Network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs)

This EU grant opportunity, part of the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), focuses on supporting the Network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs) through a call titled DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08. It includes two topics: NETWORKSICs and FACTCHECKERS. The NETWORKSICs topic has a budget of 42 million EUR, expecting to award approximately 31 grants. The FACTCHECKERS topic has a budget of 5 million EUR, with one expected grant. The submission process is a single-stage open call, starting on April 15, 2025, and ending on September 2, 2025.

Eligible applicants include NGOs, government bodies, and private sector organizations that can collaborate as a consortium. SICs play a crucial role in providing online safety information, educational resources, and reporting services concerning child online safety. They offer support through helplines, hotlines for reporting child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and educational initiatives aimed at children and caregivers. This initiative emphasizes inclusivity, particularly focusing on vulnerable children, including those with disabilities and from minority backgrounds.

The grant's purpose is to ensure the continuity of SIC operations, crucial for promoting digital literacy and addressing online risks. It aligns with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and involves cooperation with Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs) for data collection and enforcement actions. The SICs are expected to tackle known and emerging digital risks, provide training for educators, and create resources to help children navigate online spaces safely.

The planned SIC activities include raising awareness of online risks, assisting children and parents with concerns regarding digital content, and establishing youth panels for direct engagement with children. Grants will be provided to support these operations, with particular attention to monitoring the impact of digital transformations on children's well-being.

This grant represents a significant investment in reinforcing the European framework for online child protection, ensuring that SICs can continue their vital roles in education and advocacy concerning digital safety and literacy. Detailed conditions regarding application eligibility, project requirements, and procedural aspects are outlined in the grant documentation.

This EU grant opportunity, under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), call DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08, aims to support the Network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs). The call, titled "Accelerating the Best Use of Technologies," includes two specific topics: DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs and DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS.

The DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs topic, a DIGITAL Simple Grant (DIGITAL-SIMPLE), has a budget of 42,000,000 EUR and anticipates awarding approximately 31 grants. The DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS topic, a DIGITAL Grant for Financial Support (DIGITAL-GFS), has a budget of 5,000,000 EUR and expects to award 1 grant. Both topics follow a single-stage submission process. The opening date for submissions is April 15, 2025, and the deadline for submissions is September 2, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The objective of the NETWORKSICs topic is to continue supporting national Safer Internet Centres (SICs), which may consist of NGOs, government bodies/agencies, and/or private sector organizations. SICs provide online safety information, educational resources, public awareness tools, and counselling and reporting services (through helplines and hotlines) for young people, teachers/educators, and parents/carers. These activities help minors tackle online risks and become media-literate, resilient, digital citizens. The hotline component allows the public to anonymously report suspected online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) for assessment and takedown. SICs also address the needs of children with specific or special needs, including those with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to ensure inclusivity.

Considering the Commission's role as an enforcement body for the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs), the SICs will strategically assist the Commission and cooperate with the DSCs, particularly through data collection in EU member states.

The funding will ensure the continuation of the European network of national SICs, enabling awarded consortia to provide:

1.  A centre for raising awareness among children, parents/carers, teachers, educators, and relevant professionals about online opportunities and risks for those under 18. This includes producing and promoting localized, age-appropriate resources to address current and emerging risks and opportunities. The focus will be to identify and address:
 *  Specific and general known risks (e.g., harmful and illegal content, cyberbullying, age-inappropriate content, sexual extortion, addictive design and manipulation, disinformation).
 *  Specific and general emerging risks (e.g., new apps, games, online challenges and trends; AI and generative AI, including AI-generated pornographic and violent content such as CSAM; virtual, augmented, and extended reality; the internet of things and other technological changes raising new social and ethical challenges that impact children).
 *  Issues such as mental and physical health risks related to technology use (e.g., self-harm, cyberbullying, risky online challenges, promotion of eating disorders, screen addiction, social isolation, exposure to age-inappropriate content, and sexual extortion).
 *  Risks facing children as young consumers (e.g., nudges to spend money, aggressive marketing strategies, loot boxes).
2.  A helpline to give advice and support to children and adults on issues related to children's use of digital technologies and services. This includes assistance on mental health issues related to exposure to age-inappropriate content online, including pornographic and violent content. Close cooperation with the national Child Helpline 116111 service is required to strengthen support for victims of cyberbullying.
3.  A hotline for tackling the spread of online CSAM (i.e., receiving, analyzing, and processing reports of such material). Closer cooperation with law enforcement and the private sector should be further explored in the context of the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse, the proposed Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse, and the recast of the Directive 2011/93/EU on child sexual abuse.
4.  A youth panel to engage directly with children from different demographic groups, including the organization of regular youth participation activities, allowing them to express their views and pool their knowledge and experience of using online technologies. Adequate turnover, geographic balance, and an open selection of participants are required.

SICs are expected to strengthen their support to children in vulnerable situations, such as those with disabilities, those from minority backgrounds, refugee children, children in care, LGBTQI+ children, and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. They should offer non-formal education and training to these groups and communities to address the digital divide.

