22 Amendments of Sabine VERHEYEN related to 2022/0155(COD)
Amendment 26 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Information society services have become very important for communication, expression, gathering of information and many other aspects of present-day life, including for children but also for perpetrators of child sexual abuse offences. Digital services have become an irreplaceable tool for today’s children, as information, elements of formal education, social contact and entertainment are increasingly online; whereas digital services can also expose children to risks such as unsuitable content, grooming, and child sexual abuse. Such offences, which are subject to minimum rules set at Union level, are very serious criminal offences that need to be prevented and combated effectively in order to protect children’s rights and well- being, as is required under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘Charter’), and to protect society at large. Users of such services offered in the Union should be able to trust that the services concerned can be used safely, especially by children. In order to ensure a safer online experience for children and prevent the above-mentioned offences, digital literacy should be recognized as a mandatory skill by Member States and should be included in the school curriculum across the EU.
Amendment 28 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Given the central importance of relevant information society services, those aims can only be achieved by appropriate prevention techniques, improving digital literacy, and ensuring that providers offering such services in the Union behave responsibly and take reasonable measures to minimise the risk of their services being misused for the purpose of child sexual abuse, those providers often being the only ones in a position to prevent and combat such abuse. Tcombat such abuse. In order to alleviate the burden on providers, the measures should also aim to raise awareness amongst parents and children and further develop their digital skills, so that they can detect suspicious behaviours online. Once a child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is reported, the measures taken should be targeted, carefully balanced and proportionate, so as to avoid any undue negative consequences for those who use the services for lawful purposes, in particular for the exercise of their fundamental rights protected under Union law, that is, those enshrined in the Charter and recognised as general principles of Union law, and so as to avoid imposing any excessive burdens on the providers of the services.
Amendment 32 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) Member States are increasingly introducing, or are considering introducing, national laws to prevent and combat online child sexual abuse, in particular by imposing requirements on providers of relevant information society services. In the light of the inherently cross-border nature of the internet and the service provision concerned, those national laws, which diverge, have a direct negative effect on the internal market. To increase legal certainty, eliminate the resulting obstacles to the provision of the services and ensure a level playing field in the internal market, the necessary harmonised requirements and appropriate prevention techniques should be laid down at Union level.
Amendment 34 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4 a (new)
Recital 4 a (new)
(4 a) To insure full application of the objectives of this Regulation, Member States shall implement prevention strategies and awareness campaigns in their school curriculum and inside educational institutions. Taking into account the data collected by the EU Centre, Coordinating Authorities, relevant law enforcement agencies and existing hotlines across the EU, Member States should elaborate prevention techniques improving digital literacy, by educating children on how to safely surf online and how to recognize signals of cyber grooming. Prevention techniques and awareness campaigns should also target parents. Parents and caregivers shall be informed of the existence and the functioning of digital tools to limit and direct their child’s/children’s experience online and limit access to age- inappropriate or harmful content online.
Amendment 60 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 58
Recital 58
(58) In particular, in order to facilitate the cooperation needed for the proper functioning of the mechanisms set up by this Regulation, the EU Centre should establish and maintain the necessary information-sharing systems. When establishing and maintaining such systems, the EU Centre should cooperate with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (‘Europol’), national hotlines and national authorities to build on existing systems and best practices, where relevant.
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 60
Recital 60
(60) In the interest of legal certainty and effectiveness, the tasks of the EU Centre should be listed in a clear and comprehensive manner. With a view to ensuring the proper implementation of this Regulation, those tasks should relate in particular to the facilitation of the detection, reporting and blocking obligations imposed on providers of hosting services, providers of publicly available interpersonal communications services and providers of internet access services. However, for that same reason, the EU Centre should also be charged with certain other tasks, notably those relating to the implementation of the risk assessment and mitigation obligations of providers of relevant information society services, the removal of or disabling of access to child sexual abuse material by providers of hosting services, the provision of assistance to Coordinating Authorities, as well as the creation of prevention strategies, generation and sharing of knowledge and expertise related to online child sexual abuse.
Amendment 72 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 67
Recital 67
(67) Given its central position resulting from the performance of its primary tasks under this Regulation and the information and expertise it can gather in connection thereto, the EU Centre should also contribute to the achievement of the objectives of this Regulation by serving as a hub for knowledge, expertise and research on matters related to the prevention and combating of online child sexual abuse. The EU center should contribute to the creation of adequate prevention strategies and awareness campaigns on online grooming and dissemination of CSAM, targeting children, parents and educators across the Union. In this connection, the EU Centre should cooperate with relevant stakeholders from both within and outside the Union and allow Member States to benefit from the knowledge and expertise gathered, including best practices and lessons learned.
Amendment 78 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 70
Recital 70
(70) Longstanding Union support for both INHOPE and its member hotlines recognises that hotlines are in the frontline in the fight against online child sexual abuse. The EU Centre should leverage the network of hotlines and encourage that they work together effectively with the Coordinating Authorities, providers of relevant information society services and law enforcement authorities of the Member States. The hotlines’ expertise and experience is an invaluable source of information on the early identification of common threats and solutions, as well as on regional and national differences across the Union. Their experience and expertise shall help the EU Centre and Coordinating Authorities to design appropriate prevention techniques and awareness campaigns on online grooming and dissemination of CSAM online.
