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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION (2026/2693(RSP))

On the need for targeted criminal provisions and platforms’ responsibility to effectively address cyberbullying and online harassment

B-10-2026-0208

on behalf of The Left Group · Rapporteur: Isabel Serra Sánchez

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026

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This resolution addresses cyberbullying and online harassment, calling for targeted criminal provisions, platform responsibility, and support for victims. It criticizes age verification as ineffective, urges the Commission to halt its EU age verification app due to security flaws, and calls for awaiting an expert panel report. It emphasizes the need for a common EU definition of cyberbullying, supports adding hate crime to EU crimes, and stresses that criminal law should be a last resort. It calls for stronger enforcement of the Digital Services Act, including transparency of recommender systems and structural changes to platform design. It expresses concern that dialogue with the Trump administration may weaken digital enforcement and insists EU digital law is not subject to trade negotiations.

Key points

  1. Calls on the Commission and Member States to invest in digital education, media literacy, and teacher training to combat cyberbullying.
  2. Urges Member States to establish national anti-cyberbullying strategies with children, educators, and civil society, and to fund support services for victims.
  3. Demands meaningful participation of children and young people in policy design, implementation, and evaluation.
  4. Rejects the Commission's online safety app as inefficient and potentially fragmenting reporting mechanisms.
  5. States that age verification is not effective for preventing cyberbullying and warns against false reassurance.
  6. Calls on the Commission to halt deployment of the EU age verification app until security and privacy standards are met, and to await the expert panel report.
  7. Invites the Commission to assess the need for a harmonised definition of cyberbullying and reiterates support for adding hate crime to EU crimes.
  8. Emphasises that criminal law should be a last resort, prioritising prevention and restorative justice, especially for minors.
  9. Calls on platforms to include cyberbullying bans in terms of service and enforce them under Article 11 DSA.
  10. Calls on the Commission to close enforcement cases and open investigations into systemic risks from recommender systems, and to impose binding transparency obligations.
  11. Stresses that DSA enforcement requires structural changes to platform design, not just procedural compliance.
  12. Calls on the Commission to confirm that EU digital law enforcement is not subject to trade negotiations.

Who is affected

  • Children and adolescents, especially girls, LGBTIQ+ youth, and marginalised communities, who are victims of cyberbullying.
  • Online platforms, particularly very large ones, which must ensure transparency and mitigate systemic risks.
  • Member States, which are called to develop strategies, fund services, and promote restorative justice.
  • The European Commission, which is asked to halt the age verification app and enforce digital laws.

Figures and deadlines

  • 1 in 6 children aged 11 to 15 report having been victims of cyberbullying.
  • Between 2018 and 2022 the number of adolescents being cyberbullied rose by approximately a quarter.

Legal basis: Article 83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union