2008-09-25 EU, Luxembourg, Safer Internet Forum 2008

(Europa)
This year's Safer Internet Forum will take place in Luxembourg on September 25 and 26. The Forum is open for stakeholders from NGOs, governments, researchers, industry representatives, including Internet Service Providers, mobile network operators, social networking sites, software developers. The European Commission is organising 4 different experts' panels on the following topics: September 25: Social Networking and Children, Age verification; September 26: What do we know about Children's use of online technologies?, Media Rating - towards pan-European cross media rating and classification schemes. In order to prepare the Safer Internet Forum discussions, the European Commission has launched in June 2008 a public consultation to get input from all relevant stakeholders. Contributions from those interested are expected until July 31 2008.

Labels: Forthcoming_events, Rating_and_filtering, Safer_Internet_awareness

US - Keeping kids safe in a digital world

(Official Google Blog)
In the spirit of National Internet Safety Month, we welcomed Ernie Allen, co-founder and president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to the Googleplex last week to discuss child protection issues. In a policy talk called "Beyond Milk Cartons: Keeping kids safe in a digital world", Ernie provided an overview of NCMEC's work and chatted with Googlers about the ever-changing landscape of child protection challenges shared by parents, educators, advocacy organizations, and technology companies like Google as we work to help families make smart choices online. Watch Ernie's talk on YouTube.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

UK - Plan to protect children online unveiled

(Guardian)
The government has unveiled an action plan to make the internet safer for children with a £9m ad campaign promoting "e-safety" and setting up a council on child internet safety. The action plan, unveiled today by the department for children, schools and families, aims to deliver on Dr Tanya Byron's recommendations in her report "safer children in a digital world". See Byron Review Action Plan.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

IN - Google India launches nationwide Internet safety campaign

(Press Release)
Google India has launched a national Internet safety campaign called 'Be NetSmart'. The campaign was launched in Mumbai, in collaboration with the Mumbai Police. 'Be NetSmart' is an interactive campaign focussed on students in sixth standard and above. The sessions in schools cover topics that range from maintaining confidentiality and not interacting with strangers online to tips on downloading content, posting pictures, online chatting etc. In addition to students, parents and teachers are also being educated on Internet awareness and the need to be involved with children.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

FR - Protection des enfants sur internet : trois pistes d´actions proposées aux professionnels

(Ministère du travail, des relations sociales et de la solidarité)
Nadine MORANO, Secrétaire d´Etat chargée de la Famille, propose trois actions aux professionnels de l´Internet pour protéger les familles et les enfants: interdire l´accès aux sites illégaux pédopornographiques; accroître les performances des logiciels de contrôle parental des FAI; faire en sorte que les parents soient davantage informés des performances des logiciels de filtrage des FAI. voir aussi Une visite à Londres sur la thème de la protection des enfants sur internet

Labels: Child_abuse_images, Rating_and_filtering, Safer_Internet_awareness

UK - Child web-safety guide launched

(BBC)
New teaching resources aimed at helping primary school children surf the web safely have been launched. Figures from regulator Ofcom suggest 500,000 five to seven-year-olds are allowed to go online unsupervised. Teachers have expressed concern many are joining gaming or social networking sites and leaving personal details without realising the risks. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) has devised a cartoon series to warn of the dangers.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

FR - Protection de l'enfance et les sites communautaires

(ZDNet.fr)
Dailymotion, YouTube et consorts s'engagent à promouvoir un DVD éducatif édité par e-Enfance, destiné à sensibiliser les parents. Les sites communautaires veulent démontrer leur bonne volonté en matière de protection de l'enfance. L'Asic, leur organisation professionnelle, vient de signer un partenariat avec l'association e-Enfance dans le domaine de la protection des mineurs. Il s'agit pour l'instant essentiellement d'un effort de communication : les sites web 2.0 s'engagent à faire la promotion du DVD « Enfants, Ados : l'internet sans danger » sur leur site, par le biais de bandeaux publicitaires ou d'insertions dans des lettres d'information.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness, Social_networking

EU - ICT industry alliance launches TeachToday initiative

(Press Release)
Fourteen leading mobile operators, mobile content, social networking companies and internet providers have launched TeachToday.eu, a website designed to help teachers encourage children to use the internet and mobile technology responsibly and safely. This is the first time such a significant number of major businesses have worked together to address this complex issue. This initiative was launched in Brussels in the presence of Commissioner Viviane Reding.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

UK - People are mugs over identity theft

(Silicon News)
Social network data makes life too easy for fraudsters. Identity theft is rife. Perhaps it's time individuals took a leaf out of business's book and adopted a personal information policy that will make life harder for criminals.

Labels: Computer_crime, Data_protection_privacy, Safer_Internet_awareness

US - Keeping Kids Safe Online: Myths & Tips

(CBSNEWS.com)
Larry Magid debunks the prevailing myths about teen safety on the social Web. [Ed: worth reading in full]

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

AU - Education 'as effective as internet filtering'

(Australian IT)
Better education about online safety would be just as effective as internet filtering to prevent children from accessing inappropriate material on the web, according to a report by Australia's communications watchdog. Targeted education campaigns such as those in Europe would also teach children about the dangers of online fraud and illegal contact from adults, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said in the first of three reports on online safety to be prepared for the Federal Government.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

Just how risky is the Net for kids?

