Combating child sexual abuse (CSA) is an important objective of the EU. In this connection, the Internet as an environment in which children spend a great deal of time poses a particular challenge. In May 2022, the EU Commission proposed the European Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSA-R), “to prevent and combat child sexual abuse”, which includes several components. The aim of the CSA-R is to prevent the sexual abuse of children online (including cyber grooming), to detect, report and prosecute the perpetrators of sexual abuse of children online and to support the victims. This proposal is currently the subject of debate at both European and national level. In Germany, some steps have already been taken to implement the DSA, and these need to be followed up.
The AGF (Association of German Family organisations) is involved in various debates based on its discussion paper “Digital change and its impact on families”. It is a member of the advisory board of the Federal Centre for Child and Youth Media Protection (BzKJ). As a member of and in cooperation with COFACE Families Europe (the European umbrella association of family organisations), it has participated in various expert discussions.
The family organisations share the concern about the threat of sexual abuse in digital media. They are calling for these threats to be taken seriously and placed at the centre of considerations. The associations see it as essential task to focus the debate on the actual core of the objectives and to take the heat out of the debate, with its exaggerated polarisation between data protection and child protection, in the interests of children and their families.
Read AGF comment paper which includes remarks on specific measures within the EU Commission proposal here.
