Bulgaria’s Interior Minister: New law against antisocial behaviour by minors, but no bar on social network access
Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said on August 19 that his ministry is preparing a completely new law to counter antisocial behaviour of minors and juveniles, but he ruled out restricting access to social networks as difficult to implement.
The ambition is to complete the work in a short time and to propose a draft of a modern regulatory act that will ensure effective prevention when working with children, Demerdzhiev said.
Presenting the measures taken by the institutions against aggression and radicalisation among adolescents, he said that the actions taken so far have been rather formal, without achieving a real result.
Currently, under the coordination of the Prime Minister, all responsible institutions have tasks to fulfill, Demerdzhiev said.
He said the goal was to achieve quality prevention that will lead to a change in the environment.
Demerdzhiev said that he was not working towards taking measures that look good, but on the contrary, to take measures that work well.
He said that the current regulatory framework is outdated and does not meet modern conditions and challenges.
Along with the preparation of the new law, a change in the functioning of the structures involved in antisocial behaviour of minors is also being discussed, in order to increase the capacity and effectiveness of their work, he said.
Among the main focuses is the strengthening of prevention.
The Interior Ministry is developing a strategy for additional training of employees who work with children, including inspectors from children’s pedagogical rooms. The goal is to increase their professional capacity and to build working mechanisms for early identification and prevention of aggressive and risky behaviour.
Monitoring of the internet has also been strengthened, Demerdzhiev said.
Employees of the Cybercrime Directorate at the General Directorate for the Prevention of Crime and Corruption daily monitor content related to illegal activities, and if data on crimes is established, the information is directed to the relevant structures, he said.
The ministry is also working on the possibility of establishing territorial units to counter cybercrime in order to increase the capacity to work throughout the country.
Regarding the possibility of restricting minors’ access to social networks, he emphasised that such a measure would be difficult to implement. For this reason, the ministry’s measures at this stage are aimed at increased control and prevention.
The creation of a working group with the participation of the Ministry of Justice is also being discussed, which would review the relevant provisions in the Criminal Code and the extent to which they are adequate in relation to the gravity of the individual acts and the current European regulations.
The Interior Ministry and Education Ministry will expand their joint preventive initiatives. Among them is the campaign “Violence is Powerlessness”, which is currently aimed at pupils in grades 8 and 9. It is planned to reach at least 100 000 pupils in more than 1000 schools in the country in the next school year, Demerdzhiev said.
(Photo: Interior Ministry)
