Children deserve a secure and safe internet

Chil­dren deserve a secure and safe inter­net

Dear Member of the Euro­pean Parli­a­ment,

I am joining 124 civil soci­ety orga­ni­sa­ti­ons in calling to oppose the ‘Regu­la­tion laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse’ (CSA Regu­la­tion) and to pursue an alter­na­tive which is compa­ti­ble with EU funda­men­tal rights.

The United Nati­ons and UNICEF state, online privacy is vital for young people’s deve­lop­ment and self-expres­sion, and chil­dren should not be subjec­ted to gene­ra­li­sed survei­llance. The UK Royal College of Psychi­a­trists high­lights that snoo­ping is harm­ful for chil­dren, and that poli­cies based in empo­wer­ment and educa­tion are more effec­tive.

If passed, this law will turn the inter­net into a space that is dange­rous for everyo­ne’s privacy, secu­rity and free expres­sion. This inclu­des the very chil­dren that the legis­la­tion aims to protect.

Privacy, secu­rity and free expres­sion are impor­tant for provi­ding confi­den­tial support to abuse survi­vors, for deve­lo­ping our auto­nomy and sense of self, and for acces­sing and enjoying almost all our other human and civil rights. When you funda­men­tally under­mine how the inter­net works, you make it less safe for everyone.

If passed, the CSA Regu­la­tion propo­sal would also harm whist­le­blo­wers, acti­vists in poli­ti­cal oppo­si­tion, labour unions, people seeking abor­ti­ons in places where it is crimi­na­li­sed, media free­dom, margi­na­li­sed groups and many others. This will set a dange­rous prece­dent for mass survei­llance around the world.