“France must position itself in favor of a European regulation”, warn organizations in an open letter to Emmanuel Macron

“France must now position itself in favor of a strong European regulation to fight against the explosion of online child crime and protect children”, urge dozens of French and international organizations, including the Children’s Foundation, in an open letter to the President of the Republic on Tuesday April 30. Emmanuel Macron had affirmed his desire to impose a “digital majority at 15” and impose “moderation or closure of certain sites for platforms”in his speech at the Sorbonne last Thursday.

These organizations are calling on the president to publicly support a “proposal for a regulation to prevent and combat cyber child crime”, published in 2022 by the European Commission. “It aims in particular to make digital players responsible in order to prevent, detect, report and delete child criminal content”, they detail. They also alert the practice of “grooming”, when an adult approaches a minor on social networks for sexual purposes.

“President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his intention to make the protection of children online a European priority during his speech at the Sorbonne”, underline the organizations which affirm that in 2023“more than 100 million child abuse images have been reported online”. “60% of this content is hosted in the European Union and 98% concerns children under 13”they specify, indicating that France is the 4th country in the world to host child criminal content, according to the Minors’ Office.