Child Safety Law & Reporting

Sweden's criminal code provisions on CSAM. Criminalises production, distribution, and possession of CSAM. Sweden implements the EU DSA through the Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority (MPRT).

The primary US federal law protecting children's online privacy. Prohibits collecting personal data from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. Enforced by the FTC. Major fines: Google/YouTube $170M (2019), TikTok $5.7M (2019). COPPA 2.0 pending as of 2025.

Requires schools and libraries receiving E-rate funding to implement internet safety policies and technology protection measures to block or filter internet access to visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors.

Canada's federal privacy law. Requires meaningful consent for collection of personal information from minors. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has applied PIPEDA to children's online privacy, with investigations into platforms collecting data from minors.

Colombia's dedicated anti-CSAM law. Requires ISPs to block CSAM URLs and report CSAM to authorities. Establishes criminal penalties for CSAM production, distribution, and possession.

Comprehensive sexual offences legislation. Sections 15-19 criminalise grooming, sexual activity with a child, and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. Section 15A (added 2017) criminalises sexual communication with a child.

Colombia's comprehensive child protection code. Establishes rights of children and adolescents, including protection from online sexual exploitation. Basis for CSAM prosecutions.

Thailand's computer crime law. Criminalises CSAM distribution online. No dedicated child online safety law or age verification requirement as of 2026.

Turkey's internet regulation law. Allows blocking of websites including CSAM. However, the law has been widely criticised for broad censorship powers. No dedicated child online safety framework as of 2026.

Japan's youth internet safety law. Requires filtering software on devices sold to minors. No mandatory age verification or platform-level child safety obligations as of 2026. Japan has one of the weakest online child safety frameworks among developed nations.

Brazil's Child and Adolescent Statute (1990) as amended by Law 11,829/2008 to address online child sexual exploitation. Criminalises production, possession, and distribution of CSAM. Requires ISPs to preserve and report CSAM to police.

Requires electronic service providers to report CSAM to NCMEC's CyberTipline. Establishes the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program. Criminalises CSAM production, distribution, and possession.

Czech Republic's criminal code provisions on CSAM. Criminalises production, distribution, and possession of CSAM. Czech Republic implements the EU DSA through CRTC.

Netherlands' administrative law approach to CSAM removal. Requires ISPs to block CSAM URLs from the Hotline.nl blocklist. The Dutch DPA fined TikTok €750,000 in 2021 for GDPR violations related to children.

Requires Canadian internet service providers to report CSAM to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) via Cybertip.ca. Failure to report is a criminal offence.

Chile's anti-CSAM law. Criminalises production, distribution, and possession of CSAM. No dedicated online safety law, age verification, or platform regulation as of 2026.

India's primary child sexual abuse law. Criminalises CSAM production, distribution, and possession. Amended in 2019 to increase penalties. Applies to online child sexual exploitation.

India's primary child sexual abuse legislation. Criminalises sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography involving children. Amended in 2019 to include death penalty for aggravated penetrative sexual assault. Requires mandatory reporting of CSAM.

Saudi Arabia's child protection law. Establishes the National Family Safety Programme. Criminalises child abuse including online exploitation. Requires reporting of child abuse to authorities.

Qatar's cybercrime law. Criminalises CSAM production and distribution. No dedicated child online safety law or age verification requirement as of 2026.

Mexico's general children's rights law. Establishes child protection mechanisms including against online exploitation. No dedicated online safety law or age verification requirement at federal level as of 2026.

Norway's law protecting minors from harmful audiovisual content. Requires age ratings and parental controls for audiovisual media. Norway is implementing the EU DSA as an EEA member.

Nigeria's cybercrime law. Criminalises CSAM production, distribution, and possession. Amended in 2024 to strengthen penalties. NCC enforces with police.

Kuwait's children's rights law. Establishes child protection mechanisms including against online exploitation. Requires reporting of child abuse to the Higher Council for Family Affairs.

