31 Amendments of Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ related to 2022/0155(COD)
Amendment 42 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17 a (new)
Recital 17 a (new)
(17 a) Member States continue to struggle with putting in place effective prevention programmes to combat child sexual abuse as required in Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, where frequently multiple types of stakeholders need to take action. As a result, children and the persons in their environment are insufficiently aware of the risks of sexual abuse and of the means of limiting such risks, while the online dimension represents a particular challenge, with constant growing tendency. As education plays a key role in the prevention of child sexual abuse, Member States should inform the public, by all means necessary, about the dangers and risks of sexual abuse for young people in the digital world, including by ensuring a close cooperation at European and international level and by strengthening work with organised civil society, in particular with schools and law enforcement representatives. Member States should take appropriate means to include programmes to this effect in the early education curricula.
Amendment 43 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18 a (new)
Recital 18 a (new)
(18 a) Basic digital skills, including cyber hygiene, cyber safety, data protection and media literacy are essential for children and young people, as they enable them to make informed decisions, assess and overcome the risks associated with the internet. Therefore, it is important to strengthen media literacy efforts in Member States and at the Union level, through dedicated media literacy education, publicly available relevant materials adapted for different age groups and information campaigns for children and their guardians.
Amendment 55 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 49
Recital 49
(49) In order to verify that the rules of this Regulation, in particular those on mitigation measures and on the execution of detection orders, removal orders or blocking orders that it issued, are effectively complied in practice, each Coordinating Authority should be able to carry out searches, using the relevant indicators provided by the EU Centre, and reacting timely to the evolving trends of child sexual abuse material dissemination and monetisation, to detect the dissemination of known or new child sexual abuse material through publicly available material in the hosting services of the providers concerned.
Amendment 56 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 50
Recital 50
(50) With a view to ensuring that providers of hosting services are aware of the misuse made of their services and to afford them an opportunity to take expeditious action to remove or disable access on a voluntary basis, Coordinating Authorities of establishment or organisations acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse, such as hotlines, should be able to notify those providers of the presence of known child sexual abuse material on their services and requesting removal or disabling of access thereof, for the providers’ voluntary consideration. Such notifying activities should be clearly distinguished from the Coordinating Authorities’ powers under this Regulation to request the issuance of removal orders, which impose on the provider concerned a binding legal obligation to remove or disable access to the material in question within a set time period.
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 56
Recital 56
(56) With a view to ensuring that the indicators generated by the EU Centre for the purpose of detection are as complete as possible, the submission of relevant material and transcripts should be done proactively by the Coordinating Authorities. However, the EU Centre should also be allowed to bring certain material or conversations to the attention of the Coordinating Authorities for those purposes. and receive reports concerning the trends in the dissemination and monetisation of child sexual abuse material from relevant organisations acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse and other stakeholders.
Amendment 62 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 60
Recital 60
(60) In the interest of legal certainty and effectiveness, the tasks of the EU Centre should be listed in a clear and comprehensive manner. With a view to ensuring the proper implementation of this Regulation, those tasks should relate in particular to the facilitation of the detection, reporting and blocking obligations imposed on providers of hosting services, providers of publicly available interpersonal communications services and providers of internet access services. However, for that same reason, the EU Centre should also be charged with certain other tasks, notably those relating to the implementation of the risk assessment and mitigation obligations of providers of relevant information society services, the removal of or disabling of access to child sexual abuse material by providers of hosting services, the provision of assistance to Coordinating Authorities, as well as the generation and sharing of knowledge, best practices and expertise related to online child sexual abuse, including the evolving trends in the dissemination and monetisation of child sexual abuse material.
Amendment 64 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 61
Recital 61
(61) The EU Centre should provide reliable information on which activities can reasonably be considered to constitute online child sexual abuse, so as to enable the detection and blocking thereof in accordance with this Regulation. Given the nature of child sexual abuse material, that reliable information needs to be provided without sharing the material itself. Therefore, the EU Centre should generate accurate and reliable indicators, based on identified child sexual abuse material and solicitation of children submitted to it by Coordinating Authorities or when appropriate, by the organisations acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse, in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Regulation. These indicators should allow technologies to detect the dissemination of either the same material (known material) or of different child sexual abuse material (new material), or the solicitation of children, as applicable.
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 62
Recital 62
(62) For the system established by this Regulation to function properly, the EU Centre should be charged with creating databases for each of those three types of online child sexual abuse, and with maintaining, timely updating and operating those databases. For accountability purposes and to allow for corrections where needed, it should keep records of the submissions and the process used for the generation of the indicators.
Amendment 69 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 67
Recital 67
(67) Given its central position resulting from the performance of its primary tasks under this Regulation and the information and expertise it can gather in connection thereto, the EU Centre should also contribute to the achievement of the objectives of this Regulation by serving as a hub for knowledge, expertise and research on matters related to the prevention and combating of online child sexual abuse, including on the successful initiatives and good practices on the proactive search for online child sexual material, trends in its creation and monetisation, as well as the voluntary prevention, detection and mitigation of online child sexual abuse. In this connection, the EU Centre should cooperate on a regular basis with relevant stakeholders from both within and outside the Union, including law enforcement authorities with the relevant expertise, educators, civil society, service providers and industry representatives, and allow Member States to benefit from the knowledge and expertise gathered, including best practices and lessons learned.
