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"Hope For Children" CRC Policy Center

HFC

“Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center is an International Humanitarian Institution and its headquarters are based in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Lobbying Activity

Response to Amending of temporary derogation from certain provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC for combating online child sexual abuse

12 Feb 2024

"Hope for Children" CRC Policy Center (HFC) is an international, humanitarian and independent Organisation based in Cyprus, whose mission is to provide support, protection, and create opportunities for children facing poverty, abuse, neglect, and other challenging circumstances. HFC welcomes the extension of the temporary derogation from certain provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC for the purpose of combatting online child sexual abuse. In an era that online child sexual abuse has become a plague, it is imperative that EU enables providers of interpersonal communication services to detect, report and remove material of online child sexual abuse. Notably, the need for firm action appears to align also with the purpose of the revision of the Directive 2011/93/EU; in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal, we read about 'raised concerns related to the exponential growth of online sharing of child sexual abuse material and to the increased possibilities for perpetrators to hide their identity (and conceal their illegal activities), most notably online, thereby escaping investigation and prosecution.' As a matter of fact, the temporary derogation from certain provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC is highlighted among the EU initiatives that the revised Directive should complement. And so is listed the proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. HFC, being a member of the European Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group (ECLAG), is committed to the pan European campaign for the adoption of a robust, long-term Regulation which puts in place obligations on online service providers to take responsibility for protecting children who use their services. In the light of this campaign, HFC apparently welcomes the extension of the interim derogation as a positive step towards the protection of children, but keeps looking forward to an EU robust Regulation to end child sexual abuse and exploitation. Through the operation of the Children's House (based on the Icelandic Barnahus Model) in Cyprus, HFC confirms the validity of the concerns about the rise of the crime of child sexual abuse and the dimensions it is taking due to technological developments over the past decade. The same worries are also anticipated by the Lanzarote Committee of the Council of Europe, to which HFC holds an observer status and as such has the opportunity to follow the emerging reality. In conclusion, we definitely need the measure "to introduce a limited time extension of the interim and strictly limited derogation from the applicability of Articles 5(1) and 6 of the ePrivacy Directive to ensure that number-independent interpersonal communications service providers can continue to voluntarily using specific technologies to detect and report child sexual abuse online and to remove child sexual abuse material on their services after 3 August 2024, pending the adoption of long-term legislation."
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Meeting with Christos Stylianides (Commissioner)

14 Oct 2016 · exchanging views on current issues

Meeting with Zacharias Giakoumis (Cabinet of Commissioner Christos Stylianides)

11 Dec 2014 · Presentation of the "Hope For Children" UNCRC Policy Center's 2014-2019 Action Plan