ECPAT and NSPCC’s 2023 Poll has shown that public opinion remains steadfast. We surveyed 25,151 people aged 18+ across 15 EU countries and the UK and we found out that the call for legislation to protect children online is not up for debate; it’s an urgent public demand. More than half of all Europeans surveyed declared that this issue will influence how they vote at a future election. With the European Parliament elections on the horizon in June 2024, MEPs face a duty and a moral imperative to enact meaningful legislation for online child safety.
Not only are Europeans calling for more child safety online, but ECPAT and Eurobarometer data show they want it now more than ever. In 2021, ECPAT conducted a similar poll, asking EU citizens about their views on child safety online. The findings from 2021 and 2023 underscore a major growing concern among European citizens: children in 2023 are not safer online than they were in 2021. The time has come to place legal obligations on online service providers, such as social media platforms, to assess and mitigate the risk of child sexual abuse on their online platforms.
In the words of Frida*, a survivor of technology-facilitated sexual abuse as a child:
“As a 13-year-old, I deserved to be safe, and I deserved the right to express myself on the internet. As someone in my early twenties I deserve the right to privacy, the right to know that explicit images and videos of me as a child can’t continue to be shared.”
Despite the contentious debate around online privacy, ECPAT and NSPCC poll reveal that 72% of adults in the EU and the UK are willing to compromise some degree of their privacy online if it helps to protect children from risks of sexual abuse online. Data show that more than 70% of adults in the EU and the UK support online service providers to detect, report, and remove child sexual abuse material and grooming on end-to-end encrypted services. The message is clear: privacy concerns should not eclipse the safety of our children.
Amy Crocker, Head of Child Protection and Technology at ECPAT International said:
Public sentiment remains unswayed by privacy debates that overshadow child protection needs. The demand for comprehensive legislation safeguarding our children online is urgent, immediate, and non-negotiable. EU leaders can no longer afford to be inactive or indecisive. Privacy is essential, buthe well-being of our children must be the cornerstone of EU digital policies.
Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive, said:
It’s clear that voters across the UK and Europe back strong protections for children online and companies opposed to regulation are becoming increasingly out of step with their user base. Lawmakers and tech executives should listen to the voices of survivors and the public by placing the safety of children at the centre of their decision-making.
Data reveals that Europeans see online service providers as one of the most important actors in preventing and protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation online. And for a good reason! A WeProtect Global Study on the experiences of 18-20-year-old confirms Europeans’ growing concern: more than 60% of child respondents in Europe are experiencing at least one form of child sexual abuse online. Alarmingly, more than 60% of children worldwide are receiving unwanted sexually explicit photos, videos, or messages through mobile phones on private messaging services.
ECPAT Disrupting Harm research shows that advice and education coming from parents and teachers is not enough to protect children online. More needs to be done on the side of tech companies and online service providers as the dangers for children increase.
Meet ECPAT Project Beacon – Putting children’s rights into the heart of digital policy
What do the EU citizens really think about data privacy and child protection online?
How far are we to ensure Child Safety Online in the EU? A timeline of events.
Towards online child protection in the EU
Why Does Online Child Protection Matter? Here is ECPAT Project Beacon to explain why
ECPAT welcomes European Commission’s proposal to prevent and combat child sexual abuse
What is ECPAT doing to ensure Child Safety Online in the EU?
Comment, like, and share to help us get the word out! #EUvsChildSexualAbuse #ChildSafetyON
ECPAT International, as part of the ECLAG coalition, has joined forces with DOT Europe to support the European Parliament’s position on the explicit criminalisation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) for personal use.
Together, we are urging the Council to uphold and adopt this critical position in the final text of the Recast Directive. The creation and possession of AI-generated CSAM, even without involving real children, fuels the demand for abusive material, normalises harmful behaviours, and contributes to the broader ecosystem of child sexual exploitation. Clear legislation is essential to close legal gaps and ensure that emerging technologies are not misused to facilitate harm against children.
In this study, ECPAT International and its partners explored the issue of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse through research aimed at documenting local knowledge and understanding of the issue in four West African countries, assessing practices and identifying localised responses. The results of this research were consolidated in four specific situational analyses.
Available in: English, French
In January 2025, ECPAT International and Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights organised a national workshop in Erbil, Iraq, to discuss the findings of a joint case study on child sexual exploitation in humanitarian contexts and propose survivor-centred responses. The study highlighted the stigma faced by survivors, the growing risks of child sexual exploitation in Iraq due to previous and ongoing crises, and the need for evidence-based advocacy to influence national and international actors.
Available in: English
While the travel and tourism industry’s role in child protection is well recognised, less attention has been given globally to the informal sector. As a result, limited information exists on how the informal sector can help prevent or reduce the risk of child sexual exploitation. This analysis explores the risks children face in the informal tourism sector, how it can be misused by those who sexually exploit children, and documents existing practices to engage the informal sector in child protection. It also examines the role of the sharing economy in preventing child sexual exploitation.
Available in: English, Portuguese, Spanish
The purpose of this framework is to contribute to improved child protection outcomes in travel and tourism, as the result of providing tourism educational professionals with a set of core competencies that can be used as a guidance when developing curricula, modules and training.
This core competencies framework for tourism education professionals to integrate child protection into training curricula is based on identified knowledge, skills and attitudes that have been agreed as essential elements to effectively protect children and youth in the travel and tourism context.
Available in: English
This case study on how to regulate voluntourism that involves children is based on the analysis of actionable models resulting from the experiences of the selected origin and destination countries that undertook efforts to address this issue over the last years. The approaches and promising practices in this case study are presented as practical examples, with a technical brief to guide governments, businesses, civil society organisations, and other institutions to build effective partnerships and take action to protect children from the negative impacts of unregulated voluntourism.
Available in: English, Spanish