Betternet

ended

Betternet ensures the continuation of the work of the Belgian Safer Internet Center, which aims at creating a better and safer digital environment for children and young people. The project will be implemented by a BE consortium made up of: Child Focus, Média Animation and Mediawijs, with the support of the Centre Supérieur de l’Education aux Média. The consortium, that has a long history of cooperation, will promote a better and safer use of the internet through an awareness raising center, it will provide support and counselling on e-safety issues though the 24/7 service of the 116000 helpline and combat sexual exploitation and abuse of children via the operational work of a hotline to detect and report child sexual abuse material online. The awareness raising center will provide beneficiaries with the tools and knowledge to exploit the internet and digital environment at their best potential, while tackling the risks linked to them. The project will intensively focus on the most vulnerable groups, i.e children with disabilities, to empower them with resources adapted to their specific needs. If children and young users represent the main beneficiaries of the actions implemented in the Betternet project, they also play a crucial role in the development and implementation of the action itself. But also industry players will be actively involved. The helpline will combine the strength of professional support with the power of peer-support between young people via cybersquad.be. And lot but not least, the hotline will enlarge its impact by adding the use of the AI-tool Arachnid to its line of work and will strive for a broader role in not only the notice but also takedown of child sexual abuse images. Collaboration is key in this project : among partners, but also with all other important stakeholders in Belgium by actively involving them and with our colleagues across Europe. Betternet wants to strive for a better internet for all Belgian children.