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In September 2021, the Commission launched a REFIT initiative to assess the implementation of Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, with a view to revising it. This appraisal takes stock of reports published by the Commission, positions adopted and analyses submitted by EU institutions and agencies, and the relevant European Court of Human Rights case law. The directive requires the EU Member States to criminalise a series of ...

Child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse are among the worst forms of violence against children, and are crimes that know no borders. The constant rise of these crimes, exacerbated by the pandemic, underscores the importance of harmonised national legislation and international cooperation to improve prevention, protect the victims and prosecute the perpetrators. The European Day helps to raise awareness to this end.

The Commission demonstrates that child sexual abuse online is a serious problem that needs to be tackled. It frames the problem for the purpose of this IA in a narrow way, focusing on the legal fragmentation of the internal market for service providers. The root causes of the serious societal problem of offenders sexually abusing children – which leads to the production of CSAM – are not further examined. The IA considered five cumulative options; however, the formulation of the general objective ...

With internet-based communications services, such as webmail, messaging services and internet telephony, becoming subject to the strict confidentiality requirements of the e-Privacy Directive, providers' deployments of specific technologies to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material online now appear unlawful. To accommodate such practices, the European Commission proposed a regulation that would temporarily exempt them from certain provisions of the e-Privacy Directive, without, however ...

The volume of child abuse materials circulating on the internet has increased dramatically during the pandemic, as both children and child sex offenders spend more time, and interact more, online. Enabled by digital technologies, child sex offenders have tapped into opportunities that were previously unavailable to communicate freely and directly with each other and with children, creating online communities where they share their crimes. Today, they can reach children via webcams, connected devices ...

This briefing paper addresses the definition and scope of children’s online safety as a policy issue and process. The paper draws on evidence of risks that children may encounter in the course of their use of the Internet. This is one of three briefing papers requested by the CULT Committee to assist in its assessment of the requirements to ensure adequate support for protection of minors and children’s wellbeing in the digital age.

This briefing paper provides information, analysis and recommendations regarding future EU policy developments on the protection of minors in the digital age to support the CULT Committee’s deliberations. Focusing on developments since 2012, it identifies recent policy developments at EU level, evaluates existing EU initiatives and instruments, and recommends further action by the European Commission and other stakeholders.

Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, adopted in December 2011, establishes minimum standards for the definition of, and sanctions for, such criminal offences, as well as provisions to strengthen the prevention of those crimes and the protection of victims. During the December plenary session, the Parliament is due to debate a report on the implementation of the directive.

This European implementation assessment analyses the implementation of Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. This study, written in-house, focuses on the following areas: prevention, identification of victims, investigation and prosecution, and assistance and protection for victims. It begins with a contextualisation of the directive and presents the provisions of the EU legal framework. The assessment highlights a number of ...

This study was commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the LIBE Committee. The study provides an overview of existing legislation at European Union, Member State and the international level related to online child sexual abuse. The study also provides an account of the role of law enforcement agencies in combatting child sexual abuse online and other governmental and private sector initiatives. Some of the current ...