(ANS – Brussels – 11 de septiembre de 2026) – Don Bosco International joins more than 140 organizations and child rights experts in calling for a Europe-wide framework for digital safety ahead of the State of the European Union address. In their letter, the signatories welcome the EU Commission’s expert panel report for its focus on safety-by-design and age-appropriate design. They support the recommendation that providers should bear the burden of demonstrating that services accessible to children are safe.

They are calling on President von der Leyen to use the State of the European Union address to commit to a harmonized EU approach that makes safety a condition for providing digital services to children.

They recommend establishing:

• Mandatory age-appropriate safety standards for digital products and services, with age-tiered gating of risky features and functionalities, as well as positive safeguards.
• Independent risk assessments on child safety and pre-certification processes requiring companies to demonstrate compliance before launching, operating or updating services accessible to children.
• Independent auditing and strong enforcement to ensure compliance.

Mieke Schuurman, Eurochild Director of Child Rights and Capacity Building, said:

The EU has an opportunity to set a clear standard grounded in children’s rights: digital services accessible to children must be safe by design and by default, backed by independent risk assessments and strong enforcement. Children should not be expected to carry the burden of keeping themselves safe in digital environments designed to maximize engagement and profit.