Safer Internet Day: Security and freedom are not opponents

guest post

On Safer Internet Day, Green politicians Tobias Bacherle and Denise Loop make it clear that children and young people are not responsible for their own safety on the internet. Protecting them while at the same time allowing them their freedom is the task of politics. A guest post.

By Tobias Bacherle and Denise Loop

The everyday life of children has long been taking place in the digital space. Games, chatting, Tiktok – the average age of children who use the Internet is also getting younger and younger. Digital media are part of everyday life for children and young people. Their protection and also their rights in the digital space are becoming increasingly important. One thing is clear: child protection anchored in constitutional law, fundamental rights and privacy must be considered together in the digital space.

With the rejuvenation of users, the challenge of making the Internet an open, self-determined and democratic space increases. A space in which children and young people can move freely and develop their personalities, and in which all their rights are explicitly protected.

Tobias BacherleImage: Green / Sigle

Denise LoopImage: Green

So how can a free development of personality and self-determination on the Internet and at the same time strong, consistent protection against dangers such as grooming, sexualised violence and the distribution of such content be guaranteed? Part of the reality of the digital age is that children and young people also have digital rights – that is, a right to free and secure access to the network.

Children and young people spend large parts of their free time online. On the one hand, this is about digital participation, about the possibility of being able to decide for yourself which social media platforms I want to register on and be part of a community and culture. Queer young people in particular find contact persons and allies on the Internetwhen they are looking for their own identity and do not find it in their immediate social environment or are not accepted there.

It is therefore also important to protect the fundamental rights of children online. Monitoring all communication without cause using chat controls – for example via explicitly built-in security gaps (so-called client-side scanning) – should therefore be rejected. Even an identification requirement, for example through a real name requirement or de-anonymized age verification on the internet, cannot be a solution, especially for children, to the question of how we can guarantee a safe internet for children.

Games, chats, Tiktok – the average age of users is steadily decreasing.Image: Pexels / cottonbro studio

Because children and young people also have a right to informal self-determination and anonymous or pseudonymous use of the Internet.

But reality also includes: We must ensure that children can count on effective, consistent and effective protection from online violence. However, we see worldwide that sexualized violence against children and young people on the Internet, its depiction and distribution has skyrocketed in recent years.

This means incredible suffering for those affected.

People who become victims of sexualized violence at a young age often suffer from the severe psychological and physical consequences of the attacks for the rest of their lives. Anyone who distributes and downloads images of sexualized violence against children is complicit in this and should face the appropriate legal consequences.

Combating sexualized violence against children requires an approach that, in addition to effective criminal prosecution options, also strengthens prevention work and takes a children’s rights perspective. In addition to prevention, which is always an indispensable part of child protection, there must therefore be simple, visible and accessible ways to report content of sexualised violence and to seek immediate help.

This includes expanding the classic help and reporting systems for victims of sexualised violence. At the same time, people must be able to digitally report suspicious content in messenger chats, in online games and in the “For You” pages of TikTok and Co. in a legally secure manner.

The platforms must also be held accountable here, to ensure democratic and non-violent standards on their platforms. So that they can reduce the risk of violent acts on their platforms – and address any deletion, blocking, reporting and investigation quickly, effectively and consistently.

It is also crucial that reported material that has not yet been deleted can no longer be displayed. In addition, the investigative authorities must be expanded in terms of personnel and structure in order to combat sexualized violence against children effectively and in a way that can be implemented. We therefore consider the Europe-wide coordination center proposed by the EU Commission to be a sensible part of the EU regulation proposal.

As politics it is our task to shape the laws and offers in such a way that children and young people can use the possibilities of the internet creatively. These requirements also show that it is the responsibility of those around the children and young people to create and maintain secure digital spaces through digital protection concepts.

Children and young people themselves are not responsible for protecting themselves.

Protecting children in their freedom and integrity on the Internet, as well as protecting their privacy on the Internet, are two sides of the same coin and not opponents, as is often assumed in the current debate. Successful network and youth protection policy must guarantee both. It must adopt a children’s rights perspective that takes into account the aspects of protection, participation and empowerment of children and young people.