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 69
Recital 69
(69) In order to allow for the effective and efficient performance of its tasks, the EU Centre should closely cooperate with Coordinating Authorities, the Europol and relevant partner organisations, such as the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children or the International Association of Internet Hotlines (‘INHOPE’) network of hotlines for reporting child sexual abuse material, within the limits sets by this Regulation and other legal instruments regulating their respective activities. To facilitate and support such cooperation and build on the best practices and expertise acquired, the necessary arrangements should be made, including the designation of contact officers by Coordinating Authorities and the conclusion of memoranda of understanding with Europol and, where appropriate, with one or more of the relevant partner organisations located in the Union and outside the Union.
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 70
Recital 70
(70) Longstanding Union support for both INHOPE and its member hotlines recognises that hotlines and organisations which act in the public interest against child sexual abuse and which proactively search for child sexual abuse material or which do research and gather information on the trends in the dissemination and monetisation of child sexual abuse material, are in the frontline in the fight against online child sexual abuse. The EU Centre should leverage the network of hotlines and organisations and encourage that they work together effectively with the Coordinating Authorities, providers of relevant information society services and law enforcement authorities of the Member States. The hotlines’ expertise and experience is an invaluable source of information on the early identification of common threats and solutions, as well as on regional and national differences across the Union.
Amendment 80 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 70 a (new)
Recital 70 a (new)
(70 a) In line with Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, this Regulation recognises and safeguards the key role of hotlines in order to enhance the fight against child sexual abuse online in the European Union. Hotlines have a track-record of proven capability since 1999 in the identification and removal of child sexual abuse material from the digital environment and have created a worldwide network and procedures for the child sexual abuse identification and removal. Member States should therefore promote and safeguard the role of formally recognized non-governmental organizations involved in anonymous public reporting of child sexual abuse material, which are at the forefront of detecting new child sexual abuse material, which is an essential factor in finding new victims while also keeping the databases of indicators up to date.
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 75
Recital 75
(75) In the interest of transparency and accountability and to enable evaluation and, where necessary, adjustments, providers of hosting services, providers of publicly available interpersonal communications services and providers of internet access services, Coordinating Authorities and the EU Centre should be required to collect, record and analyse information, based on anonymised gathering of non-personal data and to publish annual reports on their activities under this Regulation. The Coordinating Authorities should cooperate with Europol and with law enforcement authorities and other relevant national authorities of the Member State that designated the Coordinating Authority in question and when appropriate, with partner organisations, in gathering that information.
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point w a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point w a (new)
(w a) ‘hotline’ means an organisation providing a mechanism, other than the reporting channels provided by law enforcement agencies, for receiving anonymous information from the public about alleged child sexual abuse material and online child sexual exploitation, which meets all the following criteria: (a) is officially recognised by its home Member State as expressed in the Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council; (b) has the mission of combatting child sexual abuse material in its articles of association; and (c) is part of a recognised and well-established international network of hotlines as referred to in this article.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Chapter I a (new)
Chapter I a (new)
Ia PREVENTION AND EDUCATION PROGRAMMES Article 2 a (new) 1. Member States shall take appropriate measures, such as education, awareness raising campaigns and training, to discourage and reduce the demand that fosters all forms of sexual exploitation of children in the online environment. 2. Member States shall take appropriate action, including through the Internet, such as information and awareness- raising campaigns, research and early- education programmes, where appropriate in cooperation with relevant civil society organisations acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse, law enforcement authorities and other stakeholders, aimed at raising awareness and reducing the risk of children becoming victims of sexual abuse or of exploitation online. 3. Member States shall promote regular training for officials likely to come into contact with child victims of sexual abuse or exploitation online, including the solicitation of children, aimed at enabling them to identify and deal with child victims and potential child victims. 4. Member States shall promote regular training for officials to inform them and update their knowledge on the latest trends in the creation, dissemination and monetization of child sexual abuse materials and national data hosting of child sexual abuse material.
Amendment 98 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(b a) to provide, through appropriate technical and operational measures, readily accessible and easy-to-use parental tools to help parents or guardians support children and identify harmful behaviour;
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) initiating or adjusting cooperation, in accordance with competition law, with other providers of hosting services or providers of interpersonal communication services, public authorities, civil society organisations, hotlines or, where applicable, entities awarded the status of trusted flaggers in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) …/… [on a Single Market For Digital Services (Digital Services Act) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC] .
