As a mother, I read with increasing horror the stories earlier this week of compromising photos of young girls being shared on online forums by young boys.
These cases bring to the fore the new reality facing children and parents in this digital age of ‘selfies’ and sharing every thought that springs into your head on online comment boards or social networks.
It is easy to forget that it is very difficult being a teenager. Of course these photos should never have taken in the first place, but these girls are probably simply trying to fit in, in a misguided, naive attempt to being liked or popular - something that anyone who was ever a teenager can easily identify with. I am sure none of them ever thought how easily they could be published online and spread around.
To be fair to the boys who shared the photos, they probably had little idea about the lasting consequences of their actions or the fact that in a small country like Malta, where we all know one another, the effect is doubly devastating.
Not that that is an excuse - but to a certain extent it does also show up our failings as a society to be one step ahead of what is happening. We have to legislate and educate faster and better about what can be done online and what is acceptable digital behaviour.
With hindsight, a situation like this was bound to happen - it has happened in other countries - but it has still somehow crept up on us and caught us unaware.
Schoolyard bullying has moved into the 21st century. We no longer pull hair but post compromising photos online. It remains utterly unacceptable and we must tackle it better.
As parents we need to be more aware of the risks and educate our children better. As citizens we have a duty to respect each other’s privacy and dignity. As children we should be able to make mistakes, learn from them and grow without having them hang over our heads forever. As politicians, we have an obligation to legislate to ensure that this is possible and that our regulations and laws are updated to reflect the reality in which we live in.
And that is exactly what we are doing in the European Parliament. The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee on which I sit, has recently negotiated a package of reforms on data protection and privacy.
Once they are finally agreed to and voted upon, the new rules will mean that you will once again be put in control of your personal data.
You will have rights, enshrined in law, that will strengthen your privacy and you will have more rights to rectify or erase personal information that has been published about you. Essentially, you will have the right to be forgotten.
There will be sanctions for those who do not comply. You will have the option to stop the dissemination of your personal information under certain grounds and the option to seek redress in a court of law. There are specific rules governing the personal data of those who are still under 18.
The new rules are designed to do as much as possible to mitigate the risk that something posted online when you are a teenager does not come back to haunt you years down the line, whether it is an ill-advised photo or comment posted somewhere in cyberspace.
In the European Parliament, we will legislate to address the hole in EU legislation to better safeguard your rights with a final vote hopefully being taken in the next few months.
Laws can only protect us so far. Prevention is always better than cure and common sense and education will always get you much further.
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