Safer Internet Day 2026

Safer Internet Day in 2026 will take place on February 10. On this day, the entire civilized world will focus on online safety: promoting knowledge about the responsible use of digital technologies for children and young people.

According to the Global Threat Assessment by the WeProtect Global Alliance (https://www.weprotect.org/global-threat-assessment-25/ )the trend of recent years is clear: online violence against children, including sexual exploitation, is growing faster than protection systems can adapt.

Law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, researchers, and technology companies confirm that online threats are becoming more complex and multi-layered. One of the key factors driving this change is ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Offenders are using AI to create synthetic, often sexualized images of children, imitate the appearance and voices of real children, and manipulate victims for grooming and blackmail on social media.

At the same time, cyberbullying, harmful content, manipulation in gaming environments, and fake news have not disappeared. In Ukraine, these risks are compounded by large-scale hostile disinformation and attempts to recruit children online. You may have seen headlines such as:

“The enemy recruits children and other perpetrators of terrorist attacks through social media and online games”

“Extortion, blackmail, and threats: how Telegram channels profit from bullying children”

“In Ternopil, Russian agents blackmailed a schoolgirl with her intimate photos to force her to commit a terrorist act”

Intimate photos and videos always mean extreme vulnerability. This is why it is important to share the results of one year of work by Ukraine’s StopCrime hotline. Analysts processed 2,633 reports of online sexual violence against children. In 1,521 cases, the information was forwarded to law enforcement because they involved real crimes — 1,521 children who suffered, in one way or another, from the actions of traffickers, groomers, and sexual offenders.

On February 10, the world marks Safer Internet Day. This year’s theme is:
“AI Aware: Safe, Smart and in Control.”

Let us talk with children about the risks of deepfakes, nudify tools (AI-powered artificial undressing), fake content, and AI-enabled fraud.

Let us talk about critical thinking and the ability to recognize AI-generated materials.

Let us encourage responsible use of AI — without harm to ourselves or others.

Let us work together to make the Internet a better place.