Malta is not satisfied with the measures in place to protect minors using the internet, DVDs and video games and would prefer an EU-wide classification system for media content.

According to a monitoring report assessing implementation of EU recommendations on child protection in digital media, Malta’s legislation and awareness emerge among the best in Europe. However, the report says that the island’s authorities are not satisfied with the level of protection afforded at an EU level and would like to do more.

“Malta is one of a minority of member states that are in favour of pan-EU classification for media content as this is considered to be both helpful and feasible. At the moment, Malta feels that rating of all audiovisual content should be improved” an EU official said.

There are no common EU rules on classification and rating of audiovisual content and every country is free to set its own regime, as long as it respects international benchmarks.

“From the feedback we received from Malta, it seems that, despite efforts to raise awareness among minors and their parents on the harmful aspects of the digital world, Malta is in favour of stricter measures as it believes that the current state of affairs is lacking protection and is insufficient,” the official said.

According to the report, Maltese legislation is quite robust when it comes to the issue of the protection of minors. The island is one of few member states obliging internet providers to inform the police about any illegal content considered to be offensive to human dignity and the Malta Communication Authority encourages ISPs to provide filtering services.

However, the report indicates that, the picture is quite mixed across the EU.

Member states are not responding adequately or have varying approaches to tackling and reporting illegal or harmful content, ensuring children access age-appropriate content, making social networks safer for children and protecting children from harmful video games, the report says. For example, there are many differences between member states in the way hotlines check the illegality of or the harm involved in the content reported to them, track its source and notify it to the competent authorities. Similarly, EU countries use different age rating systems and technical means to keep website and games age-appropriate.

The European Commission said the report proved there was considerable scope for enhancing children’s protection in the use of media and was already working to address the issues later this year in a comprehensive initiative to empower and protect children who use new technologies.