Amendment 82 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 73
Recital 73
(73) To ensure its proper functioning, the necessary rules should be laid down regarding the EU Centre’s organisation. In the interest of consistency, those rules should be in line with the Common Approach of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on decentralised agencies. In order to complete its tasks, the EU Centre and Coordinating authorities should have the necessary funds, human resources, investigative powers and technical capabilities to seriously and effectively pursue and investigate complaints and potential offenders, including appropriate training to build capacity in the judiciary and police units and to develop new high- tech capabilities to address the challenges of analysing vast amounts of child abuse imagery, including material hidden on the ‘dark web’.
Amendment 85 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 74
Recital 74
(74) In view of the need for technical expertise in order to perform its tasks, in particular the task of providing a list of technologies that can be used for detection, the EU Centre should have a Technology Committee composed of experts with advisory function. The Technology Committee may, in particular, provide expertise to support the work of the EU Centre, within the scope of its mandate, with respect to matters related to prevention and detection of online child sexual abuse, to support the EU Centre in contributing to a high level of technical standards and safeguards in detection technology.
Amendment 87 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 76
Recital 76
(76) In the interest of good governance and drawing on the statistics and information gathered and transparency reporting mechanisms provided for in this Regulation, the Commission should carry out an evaluation of this Regulation within fivthree years of the date of its entry into force, and every fivthree years thereafter.
Amendment 89 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point e a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point e a (new)
(e a) Guidelines on creation of appropriate prevention techniques on cyber grooming and the dissemination of CSAM online, targeting children and parents and empowering them to use digital technologies safely and responsibly.
Amendment 97 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 6 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. The EU Centre should use these risk assessment reports to prepare and adapt prevention techniques to the attention of Coordinating Authorities across the EU.
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 25 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
The Coordinating Authority shall be responsible for all matters related to application and enforcement of this Regulation in the Member State concerned, unless that Member State has assigned certain specific tasks or sectors to other competent authorities. The Coordinating Authority shall also be responsible for the coordination and adaptation of prevention techniques, elaborated by the EU Centre. The Coordinating Authority shall generate recommendations and good practices on improving digital literacy and skills amongst the population trough the realization of awareness campaigns on a national level, targeting in particular parents and children on the detection and prevention of child sexual abuse online.
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 7 – point d a (new)
Article 25 – paragraph 7 – point d a (new)
(d a) provide knowledge and experience on appropriate prevention techniques on grooming and the detection and dissemination of CSAM online;
Amendment 121 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 4
Article 26 – paragraph 4
4. The Coordinating Authorities shall ensure that relevant members of staff have the required qualifications, experience and technical skills to perform their dutin the area of combatting online child sexual abuse. Members of staff shall be offered appropriate trainings in order to continuously improve their understanding of the constantly evolving digital technologies.
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 34 – paragraph 2
Article 34 – paragraph 2
2. Coordinating Authorities shall also provide child-friendly mechanisms to submit a complaint under this Article and adopt a child-sensitive approach when handling complaints submitted by children, taking due account of theren with the necessary tools to recognize suspicious behavior and potentially dangerous content online and easily submit a complaint under this Article. Coordinating Authorities shall examine every complaint and adopt a child-sensitive approach taking into account the specificities of all elements of the complaint (website or interpersonal communication service, child'’s age, maturity, views, needs andspecific concerns).
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 39 – paragraph 1
Article 39 – paragraph 1
1. Coordinating Authorities shall cooperate with each other, with national hotlines and any other competent authorities of the Member State that designated the Coordinating Authority, the Commission, the EU Centre and other relevant Union agencies, including Europol, to facilitate the performance of their respective tasks under this Regulation and ensure its effective, efficient and consistent application and enforcement. Coordinating Authorities shall exchange information and best practices on preventing and combatting grooming and child sexual abuse online.
Amendment 126 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 40 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 40 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. The EU Centre shall elaborate appropriate prevention techniques on grooming and child sexual abuse online, based on its knowledge, expertise and achievements, in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders and in line with the Communication of the Commission of 11 May “A Digital Decade for children and youth: the new European strategy for a better internet for kids" (BIK+).
Amendment 140 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 50 – paragraph 3
Article 50 – paragraph 3
3. Where necessary for the performance of its tasks under this Regulation, the EU Centre shall carry out, participate in or encourage research, surveys and studies, either on its own initiative or, where appropriate and compatible with its priorities and its annual work programme, at the request of the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission. The collected knowledge (resulting from research, surveys and studies) shall serve as a tool to elaborate prevention techniques on child sexual abuse online to be adapted and implemented by Coordinating Authorities in each Member State.
Amendment 142 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 50 – paragraph 4
Article 50 – paragraph 4
4. The EU Centre shall provide the information referred to in paragraph 2 and the information resulting from the research, surveys and studies referred to in paragraph 3, including its analysis thereof, and its opinions on matters related to the prevention and combating of online child sexual abuse to other Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, Coordinating Authorities, Hotlines, other competent authorities and other public authorities of the Member States, either on its own initiative or at request of the relevant authority. Where appropriate, the EU Centre shall make such information publicly available.
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 50 – paragraph 5
Article 50 – paragraph 5
5. The EU Centre shall develop prevention techniques on the detection of suspicious content and behavior online and shall communicate it to Coordinating Authorities of each Member State, so they could adapt and initiate measures to improve digital literacy and raise awareness amongst parents and educators of the existing digital tools to insure a safe digital environment for children. The EU Centre shall also establish a communication strategy and promote dialogue with civil society organisations and providers of hosting or interpersonal communication services to raise public awareness of and improve and conltine child sexual abuse and measures to prevent and combat suchuously adapt prevention techniques on grooming and online child sexual abuse.