Introduced new offences including sexual communication with a child (s.67, adding s.15A to Sexual Offences Act 2003) and possession of paedophile manuals. Strengthened powers to tackle online child sexual exploitation.

Poland's law on protecting minors from sexual crime. Establishes a sex offender registry and requires notification of authorities about child sexual exploitation. Poland is implementing the EU DSA.

The EU's data protection regulation. Article 8 sets the age of digital consent at 16 (member states may lower to 13). Requires parental consent for processing children's personal data. The Irish DPC has fined TikTok €345M under GDPR for child data violations.

Israel's government decision establishing a framework for combating CSAM online. Requires ISPs to block CSAM URLs from the Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL) blocklist. No dedicated child online safety law as of 2026.

Pakistan's electronic crimes law. Criminalises CSAM production, distribution, and possession. PTA has powers to block CSAM content online.

South Korea's youth protection law. Restricts minors' access to harmful media content online. Requires age verification for adult content. KOCSC enforces.

Kenya's cybercrime legislation. Section 26 criminalises child pornography with penalties of up to 25 years imprisonment. Requires ISPs to report CSAM to the Communications Authority and police.

Article 8 of GDPR sets the minimum age for consent to data processing at 16 (with member states able to lower to 13). Platforms must obtain verifiable parental consent for processing children's data. Basis for major fines against Meta, TikTok, and others.

Brazil's data protection law, modelled on GDPR. Requires parental or guardian consent for processing personal data of children under 18. Prohibits processing children's data for commercial purposes.

Spain's data protection law implementing GDPR. Sets the age of digital consent at 14. Requires parental consent for processing data of under-14s. AEPD enforces.

Amended in 2019 to address online CSAM. Requires online distributors to register with the Film and Publication Board. Mandates reporting of CSAM to the FPB and SAPS. Criminalises CSAM production, distribution, and possession.

South Africa's Films and Publications Amendment Act 2019 strengthens protections against online CSAM. Requires online distributors to register with the FPB, mandates age verification for adult content, and criminalises possession of CSAM.

Ghana's cybersecurity law. Criminalises CSAM production and distribution. Requires reporting of CSAM to the Cyber Security Authority (CSA).

Argentina's grooming prevention law. Criminalises online grooming of minors. Requires internet service providers to report CSAM. Establishes educational programmes on online safety.

Germany's Youth Protection Act, significantly amended in 2021. Extends child protection to online platforms, requiring age verification, parental controls, and content ratings. Bundesnetzagentur enforces the DSA in Germany.

Germany's Network Enforcement Act requires social media platforms with 2M+ German users to remove clearly illegal content (including CSAM) within 24 hours of notification, or within 7 days for complex cases. Platforms must publish transparency reports.

Australia's primary online safety legislation. Establishes the eSafety Commissioner with powers to issue removal notices for harmful online content, CSAM, and cyberbullying material targeting Australians.

Kenya's comprehensive child protection law. Includes provisions against child sexual exploitation and abuse, including online exploitation. Establishes the National Council for Children's Services.

The EU's flagship platform regulation. Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) must conduct annual risk assessments for child safety, implement age verification, and provide parental controls. The European Commission directly enforces against VLOPs.

Switzerland's law protecting minors from harmful film and video game content. Requires age ratings and parental controls. Switzerland is not an EU member and has its own framework.

New Zealand's content classification law, amended in 2022 to address online CSAM. Criminalises CSAM production, distribution, and possession. The Classification Office can classify online content.

Kenya's Communications Authority guidelines for child online protection. Requires ISPs and online platforms to implement age verification, CSAM reporting mechanisms, and parental controls.

Peru's children's data protection law. Requires parental consent for processing personal data of minors. No dedicated online safety law or age verification requirement as of 2026.

Empowers IMDA to issue directions to social media services to disable harmful content, including CSAM. Designated social media services must implement community guidelines and provide user safety features.

Establishes Coimisiún na Meán as Ireland's online safety regulator. Implements the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive and creates binding online safety codes for video-sharing platforms. Ireland is the EU regulator for Meta, TikTok, and many major platforms due to their EU headquarters being in Dublin.

