A debate on protecting children from sexual exploitation online was held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, during which PiS MEP Małgorzata Gosiewska strongly called for the relentless prosecution of perpetrators and for digital platforms to be held accountable. She emphasized that crimes against children today take specific forms: grooming, sextortion, the distribution of material depicting violence against children, and live streams funded by perpetrators.
She noted that dangerous content must be removed immediately, and that technology platforms “must take responsibility for the space they create”; since they are capable of analyzing data for advertising purposes, they should also actively help protect children. The MEP also drew attention to the hypocrisy of the European Union’s actions—on the one hand, it speaks of protecting children, while on the other, it promotes educational programs that lead to their premature sexualization and undermine the role of the family and parents in their upbringing. “You cannot, with one hand, talk about protecting children from criminals, while with the other, open the door to ideological experiments on the youngest,” she emphasized.
In her speech, MP Gosiewska also stressed that the fight against crimes against children cannot be used as a pretext for censorship and restrictions on freedom of speech on the Internet. “The focus should be on effectively protecting children, prosecuting perpetrators, and supporting families, while preserving citizens’ freedoms,” she noted.