Amendment 100 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a Anonymous public reporting of online child sexual abuse 1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to promote and safeguard the role of formally recognized non- governmental organizations involved in anonymous public reporting of child sexual abuse material and the proactive search for such material. 2. Member States shall ensure that the public always has the possibility to anonymously report child sexual abuse material and child sexual exploitation activities to hotlines specialised in combatting online child sexual abuse material and shall safeguard the role of such hotlines in anonymous public reporting. 3. Member States shall ensure that the hotlines referred to in paragraph 2 operating in their territory are authorised to view, assess and process anonymous reports of child sexual abuse material. 4. Member States shall grant the hotlines referred to in paragraph 2 the authority to issue content removal notices for confirmed instances of child sexual abuse material. 5. Member States shall authorise the hotlines referred to in paragraph 2 to voluntarily conduct pro-active searching for child sexual abuse material online.
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1
Article 12 – paragraph 1
1. Where a provider of hosting services or a provider of interpersonal communications services becomes aware in any manner other than through a removal order issued in accordance with this Regulation or by the report submitted by the recognised hotline, which results in its voluntary and timely removal, of any information indicating potential online child sexual abuse on its services, it shall promptly submit a report thereon to the EU Centre in accordance with Article 13. It shall do so through the system established in accordance with Article 39(2).
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1
Article 19 – paragraph 1
Providers of relevant information society services, hotlines and organisations acting solely in the public interest against child sexual abuse 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.
Amendment 107 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 1
Article 21 – paragraph 1
1. Providers of hosting services shall provide reasonable assistance, on request, to persons residing in the Union that seek to have one or more specific items of known child sexual abuse material depicting them removed or to have access thereto disabled by the provider complemented in a timely matter and, if requested and appropriate, also included in the list of indicators used to prevent the further dissemination of these items.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 26 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) are free from any undue external influence, whether direct or indirect; it being understood that the membership of the Coordinating Authority in a recognised international network shall not prejudice its independent character;
Amendment 124 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 40 – paragraph 2
Article 40 – paragraph 2
2. The EU Centre shall contribute to the achievement of the objective of this Regulation by supporting and facilitating the implementation of its provisions concerning the detection, reporting, removal or disabling of access to, and blocking of online child sexual abuse and gather and share information, educational materials and expertise and facilitate cooperation between relevant public and private parties in connection to the prevention and combating of child sexual abuse, in particular online.
Amendment 127 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 43 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – introductory part
Article 43 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – introductory part
(6) facilitate the generation and sharing of knowledge with other Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, organisations acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse and hotlines, Coordinating Authorities or other relevant authorities of the Member States to contribute to the achievement of the objective of this Regulation, by:
Amendment 132 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 43 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – point b
Article 43 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – point b
(b) supporting the development and dissemination of research, educational materials and expertise on those matters and on assistance to victims, including by serving as a hub of expertise to support evidence-based policy;
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 43 – paragraph 1 – point 6 a (new)
Article 43 – paragraph 1 – point 6 a (new)
(6 a) supporting and promoting the regular exchange of best practices and lessons learned among Member States on raising awareness for the prevention of child sexual abuse, prevention programmes and non-formal and formal education on the risks of sexual abuse in the digital environment;
Amendment 138 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 43 – paragraph 1 – point 6 b (new)
Article 43 – paragraph 1 – point 6 b (new)
(6 b) provide assistance with training on prevention of child sexual abuse online for officials from Member States;
Amendment 139 #
8 a. Where the EU Centre receives a report from a hotline, or where a provider that submitted the report to the EU Centre has indicated that the report is based on the information received from a hotline, the EU Centre shall refrain from forwarding the report to the competent law enforcement authority or authorities to avoid duplicated reporting on the same material that has already been reported to the national law enforcement by the hotlines, and shall monitor the removal of the child sexual abuse material or cooperate with the relevant hotline to track the status.
Amendment 145 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 54 – paragraph 1
Article 54 – paragraph 1
1. Where necessary for the performance of its tasks under this Regulation, the EU Centre mayshall cooperate with organisations and networks with information and expertise on matters related to the prevention and combating of online child sexual abuse, including civil society organisations and semi-public organisations. In particular, the cooperation with the EU Centre referred to in paragraph 1 may include the following: (a) supporting the Commission in the preparation of the guidelines referred to in Article 3(8), Article 4(5), Article 6(4) and Article 11; (b) updating the databases of indicators referred to in Article 44; (c) making technologies available to providers for the execution of detection orders issued to them, in accordance with Article 50(1); or (d) innovation of the detection technologies and education of the service providers and other stakeholders on the effective prevention and mitigation measures through information sharing or collective action.
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 54 – paragraph 2
Article 54 – paragraph 2
2. The EU Centre may conclude memoranda of understandingstrategic and/or operational cooperation agreements with organisations referred to in paragraph 1, laying down the terms of cooperation.
Amendment 147 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 83 a (new)
Article 83 a (new)
Article 83 a Data collection on prevention programmes Member States shall report on the anticipated number of children in primary education who have been informed through the awareness campaigns and through the education programmes about the risks of all forms of sexual exploitation of children, including in the online environment.