The Philippines' landmark anti-OSAEC law. Criminalises online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Requires platforms to report CSAM to the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP). Considered one of Asia's strongest CSAM laws.

Finland's criminal code provisions on CSAM, amended in 2023. Criminalises production, distribution, and possession of CSAM. Finland implements the EU DSA through Traficom.

Emergency decree passed after the Caivano child abuse case. Lowers the minimum age for social media to 14 (from 16 under GDPR), requires parental consent for under-14s, and mandates age verification. AGCOM enforces.

India's data protection law. Requires verifiable parental consent before processing personal data of children under 18. Prohibits processing children's data for tracking, behavioural monitoring, or targeted advertising.

Austria's implementation of the EU Digital Services Act. Designates the KommAustria as the Digital Services Coordinator.

Romania's implementation of the EU Digital Services Act. Designates ANCOM as the Digital Services Coordinator. Includes provisions on child safety and age verification.

Prohibits social media use for children under 15 without parental consent. Requires platforms to provide parental control tools. Part of France's broader digital child protection framework.

France's Digital Majority Act sets the minimum age for social media at 15. Platforms must verify age and obtain parental consent for users under 15. ARCOM may block non-compliant platforms.

Comprehensive online safety legislation placing duties of care on platforms. Requires risk assessments for child users, age verification for adult content, and mandatory CSAM reporting to the IWF. Ofcom is the lead regulator.

China's comprehensive regulations on online minor protection. Requires platforms to implement minor mode (青少年模式), age verification using real-name registration, time limits for minors, and content filtering. Effective January 2024.

Hungary's 2024 law targeting online aggression, cyberbullying, and child exploitation. Requires platforms to implement reporting mechanisms and remove harmful content targeting children.

Belgium's implementation of the EU Digital Services Act. Designates the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) as the Digital Services Coordinator.

Denmark's implementation of the EU Digital Services Act. Designates the Danish Business Authority as the Digital Services Coordinator. Includes national provisions on age verification and child safety.

Vietnam's 2024 internet regulation decree. Requires social media platforms to verify user age and implement parental controls. Mandates CSAM reporting to the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Signed into law July 2024. Requires platforms to provide the safest settings by default for minors, disable algorithmic content recommendation for children, and provide parental controls. Platforms must conduct annual independent audits of child safety features.

Greece's implementation of the EU Digital Services Act. Designates EETT as the Digital Services Coordinator. Includes national child safety provisions.

France's digital space regulation law. Requires age verification for pornographic websites and social media platforms. Platforms must verify users are 15+ or have parental consent. ARCOM enforces with power to block non-compliant sites.

Proposed legislation to create a Digital Safety Commission and Digital Safety Ombudsperson. Would require platforms to remove CSAM within 24 hours and implement age verification. As of March 2026, still before Parliament.

Prohibits social media platforms from allowing children under 16 to create accounts. Platforms must take reasonable steps to verify user age. Passed November 2024, among the world's strictest age-gating laws.

Bangladesh's 2025 cyber security ordinance. Replaces the controversial Digital Security Act 2018. Includes provisions against CSAM. No dedicated child online safety framework as of 2026.

Brazil's landmark digital child protection law, signed January 2025. Prohibits social media for children under 14. Platforms must implement age verification and parental controls. Considered one of the world's strongest child online safety frameworks.

The UAE's dedicated child digital safety law, enacted 2025. Requires platforms to implement age verification, parental controls, and CSAM reporting. TRA enforces.

Indonesia's 2025 regulation requiring electronic system operators to implement age verification and parental controls. Mandates CSAM reporting to Kominfo. Replaces PP 71/2019.

Malaysia's Online Safety Act, enacted 2025. Requires social media platforms with 8+ million users to register with MCMC, implement age verification, and remove harmful content including CSAM within 24 hours.

Portugal's proposed child digital protection law. Would require age verification and parental controls for social media platforms. Under parliamentary consideration as of March 2026.