9 Amendments of Loucas FOURLAS related to 2022/0155(COD)
Amendment 29 #
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 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. 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. To this end, fundamental importance should be attached to ensuring the necessary funding to European programmes and projects which aim to improve digital skills and awareness of risk linked to the digital world, such as “Media literacy for all”.
Amendment 30 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2 a) For the purposes of this regulation, “digital skills” should be understood as skills relating to the web as a whole, consisting of both easily accessible surface web platforms and platforms accessible through the deep and dark web. The EU must therefore provide for effective awareness of the dangers also lurking in the deep and dark web.
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Online child sexual abuse frequently involves the misuse of information society services offered in the Union by providers established in third countries. IConsidering the seriousness of the offences committed, considering that the protection of children is a priority for the EU, considering that service providers established in third countries often do not cooperate with member state authorities, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the rules laid down in this Regulation and a level playing field within the internal market, those rules should apply to all providers, irrespective of their place of establishment or residence, that offer services in the Union, as evidenced by a substantial connection to the Union.
Amendment 36 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) A substantial connection to the Union should be considered to exist where the relevant information society services has an establishment in the Union or, in its absence, on the basis of the existence of a significant number of users in one or more Member States, or the targeting of activities towards one or more Member States. The targeting of activities towards one or more Member States should be determined on the basis of all relevant circumstances, including factors such as the use of a language or a currency generally used in that Member State, or the possibility of ordering products or services, or using a national top level domain. The targeting of activities towards a Member State could also be derived from the availability of a software application in the relevant national software application store, from the provision of local advertising or advertising in the language used in that Member State, or from the handling of customer relations such as by providing customer service in the language generally used in that Member State. A substantial connection should also be assumed where a service provider directs its activities to one or more Member State as set out in Article 17(1), point (c), of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council44 . Mere technical accessibility of a website from the Union should not, alone, be considered as establishing a substantial connection to the Union. _________________ 44 Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ L 351, 20.12.2012, p. 1).
Amendment 39 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) For reasons of consistency and technological neutrality, the term ‘child sexual abuse material’ should for the purpose of this Regulation be defined as referring to any type of material constituting child pornography or pornographic performance within the meaning of Directive 2011/93/EU, which is capable of being disseminated through the use of hosting or interpersonal communication services. At present, such material typically consists of images or videos, without it however being excluded that it takes other forms, especially in view of future technological developments. Close attention should be paid to the development of new technologies and platforms, such as the metaverse. In such platforms child sexual abuse material might be generated and exchanged or child sexual abuse perpetrated through the use of avatars or any other form of virtual identities.
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) The competent judicial authority or the competent independent administrative authority, as applicable in accordance with the detailed procedural rules set by the relevant Member State, should be in a position to take a well-informed decision on requests for the issuance of detections orders. That is of particular importance to ensure the necessary fair balance of the fundamental rights at stake and a consistent approach, especially in connection to detection orders concerning the solicitation of children. Therefore, a procedure should be provided for that allows the providers concerned, the EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse established by this Regulation (‘EU Centre’) and, where so provided in this Regulation, the competent data protection authority designated under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 to provide their views on the measures in question. They should do so as soon as possible, having regard to the important public policy objective at stake and the need to act without undue delay to protect children, in view of the seriousness of the impact that such offences have on the physical and mental health of minors and in view of the difficulty of curbing the dissemination of material online. In particular, data protections authorities should do their utmost to avoid extending the time period set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/679 for providing their opinions in response to a prior consultation. Furthermore, they should normally be able to provide their opinion well within that time period in situations where the European Data Protection Board has already issued guidelines regarding the technologies that a provider envisages deploying and operating to execute a detection order addressed to it under this Regulation.
Amendment 46 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) The dissemination of child sexual abuse material is a criminal offence that affects the rights of the victims depicted. Victims should thereforehave the right to be forgotten, i.e. the right to request the deletion of child sexual abuse material depicting them. Victims should also have the right to obtain, upon request, from the EU Centre yet via the Coordinating Authorities, relevant information if known child sexual abuse material depicting them is reported by providers of hosting services or providers of publicly available interpersonal communications services in accordance with this Regulation.
Amendment 83 #
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 stay consistently updated on technological developments that might lead to the creation of different or unconventional platforms, such as the metaverse, on which child sexual abuse might be perpetrated or child sexual abuse material be generated or exchanged; it should therefore 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 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 103 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1
Article 19 – paragraph 1
Providers of relevant information society services shall not be liable for child sexual abuse offences solely because they carry out, in good faith, the necessary activities to comply with the requirements of this Regulation, in particular activities aimed at detecting, identifying, removing, disabling of access to, blocking or reporting online child sexual abuse in accordance with those requirements, with the exception of subsequent non-cooperation with the judicial authorities.