Joint statement from the EU Coalition for Children’s Right Online on the EU KIDS Act Proposal
Led by 5Rights, a collective of human rights and children’s rights organisations across Europe, commends the EU KIDS Act proposal for its grounding in fundamental rights and its precautionary approach, that establishes default safety-by-design principles for all minors and new due diligence obligations for providers.
However, gaps remain to fully realise the promise of safer digital environment for all children and ensure companies are required to prove that they are safe. To achieve this objective, we urge the EU policymakers to embed the following principles in the proposed Regulation:
- Greater recognition of diversity of children’s lived experiences and of unequal risks and exposure to online harms;
- A strict implementation of the principle of accountability;
- A greater tech neutral approach through streamlined obligations and safety requirements for services;
- A strengthened ex-ante approach through risk assessments and a pre-certification process for all services accessible to children.
To implement these principles, the EU Coalition for Children’s Rights online suggests the following changes to the proposal:
- Cover every service that is accessible to minors and may cause them harm;
- Guarantee the same level of protection wherever children are online;
- Make access depend on the safety of the service, not on parents;
- Make guardian tools a support for children and their families;
- Require proof of safety before access to the market.
The Coalition remains fully committed to dialogue and look forward to engaging closely throughout the negotiation process to ensure that the proposed Regulation delivers a rights-respecting, robust, enforceable, and future-proof framework for the safety of all children.
