Brazil and UK strengthen cooperation to make the internet a safer environment for children and adolescents

Minister Paulo Pimenta, from  Brazil’s Secretariat for Social Communication (Secom), and the UK ambassador in the country, Stephanie Al-Qaq, signed on Monday (18/12) a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at promoting the integrity of information and human rights in the digital environment and the cooperation in media education policies and the safety of journalists and social media workers.

The Brazilian government has been promoting initiatives aimed at seeking a safer digital environment for children and adolescents. Together with the Ministry of Education, the Secom has been building the Brazilian Media Education Strategy, to equip children and teenagers with critical and reflective capacities in digital environments. In the first edition of the Brazilian Media Education Week held in Brazil in October, more than 40,000 students participated in the capacitation actions.

In addition, Secom is leading the joint construction of a Guide to the Conscious Use of Screens and Digital Devices by Children and Adolescents, a joint initiative with the Ministries of Health and Education, the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, and the Ministries of Justice and Public Security and Human Rights and Citizenship. The public consultation that will subsidize the drafting of the Guide is open until Januay, 07/2024 and can be accessed here.

The UK recently approved the Online Safety Act, one of the most advanced and stringent laws regulating digital platforms, especially focused on protecting the rights of children and adolescents. Brazil and the UK have been acting in a close partnership to promote the integrity of information in the digital environment. Both nations integrate the "International Partnership for Information and Democracy", and have debated measures to combat disinformation and promote the sustainability of journalism in the digital ecosystem in organizations such as the G20 and the OECD.

The Memorandum of Understanding does not involve a transfer of resources between the parties, and will allow studies, research, events and products to be carried out by UK Embassy partners, specialists and civil society organizations.