Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2004)91 - Establishing a multiannual Community programme on promoting safer use of the Internet and new online technologies - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2004)91 - Establishing a multiannual Community programme on promoting safer use of the Internet and new online technologies. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2004)91  |
| date | 12-03-2004 |
The Internet is now a household world. From its beginnings as a communications medium for scientists, it has exploded into a medium used in homes, schools, businesses and public administrations. It has been the defining force of the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century and its potential is still in many ways untapped.
Illegal and harmful content and conduct on the Internet is a continuing concern for lawmakers, industry and end-users, particularly parents and educators. The European Union has been a forerunner in the fight against illegal and harmful content since 1996 i.
The Safer Internet programme 1999 - 2004 i is a major element in the Commission's activity in the field. The programme has set up a European network of hotlines, encouraged self-regulation and codes of conduct, supported development of filtering and rating systems and stimulated awareness actions.
According to recently completed external evaluation on the period 1999-2002 i, the programme has made a significant contribution during the first 4 years but the complexity of the issues and the multiplicity of the actors involved means that there is still a need for further action.
There are now new challenges both in quantitative and qualitative terms.
Qualitative terms: new technologies include ever-increasing processing power and storage capacity of computers, broadband allowing distribution of content such as video which requires high bandwidth, and the increased capacity of the latest generation of mobile telephone networks. The new generation of mobile phones will be able to distribute 'adult' content and discussions are under way how to restrict access to this type of content so that parents can have phones with blocking devices to prevent children stumbling across explicit Web sites and unsuitable online chat rooms.
In quantitative terms, the technological changes already described contribute to an increase in the volume as well as in the types of content distributed.
The level of use of Internet and new technologies is growing. Internet access in the home now accounts for a growing share of the market, and children are connected to it in school even where they do not have it in their homes. Internet penetration in the home stands at more than 42% for citizens; it exceeds 90% for businesses and schools.In the 13 months from April 2002 to April 2003, the number of European surfers using high-speed connections (which includes DSL, LAN and Cable Modem) grew by 136%, according to the latest research from Nielsen/NetRatings. In some countries the growth rate was higher, with the UK experiencing the largest increase at 235%.
Broadband users are spending significantly more time online, using the web more often, and visiting more websites than their slower, dial-up counterparts. In Germany, for instance, narrowband users spend on average seven and a half hours on the web every month, whereas for broadband users this increases to 21 hours, equivalent to almost one day per month.
According to a recent survey carried out by one of the awareness projects funded under the current programme covering Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, 97% of children in these countries aged 9 to 16 years have used a computer.
4 out of 10 children who have chatted on the Internet say that people they have only met on the net have asked to meet them in person. 14% of the children have met someone they first met on the net, while only 4 % of the parents think the children have done this. 44 % of the children who use the Internet have visited a pornographic Web site by accident or on purpose. One fourth has received pornographic material through the net. 30 % of the children have seen Web sites with violent material, while only 15 % of the parents think their children have seen this.
This increase in connectivity by children will see a corresponding increase in benefits for them but also risks of 'collateral damage'.
The proliferation of unsolicited e-mail, or spam, has reached a point where it creates a major problem for the development of e-commerce and the Information Society. A significant proportion of spam consists of advertisements for pornography, some of it clearly illegal in all circumstances. It is estimated that over 50 percent of global e-mail traffic will soon be spam.
Contents
- 2. PROMOTING SAFER USE OF THE INTERNET AND NE W ONLINE TECHNOLOGIES
- 2.1. The legislative context
- 2.2. Future developments
- 2.3. Public consultation
- 2.4. Conclusion
- 3. A NEW PROGRAMME
- 3.1. Principles, objectives and orientation
- 3.2. Actions
- 3.2.1. Fighting against illegal content
- 3.2.2. Tackling unwanted and harmful content
- 3.2.3. Promoting a safer environment
- 3.2.4. Awareness-raising
- 3.2.5. Links with other initiatives
- 4. LEGAL BASIS
Illegal content on one hand and unwanted or harmful content on the other hand require different techniques to deal with them - although unwanted or harmful content may also be illegal as is often the case with spam.
Illegal content and conduct is whatever is so defined by the applicable national law and although there are many common features, there are also significant differences of details between the laws of Member States (and of third countries where content may be produced or hosted).
The primary method of dealing with illegal content and conduct is for the police to arrest the offenders and for them to be brought before the courts and convicted and punished if found guilty. There may also be regulatory bodies responsible for taking action to enforce certain rules (such as consumer protection) or there may be parallel civil remedies (as with copyright infringements).
In new media such as the Internet, this process is complicated by the fact that the elements of the offence may be spread out over different countries, and that it may be difficult to exercise jurisdiction over the prime culprits. International co-operation is therefore needed.
