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

B100212/2026

European Parliament resolution on the need for targeted criminal provisions and platforms’ responsibility to effectively address cyberbullying and online harassment

(2026/2693(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989,

– having regard to Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Artificial Intelligence Act),

– having regard to its resolution of 5 October 2023 on the new European strategy for a better internet for kids (BIK+),

– having regard to its resolution of 12 December 2023 on addictive design of online services and consumer protection in the EU single market,

– having regard to its resolution of 11 March 2021 on children’s rights in view of the EU Strategy on the rights of the child,

– having regard to its resolution of 29 April 2021 on the European Child Guarantee,

– having regard to the Commission guidelines of 10 October 2025 on measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors online, pursuant to Article 28(4) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 10 February 2026 entitled ‘Action plan against cyberbullying – “Safer online, stronger together”‘(COM(2026)0071),

– having regard to the study requested by its Committee on Culture and Education entitled ‘The influence of social media on the development of children and young people’, published by its Directorate-General for Internal Policies in February 2023,

– having regard to its resolution of 26 November 2025 on the protection of minors online,

– having regard to its resolution of 12 March 2009 on the protection of consumers, in particular minors, in respect of the use of video games,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas recent data show that children and teenagers in the EU spend a substantial part of their daily lives online, with screen time reaching around nine hours per day among those aged 11 to 14 and around six hours per day among children aged 8 to 10; whereas social media use among children in the EU aged 9 to 16 has more than doubled since 2010, now averaging three hours per day, with over 80 % using social media platforms daily, making online interaction a central part of their everyday lives;

B. whereas social media exposes young users to a wide range of harmful content, including cyberbullying, sexualised material, body image pressures, the promotion of self-harm, violence, non-consensual content and manipulative algorithm-driven advertising;

C. whereas platform features designed to maximise engagement, such as infinite scrolling and compulsive interaction with notifications, may foster addictive use and exacerbate mental health challenges, contributing to sleep disruption and emotional withdrawal;

D. whereas excessive social media use is associated with elevated risks of mental health issues in young people, such as depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders;

E. whereas social media influencers significantly shape young people’s behaviours, consumption habits and opinions; whereas the Commission has committed itself, in its mission letters and hearings, to proposing a Digital Fairness Act to address unethical techniques and commercial practices linked to dark patterns, influencer marketing, the addictive design of digital products and services, and online profiling, in particular where consumer vulnerabilities, including those of minors, are exploited for commercial purposes;

F. whereas cyberbullying is a growing problem, as recognised in the Commission action plan against cyberbullying, and affects a significant proportion of minors and young people;

G. whereas 18.3 % of children worldwide have experienced cyberbullying through electronic messages or social media posts; whereas cyberbullying also occurs through audiovisual content such as pictures or videos shared online;

H. whereas in Europe, around one in six children aged 11 to 15 report having been victims of cyberbullying, while around one in eight children admit to having participated in cyberbullying others;

I. whereas in recent years, the number of adolescents being cyberbullied rose by a quarter for boys and by almost a quarter for girls, and cyberbullying has consistently been the main reason for contacting the helplines of Safer Internet Centres;

J. whereas minors continue to access social media environments despite existing safeguards, and while parental control tools may help mitigate online risks, parents and guardians often lack the knowledge, skills and effective tools to monitor and manage minors’ online activities, or are unaware of the tools available to them; whereas such tools are not always easy to find, understand or use and can often be circumvented; whereas such tools should be user-friendly, intuitive and accessible and should preserve privacy, without replacing the responsibility of platforms to ensure, by design and by default, safe and age-appropriate digital environments for minors;

K. whereas cyberbullying and online harassment are complex and multifaceted phenomena that occur across different online environments and take various forms, including threats, dissemination of personal data and repeated unwanted contact; whereas no single harmonised definition at EU level can fully capture their diverse and context-specific nature, including their significant offline dimension;

L. whereas online platforms have put in place a range of measures to protect users, particularly minors, including reporting mechanisms, content moderation tools and policies addressing abuses such as the non-consensual sharing of intimate material, yet these measures have too often proved inadequate to prevent or effectively address harmful conduct in practice; whereas platforms must therefore make greater efforts to ensure safer online environments, in particular for minors, while any further action must still strike a careful balance between user protection and the fundamental right to freedom of expression;

M. whereas the proactive detection of cyberbullying remains technically and practically challenging; whereas the current EU framework, in particular the Digital Services Act, already provides a comprehensive basis for addressing harmful and illegal content online;

N. whereas the current EU legal framework, including the General Data Protection Regulation, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the Digital Services Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act, provides a substantial basis for protecting children online, although persistent gaps remain in its consistent enforcement;

O. whereas in line with the EU’s objective of regulatory simplification, priority should be given to the effective implementation and enforcement of existing instruments, rather than to introducing additional measures or guidelines at this stage, especially considering the recent entry into application of Article 28 of the Digital Services Act;

P. whereas minors with disabilities may face heightened exposure to cyberbullying and online abuse owing to barriers in communication, accessibility and digital literacy, and may encounter greater difficulty in seeking help, reporting harmful conduct or accessing support services; whereas an effective response therefore requires accessible, inclusive and age-appropriate protection mechanisms, including easy-to-use reporting channels, immediate psychological and legal support for victims and their families, and coordinated action by public authorities, schools, families and online service providers, in order to ensure that no child is left without protection in the digital environment;

