Title: Children Protection towards Online Audiovisual Risky Contents: Analysis of the Social Representations within European Parliamentary Debates Presented at the ICA International Communication Association Conference in San Diego on 2017 within the session: Communication, Law and Policy (as an extended abstract) Conceived as a « medium for freedom », the Internet posed the problem of controlling the fluxes of information beyond national borders and it destabilized national sovereignty and State control. The attempts to control the Web or to identify cyber-crimes were limited by the opportunities offered in terms of business and information. In the United States, an initiative of the Congress and the Department of Justice tried to limit online freedom of expression in defense of children protection from sexual risks. In 1996, the Communication Decency Act (1995) was declared unconstitutional based on the first amendment of the American Constitution and the idea that the « chaos was the base of freedom ». The following unsuccessful attempt was the 1998 Child Online Protection Act, which aimed at proposing technical solutions for children protection (such as, passwords, age verification through credit card, etc.). 1 Only in 2003, the Supreme Court of Washington accepted a first limitation to online freedom of expression through filters for children protection in public libraries. Although the social responsibility of companies might seem to be a solution, Castells underlines the role of companies as producers of wealth more than solvers of social problems. 2 Nevertheless, several solutions of regulation and self-regulation are under evaluation through the prominence of a protectionist approach promoted by the raise of online crimes. According to Divina Frau-Meigs, the challenge is between international regulation, under United Nations, and self-regulation of companies. 3 Due to this situation, the need for a transnational regulation of the uses of the Internet and the emergency actuation of measures to protect children online attracts the attention of governments, policy makers, businesses. Nowadays, European policy on children protection towards risky online audiovisual contents is based on a multi-stakeholders approach to regulatory, self- regulatory and co-regulatory initiatives. The main activities have been the Better Internet for Kids program, the Recommendations on the Protection of Minors and Human Dignity, and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. These policy implementations have been discussed within European parliamentary debates. Empirical research on the European parliamentary debates With the aim to understand the limits of this decision-making process within the discussion at the European level, an empirical research has been carried on within 51 parliamentary debates held at the European Parliament between 1999 and 2016. The analysis examines the problem description, the juridical principles and the ethical reflections concerning the policy implementation on the children protection towards online audiovisual sexual contents. Aim: Through the analysis of the social representations of online audiovisual risky contents for children, the research aims to analyze the public debate among members the European institutions attending Parliamentary debates. The main purpose is to examine the transformations in social 1 Castells, M. (2001) The Internet Galaxy. Reflections on the Internet, Business and society, Oxford University Press: New York, p. 168-170 p. 2 Castells, M. (2001) The Internet Galaxy. Reflections on the Internet, Business and society, Oxford University Press: New York, p. 281 3 Frau-Meigs, D. (2011) Socialisation des jeunes et éducation aux médias. Du bon usage des contenus et comportements à risque. Erès : Paris, p. 86