Italy and six other EU countries team up for digital education for minors

Brussels – Not only barriers to access for ‘adult’ sites and content and the firm action of the Commission, but also digital education to provide the tools to child-proof safe web surfing. Italy, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia, and Spain team up in Europe on child protection and access to social platforms through a policy paper, a non-paper presented at the Telecommunications Council in Luxembourg.

“Italy is strongly committed to the protection of minors in the digital environment and believes that a ban alone is not effective without adequate educational action,” emphasises the deputy minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Valentino Valentini. “The government therefore promotes digital literacy and the safe use of online technologies, recognising the central role of families in supporting and guiding children’s behaviour on the web“.

In addition to having obtained the inclusion of a new item on the agenda, Valentini took the opportunity to recall how, in 2023, Italy adopted organic legislation to strengthen the protection of minors, both as victims and as potential perpetrators of online crimes, with particular attention to their safety in the digital space. A measure that could serve as a contribution to the debate, if not as an example. “In particular,” the deputy minister recalls, “the new law promotes the use of parental control tools, so that parents can monitor the activity of minors online, and the provision of effective age verification systems for access to pornographic sites.”