifies key elements for a non-binding
instrument on age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education,
which will be developed by the CDENF by the end of 2026. The Committee
of Ministers encourages the Assembly to collaborate with the CDENF
in developing this instrument.
6. The Committee of Ministers also draws attention to the relevance
of its Recommendation
CM/Rec(2023)8 on strengthening reporting systems on violence against
children, adopted in September 2023, and its particular relevance
to the need of States to ensure safe reporting of violence against
children, including violence inflicted through digital technologies.
7. With regard to paragraph 2.2 of the Assembly’s recommendation:
[“providing children and parents with tools to raise awareness of
the dangers of the internet”], the Committee of Ministers notes
the continued commitment of the CDENF to “actively promote its Recommendation
CM/Rec(2018)7 to member States on Guidelines to respect, protect and
fulfil the rights of the child in the digital environment” and to
“take specific measures regarding its implementation in order to
enable all children to fully exercise their human rights and fundamental
freedoms online” as called for in the
Declaration by the
Committee of Ministers on the need to protect children’s privacy
in the digital environment. A number of tools have been developed to support this process,
including the
child-friendly
version of the Guidelines, “
Learn
about your rights in the digital environment”, translated in many languages and the checklist for
parents and caregivers in the document ”
Parenting
in the digital age – Positive parenting strategies for different
scenarios”. The storybook and video entitled “
Kiko
and the Manymes” on the misuse of pictures in the online environment
have been developed to support children and parents by raising awareness
on the dangers of the internet. The
Internet
Literacy Handbook is a more general tool for children, parents, teachers
and policy makers to be able to use the Internet safely and confidently
by being aware of opportunities and risks. For teenagers, the leaflet
“
So,
this is sexual abuse?” addresses sexual abuse, including online abuse and
the circulation of sexual images.
8. Recognising that additional measures should be taken to protect
children from harmful online content, the CDENF recently approved
a Mapping Study on children's rights and artificial intelligence
(AI), focusing on legal frameworks addressing AI in the context
of children's rights. The study highlights the responsibility of public
authorities to protect and empower children by raising awareness
of the risks posed by AI systems, and emphasises the importance
of education and awareness campaigns for young people. Additionally,
the CDENF organised a thematic exchange to explore how to protect
children from the risks of accessing pornographic content online,
underscoring the role of age verification, education, digital literacy
for both children and parents, and the involvement of policymakers,
tech companies, and social media platforms. As a follow-up to this
exchange, the CDENF is developing a thematic guidance note on the
issue, in line with its mandate.
9. The Council of Europe also continues its work to protect children
against all forms of violence through the implementation of the
Convention
on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual
Abuse, also known as “the Lanzarote Convention”. The Lanzarote
Convention requires States to educate children about the risks of
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse in a way that is adapted to
their evolving capacity (Article 6), raise awareness among the general
public about the phenomenon of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
of children and on the preventive measures which can be taken (Article
8), as well as to encourage reporting of these offences (Article
12) and provide helplines (Article 13) and assistance to victims
of these crimes (Article 14).
11. The Committee of Ministers also recalls that the 2024 edition
of the annual Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation
and Sexual Abuse (18 November) focused on Emerging technologies: threats
and opportunities for the protection of children against sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse.
12. The Committee of Ministers would also underline that it has
adopted several recommendations of relevance in this area, in the
field of media and information society. With regard to the protection
of children against online violence, it would draw particular attention
to three of these. The first, Recommendation
CM/Rec(2022)13 on the impacts of digital technologies on freedom of
expression stresses, in its preamble, the need to protect children,
whose human rights may be disproportionally harmed by certain types
of content that are widely available online and that any measures
to protect them need to respect freedom of expression and other
human rights, including freedom of expression as protected by Article
10 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The second, Recommendation
CM/Rec(2018)7 on Guidelines to respect, protect and fulfil the rights
of the child in the digital environment reiterates that the best
interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in all actions
concerning children in the digital environment and that In assessing
the best interests of a child, States should make every effort to
balance, and wherever possible, reconcile a child’s right to protection
with other rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression.
The third, Recommendation
CM/Rec(2022)11 on principles for media and communication governance,
provides a comprehensive framework for regulating, co-regulating,
and self-regulating digital environments in a manner that complies
with human rights, including legislative and other measures aimed
at protecting children.
