RTL Group Is Founding Member Of EU Initiative On Child Protection Online

The European Commission has launched a new initiative on child protection and empowerment online. RTL Group joins the Coalition as a Founding Member.

In July, Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission and European Digital Agenda Commissioner, had invited RTL Group and other media and technology companies to join a newly launched ‘Coalition to make the internet a better place for kids’. Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of RTL Group, immediately accepted the invitation. He said: “Our broadcasters across Europe are among the leading online players in their respective markets. As we know from our core business, the popularity of our content comes with a great deal of responsibility. It is vital for us that our TV and radio programmes – as well as our online services – communicate positive and educational messages.” Zeiler also stressed that RTL Group supports the Commissioner’s declared goal to create a convergent regulatory framework for the digital world, especially “as TV is still the most heavily regulated media business”. Now, RTL Group has decided to join the initiative as a Founding Member.

Claude Schmit, Managing Director of Super RTL, will be RTL Group’s representative in the Coalition. He says: “We are happy to join Commissioner Neelie Kroes’s initiative to make the Internet a safer place for kids as a Founding Member and we look forward to sharing our experiences as a leading European online content provider with the other members of this Coalition.”

The ‘Coalition to make the Internet a better place for kids’ is a cooperative, voluntary intervention designed to respond to emerging challenges arising from the diverse ways in which young Europeans go online. It aims to achieve proportionate, pragmatic solutions to real problems, focusing on five key topics: simple and robust reporting tools for users; age-appropriate privacy settings; wider use of content classification; wider availability and use of parental control as well as the effective takedown of child abuse material.

A range of activities within RTL Group raise awareness among children and parents concerning dangers of the Internet: In Germany, Super RTL supports a variety of organisations designed to strengthen the protection of children who use the Internet, including the EU initiative Klicksafe.de. Another initiative supported by Super RTL is Frag Finn, a search engine which allows children between the ages of 8 and 12 to search within a secure environment of approximately 10,000 ‘white-listed’ sites. The search engine was launched in November 2007 by German chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and is supported by companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Google and Microsoft. On its own websites, Super RTL makes it a top priority to enable safe surfing for children. In the moderated chats, all posts are previewed. The moderators can respond directly to nuisance posts and their senders.

RTL II in Germany teamed up with the organisation Innocence In Danger to build awareness for the risks and feelings involved relating to sexual harassment on the Internet. The format Tatort Internet clearly sparked a controversy. But with RTL II's financial support, Innocence In Danger was able to distribute 4,000 educational packs to help teachers, parents and children understand and reduce the dangers.

In France, Groupe M6 supports all year long, but with a special emphasis during “Internet Week”, Action Innocence and E-enfance, NGOs which campaign to teach children the basics of how to protect themselves of the dangers of the Internet. In addition, M6 aired the animated series Vinz et Lou sur Internet. By teaming up with the French Ministry of Education and the European Commission, this M6 programme serves to alert parents and minors to the risks associated with using the Internet.

Recently, RTL Group published the brochure “Entertain, Inspire, Educate: RTL Group and Children’s TV” which gives an overview of RTL Group’s activities with the aim of playing an important role vis-à-vis children growing up and developing an identity – especially through positive role models.

In total, 38 companies were invited initially to join the new initiative, including other broadcasters such as BBC, Kika, Mediaset, Sky and TF1 and companies such as Google, Liberty, Nintendo, Sony, Zynga, Facebook and Microsoft as well as a number of telecommunications companies