Q. whereas action at EU level should fully respect the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, as well as the primary role of parents, educators and the authorities of the Member States in protecting and guiding minors;

1. Stresses that addressing the impact of social media on young people requires a coherent and balanced strategy combining safety-by-design, algorithmic transparency, digital literacy, participatory governance and evidence-based evaluation in order to ensure the effective protection and empowerment of all minors online; stresses, in this regard, that protecting minors online requires a comprehensive and integrated approach combining educational measures, technological tools and an effective sanctions framework, while avoiding solutions that are exclusively repressive or exclusively regulatory;

2. Underlines the importance of establishing digital literacy programmes to train families and teachers about the healthy and safe use of social media and digital platforms, particularly regarding the tools available to them to limit exposure to online hazards and content that is harmful to minors and young people, especially those with disabilities;

3. Recalls that cyberbullying and online harassment must be addressed with seriousness and in a targeted manner, while fully respecting fundamental rights, in particular the freedom of expression, legal certainty and the principle of proportionality;

4. Notes that numerous behaviours associated with cyberbullying, such as harassment, threats, defamation or the unlawful dissemination of content, are already provided for and punishable in different national legal systems, under various legal qualifications, even if they are not always defined under a specific and autonomous offence of ‘cyberbullying’;

5. Emphasises that the existing EU legal framework already provides a substantial basis for addressing harmful and illegal content online, and that priority should therefore be given to the full implementation and robust enforcement of the Digital Services Act and other existing instruments before considering adding to current legislation;

6. Encourages the Member States and the Commission to strengthen awareness-raising campaigns aimed at young people, families and schools, including initiatives similar to Safer Internet Day, in order to prevent harmful online behaviours, reduce digital addiction, foster peer support skills and encourage healthier digital habits;

7. Stresses the importance of digital and media literacy as a key line of defence against manipulation, misinformation, disinformation, profiling and harmful online conduct, and calls for stronger educational support for children, parents and teachers in this regard;

8. Stresses the need for effective parental control tools;

9. Urges online platforms to take greater responsibility for protecting minors from harmful, manipulative or addictive content by ensuring clear reporting mechanisms, appropriate moderation tools, default safety settings where relevant, proportionate algorithmic adjustments to reduce exposure to harmful material, the adoption of robust standards for the protection of minors, and active participation in codes of conduct aimed at strengthening child protection online, in compliance with the Digital Services Act and other applicable EU law;

10. Emphasises that any additional obligations imposed on platforms should remain proportionate, technologically feasible and compatible with freedom of expression, bearing in mind the context-dependent nature of cyberbullying and online harassment and the practical limits of automated detection;

11. Underlines that, despite the fact that children below the official minimum age for social media access are continuing to gain entry to platforms by misrepresenting their age, the issue should be addressed by enforcing the existing legal framework;

12. Calls on developers, publishers and operators of online video games whose services are accessible to, or predominantly used by, minors to assume clear responsibility for the safety of their gaming environments by implementing effective and proportionate safeguards against cyberbullying and online harassment, including accessible reporting tools, rapid response and moderation mechanisms, privacy settings and safety-by-default settings, age-appropriate interface design, and measures addressing toxic interactions in voice and text chats, ranking systems and in-game social features; stresses that those actors should regularly assess the risks arising in their gaming ecosystems and take timely action to prevent repeated abuse, intimidation and targeted humiliation of minors, in accordance with existing EU and national law;

13. Recalls that tackling online sexual abuse and exploitation is an essential element of protecting minors online;

14. Calls on the Member States to continue to develop targeted strategies to protect children from online bullying, harassment and abuse, including through cooperation with schools, families, child protection services, law enforcement authorities and digital service providers, with due regard for subsidiarity and the primary role of parents, educators and the authorities of the Member States; emphasises, in this context, that the protection of minors online cannot be delegated solely to online platforms or to criminal law, but requires the active involvement of families, educational institutions and public authorities;

15. Underlines that online forms of harassment, including cyberbullying, constitute a serious and harmful phenomenon requiring effective prevention and response measures; notes, however, that, despite their significant individual and societal impacts, such conduct does not, in its current manifestations, meet the criteria of a particularly serious crime with a clear cross-border dimension within the meaning of Article 83(1) TFEU; observes that several Member States have already introduced, or are in the process of developing, specific legal frameworks to address this issue, while others have explored legislative initiatives that have not yet been adopted; considers that, in the light of differing legal traditions and approaches, action at Member State level remains better suited to address this issue in a targeted and proportionate manner, while allowing for the exchange of best practice and continued cooperation at EU level;

16. Recalls that criminal law remains a fundamental competence of the Member States, which are best placed to define and adapt criminal offences in line with their respective legal and social contexts, in full respect of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;

17. Reiterates that measures concerning minors online should be designed and applied in a manner that ensures a high level of privacy, safety and security by default, especially where services are directed at or predominantly used by minors and young people;

18. Stresses that the EU can play an important role in supporting the Member States in tackling cyberbullying by facilitating the exchange of best practice, promoting a more effective application of existing instruments and strengthening cooperation between national authorities, including law enforcement and judicial bodies, in particular in cases with a cross-border dimension;

19. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.