site.btaUPDATED National Conference on Child Internet Safety Takes Place in Sofia

Practice will tell us what the right solutions are, National Assembly Chair Rosen Zhelyazkov said at the first national conference on the safety of children in the digital world. The event is being held in Sofia under Zhelyazkov’s auspices.

According to him, the situation requires finding normative solutions to preserve the freedom of Internet communication while guaranteeing its safety.

Zhelyazkov also noted that adults should be responsible for policies that affect the circumstances in which children and young people grow and develop.

In his address to the forum, Deputy Interior Minister Stoyan Temelakiev assured that the Ministry of Interior has made the protection of children a top priority, in particular the protection of children in the digital world.

Temelakiev warned that children and adolescents are easy prey for Internet criminals. He pointed out that cases of wrongdoing in the digital world must be reported so that law enforcement authorities can take the necessary measures.

Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel also addressed the conference. She acknowledged the lack of a sustainable funding mechanism for the National Safer Internet Centre and appealed for more parties, including businesses, to join in providing additional funding.

Gabriel cited UNICEF data showing that one in two children has been a victim of online violence.

The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed the excellent work of the Safer Internet Centre, co-funded under the Digital Europe programme, proposed by Gabriel herself. She also commended the good work of the civil and private sectors in offering free training in coding and cyber hygiene.

Online violence is on the rise and children cannot recognize it and do not know how to deal with it, UNICEF representative in Bulgaria Christina de Bruin pointed out.

According to Eurostat, only 58% of young people aged 16-24 in Bulgaria have basic or better digital skills, which is significantly below the EU average of 80%. A national study on violence against children, commissioned by UNICEF and presented in April 2021, shows that 47% of children under 18 in Bulgaria have experienced some form of violence. One in seven children report being victims of online bullying and stalking, especially on social networks, de Bruin said.

She said the new reality requires a comprehensive, united effort of the whole society, as well as targeted investment. Every child in Bulgaria should have effective and quality access to programmes and services for prevention and improving online safety and digital skills, as well as to specialised victim support services, de Bruin added.

A poll by the State Agency for Child Protection (SACP) on internet protection covered more than 4,000 children in Sofia and Varna in 2022, said the Agency's Chair Teodora Ivanova. She described the results as staggering - 66% of those surveyed had received an invitation to a meeting, 26% of those children had been invited to the meeting in person. According to Ivanova, 55% of the children said that they go online more than five times a day. She stressed that 35% of the children were victims of cyberbullying, which they had not shared with anyone outside the poll.

The Executive Director of the National Safer Internet Centre, Georgi Bogdanov, reported that the Centre has been systematically underfunded. Bogdanov said: "For the past two years, this Centre has had no money. The topic of its closure has been raised multiple times. The Centre gets support from UNICEF and companies. The state is practically missing from the picture". He added that the Centre needs between BGN 300,000 and 400,000 in order to operate.

Thursday’s event is organized by UNICEF - Bulgaria, in partnership with the Ministry of Interior, the SACP, the National Network for Children, the Parents Association and the Safer Internet Centre.

UNICEF reminds that children can seek support or report a crime at:

116 111, the National Helpline for Children, and 124 123, the Online Safety Helpline. Alerts and support can be directed to the Safer Internet Centre at www.safenet.bg, and to the Cybercrime Directorate at the DGCC - report@cybercrime.bg or 0885 525 545.