CHI Welcomes Recommendations Placing Children’s Rights and Platform Responsibility at the Centre of Online Safety
Child Helpline International (CHI) was honoured to participate in the Special Panel appointed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to advise the EU on next steps regarding online child safety and potential age restrictions on accessing social media. Today, the co-chairs of the Special Panel have issued a comprehensive set of recommendations drawing […]
Child helplines urge Irish EU Presidency to secure the future of Europe’s Safer Internet Centres
AMSTERDAM – Child Helpline International (CHI), INHOPE and Insafe, together with 26 organizations from 19 EU Member States and two neighbouring countries, are calling on the Irish Presidency and all EU institutions to help secure the future of Europe’s Safer Internet Centres. For more than two decades, Safer Internet Centres have been an integral part […]
La Strada-Ukraine: Professionalism, Resilience and Extraordinary Commitment
In recent days, Kyiv has endured devastating missile and drone attacks, with lives lost, many people injured, and homes and buildings across the city damaged. Among those affected is our member, La Strada-Ukraine. During an overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv on 1-2 July, the blast wave from a nearby strike damaged La […]
Joint Statement on potential age restrictions for children to access social media
Child rights organizations and experts unite to call on the EU to steer away from social media bans
BRUSSELS – Ahead of the third meeting of the Special Panel advising President Ursula Von Der Leyen on a potential social media ban in the EU, more than 170 child rights organizations and experts across Europe have joined forces to call for a more nuanced and rights-based approach. Since last year, and inspired in part […]
A childhood free of exploitation
We need an ambitious DFA to protect our children and our future democracies
Big Tech is lobbying hard to weaken the EU’s upcoming Digital Fairness Act. And children across Europe will ultimately pay the price, should they succeed. Every day, more than 1,500 children contact child helplines across Europe with mental health concerns shaped by their experiences, both offline and online. These are not singular cases – they […]
EU Agrees to Ban AI Nudifying Tools and AI-Generated CSAM
A reflection on this major step forward
After intense and sustained advocacy by child rights organisations, the European Union agreed last week to ban AI systems that can nudify or are capable of generating child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The agreement marks an important milestone in recognising the harms posed by AI systems that can generate sexual content, particularly for children and young […]
Joint Statement on the End of EU Legal Basis to Detect CSA
Europe is switching its detection of child sexual abuse online off BRUSSELS – Because of political gridlock, from 3 April 2026, online service providers in the European Union will no longer be able to detect child sexual abuse material on their platforms. A letter signed by over 245 organisations working to advance children’s rights and […]
JUST LISTEN officially launches in Lisbon
On 3–4 February 2026, Laura and I travelled to Lisbon, Portugal, to attend the kick-off meeting of the JUST LISTEN – Justice Professionals Listening to and Engaging Safely with Traumatized and Exploited Children, a project co-funded by the European Union under the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Hosted by NOVA School of Law, the two-day meeting marked the […]
Letter to the European Commission on Children’s Online Protection
Calling for children’s voices to shape EU digital policy
In December, Child Helpline International, together with our national members Børns Vilkår (Denmark) and BRIS (Sweden), sent a letter to President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission calling for children’s voices to be placed at the centre of EU policymaking on online safety. Drawing on direct insights from millions of contacts to child […]
The Role of Child Helplines in Ending Domestic Violence Against Children in the EU
Position Paper and Child Helpline Data – December 2025 Domestic violence remains one of the most persistent and under-detected forms of violence affecting children across the European Union (EU). This report brings together annual data submitted by child helplines and findings from a dedicated consultation with child helplines from 16 EU Member States. Every year, thousands of children […]