BFPA is part of the Safer Internet Consortium
The first working meeting of the newly formed consortium took place. Roditeli Association – National Network for Children – BFPA will be working together to support the Center for Safer Internet under the ‘Digital Children’ project. The representatives of the three organizations discussed the terms, activities and possibilities for their implementation within the project, as well as ways of ongoing joint work.
The National Safer Internet Center (NSIC) will continue to operate for the next year and a half thanks to funding under the Digital Europe Program of the European Health and Digitalization Executive Agency. This will support the work of the Hotline for Illegal Content and the Advisory Line for Online Safety of Children 124 123, as well as the prevention and training activities of the Center.
Funding from the EU enables the work of the Center to continue. Ministries and institutions for years have been transferring responsibility without finding a lasting solution for its maintenance. To this day, its activities are supported by donations from citizens and from Bulgarian business.
Last year, 2023, the NCBI processed a record of over 46,000 reports, 95% of which related to online sexual exploitation of children. Regardless of this statistics, Bulgaria continues to be one of the few countries in the EU that does not provide national funding for the only structure of its kind for the protection and support of Bulgarian children in the online space, although in practice the Center fulfills Bulgaria’s state policy and commitments on several EU Directives and Conventions.
The money from the ‘Digital Europe’ program covers half of the necessary funding for all activities, and the Center will again be forced to rely on donations if the state does not find money for the necessary additional funding of online child protection.
A large part of the calls are related to prevention – parents ask how to protect their children and how to develop their skills in the digital space. Other consultations are most often about reporting harmful content, online harassment, scams and threats, cracked and fake profiles or technical issues.
The national center also implements educational activities for children, young people, parents and teachers in the country. The trainings are adapted to the age group of the students and cover topics such as safe use of the Internet, how to recognize online bullying, what to do in case of abuse, what are the most risky situations and behaviors in an online environment, etc.
The ‘Digital Children’ project will continue the activities of the National Telephone Line 124 123 and the Hotline, but will also strengthen its training activities on digital media literacy in the country. The center will conduct more trainings for parents and teachers. Child-oriented educational initiatives will be implemented through trained youth, including from vulnerable groups. All activities will aim to reach a significant number of children in the country, especially those with limited access to education and information about the dangers in the digital space. Within the project, NCIS will train teachers, pedagogical advisors, school psychologists, social workers, health mediators and pediatricians and other professionals who work with children.
In the coming months, the organizations will also work on an analysis of the national legal framework and regulatory gaps that make it difficult to prevent, detect and punish online crimes against children. Recommendations for procedural and legal amendments will be prepared, in the discussion of which the responsible institutions will be involved, including Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, State Agency for Child Protection, etc. With this part of the activities of the project, specific actions of the state will be sought for the prevention and adequate response to online crimes against children in our country.
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