Unwanted content is content that certain users do not wish to receive. Harmful content means content which adults responsible for children (parents or teachers) consider to be harmful to those children. There may also be legal provisions restricting distribution of harmful content to adults only (legal pornography, for instance).
A variety of means exist to deal with unwanted and harmful content, all of which need to be used in combination in order to increase their effectiveness: enforcement of legal provisions, self-regulation, technical means such as filtering, and awareness-raising.
In the area of illegal content and in the regulation of distribution of harmful content, the primary liability of content providers is still largely a matter of national law. There is also a divergence of the sensitivity in different Member States to public exposure of nudity and sexual activity and exposure of children to nudity and violence.
However, there are instruments which lay down rules which Member States are required to implement.
The Directive on Electronic Commerce i regulates important aspects of the liability of intermediary service providers for 'mere conduit', caching and hosting.
The EU was a first mover on the legal front against unsolicited commercial communications or spam by adopting a Directive on privacy and electronic communications i that will lead to a pan-European ban on spam to individuals. The Commission has published a Communication i on the subject which identifies a series of actions that are needed to complement the EU rules and thereby make the ban on spam as effective as possible.
The Recommendation on protection of minors and human dignity i makes recommendations for Member States, the industry and parties concerned and the Commission, and includes indicative guidelines on protection of minors. The implementation of the Recommendation was evaluated for the first time in 2000/2001. The report on the application of this Recommendation i published in 2001 showed that the application of the Recommendation was already then overall quite satisfactory. The Commission has adopted a second report on the implementation of the Recommendation, on the basis of a questionnaire which was sent to both the Member States and the acceding States i.
The Framework Decision on child pornography i sets out minimum requirements for Member States in the definition of offences and for sanctions.
It is possible to make predictions on the new media landscape and the problems likely to be seen in 2005 and beyond, based on current trends:
* New technologies and new ways of using existing technologies will be developed. These will provide new opportunities to the vast majority of law-abiding businesses and citizens;
* Use of new media by children will be an important part of their lives;
* However, criminals will use new media for carrying out their activities and will devise new ways of defrauding businesses and consumers;
* Alongside more structured professional structures of production and distribution familiar to traditional media, the distinctive feature of the Internet will remain the possibility for atomised production, reinforced by ways of ensuring secrecy and production of video-on-demand;
* At the same time, technology offers scope to devise new ways of preventing and detecting crime and identifying the criminals;
* The sexual exploitation of children will continue through production of child pornography and use of new technologies to contact possible victims of sexual abuse.
The process of defining the problem and the need for a new programme was informed by a series of public consultations between November 2002 and September 2003 i.
These confirmed the relevance of the action and the need for continued support at European Union level. There was agreement that the problem of safer use of the Internet continued to be a real concern and the problem was aggravated by the new technologies and new ways of using such technologies which were emerging. Different types of actions were required at different levels, local, regional, at European level and internationally - awareness actions in particular had to be carried at the level of end users, parents and children, using a multiplier effect. In all cases, action by the European Union could ensure European added value. Stakeholders particularly emphasised the need for international co-operation. There was agreement on the extended scope of the programme actions; in particular the coverage of spam.
The proposal takes full account of these ideas. Some ideas which were put forward to extend the scope for the programme, including exploitation of children for commercial purposes, network and information security and data protection, are already covered by other EU policy and funding initiatives. They have been included as part of the awareness message and by making appropriate references.
There will be a continued need for action both in the area of content unwanted by the end user or potentially harmful to children and in the area of illegal content, particularly child pornography.
Reaching international agreement on legally binding rules is desirable but will a challenge to achieve and, even then, will not be achieved rapidly. Even if such agreement is reached, it will not be enough in itself to ensure implementation of the rules or to ensure protection of those at risk.
Practical measures continue to be needed to encourage reporting of illegal content to those in a position to deal with it, to promote best practice for codes of conduct embodying generally agreed canons of behaviour, and to inform and educate parents and children on the best way to benefit from the potential of new media in a safe way.
Action at Member State level is essential involving a wide range of actors from national, regional and local government, network operators, parents, teacher and school administrators etc.. The EU can stimulate best practice in Member States by carrying out an orientation role both within the EU and internationally and providing support for European-level benchmarking, networking and applied research.
International co-operation is also essential and can be stimulated, co-ordinated, relayed and implemented by action through the EU networking structures.
The new programme will be inspired by the principles of continuity and enhancement:
* Continuity: continue doing what Europe does best by taking account of lessons learned and by building on the achievements of the initiatives already funded so as to ensure that their effects continue;
* Enhancement: meet new threats, ensure European added-value, stimulate a multiplier effect and broaden international outreach.
The overall objective would continue to be: to promote safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, particularly for children, and to fight against illegal content and content unwanted by the end user. In line with this, the programme would focus on the end-user - particularly parents, educators and children.
The programme will seek to involve and bring together the different actors whose co-operation is essential but who do not necessarily always come together unless the appropriate structures are put in place.
