The European Commission has proposed new legislation that would further restrict and violate children’s and parents’ rights. As a Member organisation of Parents International, the European Parents Association endorses their position paper and we share it as ours.
EPA and Parents International welcome the European Commission’s commitment to protecting children in digital environments. We share the objective of ensuring that children can explore, learn, communicate and participate online in relative safety.
However, we strongly disagree with the approach taken in the proposed EU KIDS Act, particularly its age-based restrictions on digital participation and its limitations on parental decision-making.
Our concerns are grounded in three complementary sources of evidence:
- Parents International’s own research, particularly through the EFFEct, DRONE and PARTICIPATE projects.
- Extensive experience consulting and working with parent organisations and representatives in 24 of the 27 EU Member States.
- International research and the legal obligations established by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
EPA and Parents International research and consultations do not support the assumption that parents need governments to make ordinary digital parenting decisions on their behalf.
Quite the contrary: parents generally recognise their responsibilities, consider themselves capable of making decisions about their children’s digital participation, and want to exercise that responsibility.
What they consistently ask for is not additional prohibition, but better support. They want accessible, reliable, comprehensible and up-to-date information about new digital services and technologies, enabling them to make informed decisions. They also want schools to fulfil their educational responsibilities by helping children develop digital literacy, critical thinking, resilience and the competences necessary to navigate an increasingly hybrid world.
These are reasonable demands. They are also consistent with the UNCRC’s recognition of parents as primary caregivers and educators, and with children’s rights to protection, participation, information and progressively increasing autonomy.
The Commission must demonstrate that the proposed restrictions are necessary, proportionate and justified, and that less restrictive alternatives would not achieve the intended objectives. Based on our research and our extensive engagement with European parents, we have serious reasons to doubt that this burden of justification has been met.
We therefore call for substantial revision of the proposal, with priority given to parental choice, meaningful consent, accessible information, digital competence development, school-family cooperation and universal safety by design.
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