In addition, SICs will:

*  Support the monitoring of the impact of the digital transformation on children’s well-being in cooperation with the BIK platform.
*  Support the implementation of relevant EU strategies and legislation.
*  Promote the distribution of relevant online training modules (MOOCs) for teachers.
*  Expand the role of BIK Youth Ambassadors and BIK Youth Panels to support peer-to-peer activities at national, regional, and local levels.
*  Provide trustworthy resources for and carry out campaigns targeting children, parents, carers, teachers, educators, and other relevant contacts working with children (e.g., sports coaches, club leaders). Training on children’s rights online should also be included in these initiatives to create a stronger awareness that children’s rights online are the same as offline, as stipulated by UN General Comment No. 25 (2021) on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment (CRC/C/GC/25), and as protected under the DSA, as well as awareness of help and reporting resources and pathways.
*  Act as a one-stop-shop for reliable and age-appropriate information.
*  Provide digital literacy training in formal and informal education settings (e.g., youth participation activities, workshops, classroom visits, competitions, peer-to-peer activities).
*  Support parents, carers, teachers, educators, and other professionals working with children to better understand the risks and opportunities of children accessing digital content and services (e.g., information sessions, train-the-trainers programs, and online and offline material).
*  Identify emerging risks through the helpline service and communicate this promptly to local, national, and European actors.
*  Support access to resources and services by public authorities, including law enforcement agencies, and exchanges with hotline analysts to develop better preventive measures and to remove online child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
*  Cooperate with popular platforms and digital services to assist the public, in particular children, when confronted with harmful and illegal content. This will include, but not be limited to, SICs formally recognized as “trusted flaggers” under the DSA.

The call specifies several conditions related to admissibility, eligible countries, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, evaluation and award processes, and the legal and financial setup of the grants. Detailed information on these aspects can be found in the call document and related annexes, including the application form templates, model grant agreements, DEP work programs, EU financial regulations, and guidelines for legal entity validation and financial capacity assessment.

The call also provides access to the Electronic Submission Service via the Funding & Tenders Portal, where applicants can confirm their choice of action type and model grant agreement.

In summary, this grant opportunity aims to bolster the European network of Safer Internet Centres, enabling them to provide essential resources and support to protect children online. It focuses on awareness, helplines, hotlines for reporting CSAM, and youth participation, with a strong emphasis on inclusivity and addressing emerging digital risks. The call also highlights the importance of cooperation with the Digital Services Act (DSA) framework and the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) platform.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity are NGOs, government bodies/agencies, and/or private sector organisations. These entities can form a consortium. The Safer Internet Centres (SICs) may be composed of one or more of these types of organizations.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a DIGITAL Simple Grant (DIGITAL-SIMPLE) and DIGITAL Grants for Financial Support (DIGITAL-GFS). The Model Grant Agreement (MGA) type is DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG].

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required for this opportunity. The funding will ensure the continuation of the well-established European network of national SICs, by enabling the awarded consortia to provide the required services.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is implied to be EU member states, as the Safer Internet Centres will strategically assist the Commission and cooperate with the Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs) in data collection in the EU member states.

Target Sector: The target sector is ICT, specifically focusing on online safety, digital literacy, and media literacy for children and young people. It also addresses the needs of vulnerable children, including those with disabilities, minority backgrounds, refugee children, children in care, and LGBTQI+ children. The program also relates to security/cybersecurity, as it involves tackling online child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Mentioned Countries: EU member states are implicitly mentioned as the SICs will assist the Commission and cooperate with DSCs in data collection within these countries.

Project Stage: The project stage is continuation and support of existing Safer Internet Centres (SICs). The call aims to continue supporting national SICs, implying that the projects are already in the implementation or operational stage.

Funding Amount: For the topic DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs, the budget is EUR 42,000,000, with an indicative number of 31 grants. For the topic DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS, the budget is EUR 5,000,000, with an indicative number of 1 grant.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process. The submission session is now available as of 15 April 2025, and the deadline for submission is 02 September 2025 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to support the operation and activities of the Safer Internet Centres.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: For DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs, 31 grants are expected to be awarded from a budget of EUR 42,000,000. For DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS, 1 grant is expected to be awarded from a budget of EUR 5,000,000. The success rate cannot be determined without knowing the number of applications.

Co-funding Requirement: The information provided does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) aimed at supporting and continuing the operations of national Safer Internet Centres (SICs) across the EU. These SICs are crucial for promoting online safety, digital literacy, and media literacy among children and young people. The call specifically targets NGOs, government bodies/agencies, and private sector organizations that can form consortia to deliver the core elements of a SIC: an awareness center, a helpline, a hotline for reporting CSAM, and a youth panel. The funding is intended to ensure the continuation of the well-established European network of SICs, enabling them to address both known and emerging online risks, support vulnerable children, and cooperate with the European Commission and Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs) in enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA). The call has two topics: one focusing on networks of SICs with a budget of EUR 42,000,000 and another on fact-checkers with a budget of EUR 5,000,000. The application process is single-stage, with a deadline of September 2, 2025. The successful applicants will receive grants to support their activities, which include raising awareness, providing advice and support, tackling online CSAM, and engaging with children through youth panels. The SICs are also expected to support the monitoring of the digital transformation's impact on children's well-being, implement EU strategies and legislation, promote online training modules for teachers, and provide digital literacy training in various settings.