Кабината

Youth Voted on a Charter of Their Online Rights in Parliament

On February 5th – Safe Internet Day, the Charter of Online Rights for Young People in Bulgaria was adopted. The charter was passed by a majority of 100 youth following all parliamentary procedures and

On February 5th – Safe Internet Day, the Charter of Online Rights for Young People in Bulgaria was adopted.

The charter was passed by a majority of 100 youth following all parliamentary procedures and after heated debates, voting, and re-voting.

The three-hour debates were broadcast live online from www.Kabinata.com and were watched in over 400 schools throughout the country, from which additional questions were submitted remotely.

Full Video Recording of the Debates

The debates took place in the 'East' Hall of the National Assembly in the presence of Members of Parliament Galina Bankovska, Katya Chalkova, and Irena Sokolova, the chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection Kalin Kamenov, representatives of the Ministry of Education, Cybercrime Sector of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, Vivako, Facebook's regional representative Gabriela Czech, and the representative of the European network of safe internet centers Insafe Hans Martens.

Ten main delegates from across the country, elected through online voting on Facebook, presented and argued for 10 fundamental rights of young people on the internet, as well as their limitations.

Youth ParliamentThe youth who participated in the debates came from the IX French Language Gymnasium, 26th, 35th, 51st, 73rd and 119th schools in Sofia, the Children's Council at the State Agency for Child Protection, and SOS Children's Villages.

They challenged the arguments of the main delegates with questions, remarks, and suggestions. Their questions also tested the official guests at the event.

The delegates in this first-of-its-kind youth parliament set the requirement that the adopted Charter be discussed and refined by the next Safe Internet Day.

The task was also set for the Charter to be disseminated as widely as possible so that as many young people as possible could participate in its discussion.

Institutions and businesses were asked to consider how they would ensure compliance with the selected 10 fundamental online rights, which are:

  1. OPPORTUNITIES: I have the right to use the opportunities of the Network if I respect the rights and dignity of others.
  2. BENEFITS: I have the right to use everything I need, as long as I respect copyright.
  3. MY OWN OPINION: I have the right to express my opinion freely, as long as I do not offend anyone.
  4. CREATIVITY: I have the right to create my own content as long as I do not plagiarize.
  5. PRIVACY: I have the right to control access to my content to protect my identity.
  6. COMMUNICATION: I have the right to communicate freely as long as I do not use hate speech.
  7. AUTHENTICITY: I have the right to verify the truthfulness of information to ensure its reliability.
  8. ASSISTANCE: I have the right to receive competent help when needed.
  9. PARTICIPATION: I have the right to participate in decisions that affect me.
  10. FREEDOM: I have the right to do what I like as long as I respect the rights of others.

Kabinata logoThe youth parliament was organized by the National Center for Safe Internet at the Foundation 'Applied Research and Communications' and the Association 'Parents' with the assistance of the parliamentary Commission for Education, Science and Issues of Children, Youth and Sports and with the media partnership of Bulgarian National Television and www.Kabinata.com.