Seventeen MEPs, led by Magdalena Adamowicz (PPE, Poland), have asked the European Commission to investigate how online grooming and violence contribute to children running away, and to use existing EU tools such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) for early detection. The written question, dated 13 July 2026, cites Missing Children Europe's 2025 report showing that runaway children made up 58% of cases reported to the 116 000 hotline network. The MEPs argue that running away is often the final result of violence, bullying, or grooming, and that chat features in online multiplayer games remain a less-documented channel for grooming.
The question contains three concrete requests. First, the MEPs ask whether the Commission will promote the use of 'return home interviews' and standardised indicators across Member States to identify if grooming or violence preceded a disappearance. Second, they ask how the Commission intends to use the DSA to improve early detection of violence that may lead to children going missing. Third, they ask whether the Commission plans to assess how online grooming, including through chat and messaging in online multiplayer games, contributes to missing or runaway children cases and to identify the main channels involved.
The policy orientation is toward stronger EU-level coordination and regulatory oversight of online platforms, particularly very large online platforms (VLOPs) such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, as well as gaming platforms. The MEPs are pushing for a more proactive, data-driven approach to child protection, linking missing children indicators to digital safety rules. The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks; its answer will signal whether it intends to expand DSA enforcement to cover gaming chat features and to harmonise data collection on missing children across Member States.