This includes content providers, Internet service providers and mobile network operators, regulators, standards bodies, industry self-regulatory bodies, national, regional and local authorities responsible for industry, education, consumer protection, families, children's rights and child welfare and non-governmental organisations active in consumer protection, families, children's rights and child welfare.
There will be four Actions: fighting against illegal content, tackling unwanted and harmful content, promoting a safer environment and awareness-raising. In each case, international co-operation would be an integral part of the action.
As stated above, public authorities (the police, public prosecutors and the courts) are in the forefront of the fight against illegal content. Only they can ensure that offenders are brought to justice. Hotlines are reporting mechanisms which allow members of the public to report illegal content and which pass the reports on to the appropriate body for action (Internet Service Provider, police or correspondent hotline) and are a way in which industry and non-governmental organisations (particularly those set up to protect children or fight racism) can contribute to this process and help to reduce the circulation of illegal content. Many people who would be reluctant to make reports directly to the police will report to a non-official hotline.
The existing hotline network is a unique organisation which would not have been set up without EU funding. The network has been very successful in expanding membership and has an international reach.
Individual hotlines contribute towards the operations of the network, as well as obtaining benefit from it. The majority of reports dealt with by a hotline refer to situations where either the host web site or content provider are outside the area of the hotline and outside the jurisdiction of its courts. Provision of EU funding allows the Commission to ensure that European standards are applied in the selection of hotlines and that hotlines do in fact contribute towards the network.
It is therefore proposed to fund network co-ordination and individual hotlines. In this context, ways need to be explored in which industry can contribute with its technical expertise to the fight against illegal content. The network should be extended to cover the new Member States and candidate countries, and other European countries where illegal content is hosted and produced.
Such hotlines should liaise closely with other actions, such as self-regulation or awareness-raising and could be run by organisations which are involved in such actions.
The hotline network should ensure coverage and exchange of reports of the major types of illegal content of concern - extending beyond the area of child pornography. Different mechanisms and different expertise may be required to deal with other areas such as racist content.
The programme will provide funding for technological measures which empower users to limit the amount of unwanted and harmful content which they receive, and to manage it if received nonetheless, such as assessing the effectiveness of available filtering technology, supporting the development of effective filtering technology and funding for measures to facilitate and co-ordinate exchanges of information and best practices on effective enforcement against spam.
Other initiatives to deal with unwanted and harmful content will include further work on content rating to take account of the availability of the same content through different delivery mechanisms (convergence) as well as joint work by child welfare specialists and technical experts to improve tools for protection of minors.
Implementation of this action will be closely co-ordinated with the actions on promoting a safer environment (self-regulatory action) and awareness-raising (informing the public about means of dealing with unwanted and harmful content).
Dealing with illegal, unwanted or harmful content is a complex process, and there are areas of significant differences of opinion on whether to seek to harmonise national rules, what the substantive rules should be and how to approach differences between national rules which are likely to persist. Issues include freedom of expression, proportionality and technical feasibility.
The European Union has emphasised its support for a self-regulatory approach offering flexibility and understanding of the needs of the medium in an area combining high technology, rapid change and cross-border activity. Different models of Codes of Conduct, are possible, but they should share essential features such as effectiveness, fairness and transparency.
Various initiatives exist and a number have innovative features which could be used as examples of best practice. There is still work to be done in this area both in developing working self-regulatory approaches at national level and in setting up a platform at European level for those working in this area.
Self-regulation does not necessarily come about by itself, nor does it exclude the need for some form of legal underpinning: a more pro-active approach may be required in order to stimulate agreement on an appropriate set of rules and their implementation.
The Safer Internet Forum has been set up under the second phase (2003-2004) of the existing Safer Internet Programme as a unique discussion forum including representatives of industry, child welfare organisations and policy makers, and will provide a platform for national co-regulatory or self-regulatory bodies to exchange experience. It will be also give the opportunity to discuss ways in which industry can contribute to the fight against illegal content.
There is overwhelming agreement among policy-makers and specialists of the continuing need for systematic information about safer Internet use, particularly for personalised, interactive and mobile applications, linked with other EU actions on media education and Internet literacy.
So as to make best use of funds available, the Commission should concentrate on pump-priming, encouraging the multiplier effect and exchange of best practices through a network.
The programme will be designed and implemented in close liaison with other initiatives including the follow-up to the Recommendation on protect of minors and human dignity and the action plan of the World Summit on The Information Society.
The legal basis will be art 153 i on protection of the consumer. This was the legal basis agreed by the European Parliament and Council for the original Safer Internet Action Plan in 1999 i and for the 2 year extension of the Action Plan in 2003 i. It continues to be appropriate since, as stated at point 3.1 above, the programme would focus on the end-user - particularly parents, educators and children, and is intended to promote their safety when using the Internet and new online technologies.