(Net Family News)
That's the question dad and tech writer David Pogue looks at in a recent column (New York Times). He writes about a past writing assignment on the subject, but now he looks at the kid-danger question in a new light: "As my own children approach middle school, my own fears align with the [PBS "Growing Up Online"] documentary's findings in another way: that cyberbullying is a far more realistic threat." See also Social Networking Risks: The Myths and Realities by Nancy Willard and "Growing Up Online: Discussion Needed [linking to the PBS show, which can be viewed in full online.]

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

US - How Dangerous Is the Internet for Children?

(New York Times)
by David Pogue. A few years ago, a parenting magazine asked me to write an article about the dangers that children face when they go online. As it turns out, I was the wrong author for the article they had in mind. The editor was deeply disappointed by my initial draft. Its chief message was this: "Sure, there are dangers. But they're hugely overhyped by the media."

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

EU extends net safety programme

(BBC)
The European Commission is spending 55m euros on making the net a safer place for children. The money will be spent over four years on educational efforts and ways to protect children from inappropriate content and cyber bullying. It will also research the ways that children use the net on computers and other devices such as mobile phones. Safer Internet 2009 - 2013

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

EU - An even safer internet for children

(RAPID)
The European Commission has proposed a new Safer Internet programme to enhance the safety of children in the online environment. Encompassing recent communications services from the Web 2.0, such as social networking, the new programme will fight not only illegal content but also harmful behaviour such as bullying and grooming. With a budget of €55 million, the programme, which builds further on the successful Safer Internet programme started in 2005, will run from 2009 to 2013.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

IE - Social networking guide for parents launched

(ENN)
A new guide to social networking websites was launched by the Minister of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Brian Lenihan. The parents' guide to social networking websites was produced by the Internet Advisory Board (IAB). The guide explains what social networking websites are and how they operate, all in a user-friendly format.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness, Social_networking

EU - Internet Day highlights web risks

(BBC)
Safer Internet Day is being marked around Europe with events to educate children and parents about net dangers. Themed events will reveal the risks of sharing too much personal data and warn children that their virtual friends may not be who they say they are. Public events will encourage parents to oversee their children's online life so they know who they are talking to. In the UK schools were encouraged to run assemblies that discuss how children should behave online. see Safer Internet Day has arrived! The fifth annual edition of Safer Internet Day has surpassed all records, with 55 countries taking part across the world from New Zealand to Costa Rica and Taiwan to Greenland. SID 2008 events (INSAFE). See also Let's listen to children: They know how to make the Internet a safer place! (Commission Press Release) Today, 100 organisations in over 50 countries worldwide celebrate Safer Internet Day. In Brussels a first ever pan-European Youth Forum on Safer Internet is organised by the European Commission with the participation of Meglena Kuneva, the EU's Consumer Commissioner. The purpose is to increase dialogue between children and decision makers on safer Internet issues and to raise awareness of the best ways for protecting minors online. Safer Internet Day is organised under the patronage of the EU's Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

EU - Safer Internet Day: Jugendliche sichern das Internet

(Heise)
27 Jugendliche aus neun europäischen Ländern hat die EU Kommission zum fünften Safer Internet Tag nach Brüssel geladen, damit sie Politikern und den anwesenden Telekommunikationsunternehmen ihre Vorschläge für ein "kindersicheres" Internet präsentieren. Ganz oben stand bei den 14- bis 17-Jährigen der Wunsch nach besser ausgebildeten Lehrern. Insgesamt 55 Länder haben sich mit verschiedenen Aktionen am Safer Internet Day beteiligt.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

US - Cyber Safety in a Web 2.0 World: What Parents and Policymakers Need to Know

(Progress & Freedom Foundation)
As the Internet becomes more entwined in young people's lives, parents are finding they need assistance in teaching their children how to stay safe online. Leading experts at the October 3rd book event discussed their respective books on online child safety and the best tools and methods available to parents. he event also featured an address by Representative Melissa Bean (D-IL 8th), author of the SAFER NET Act, which supports educational efforts as the appropriate role of the government in online child safety. Adam Thierer, Moderator, The Honorable Melissa L. Bean, Sharon Miller Cindrich, Larry Magid and Nancy E. Willard.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

UK - Fight cyberbullies, schools told

(BBC)
Schools are being given guidance urging them to take firm action against pupils who use mobile phones and the internet to bully other children and teachers. More than a third of 12 to 15-year-olds have faced some kind of cyberbullying, according to a government study. Ministers are also launching an awareness campaign on the social networking sites used by many pupils. Schools have been told they can confiscate mobile phones and how to get hurtful material pulled from websites. see Safe to Learn: embedding anti-bullying work in schools (Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Directgov cyberbullying campaign. Bullying.com (BBC Radio 4).

Labels: Cyber-bullying, Safer_Internet_awareness

Global study about youth and technology

(Multichannel News)
When it comes to influencing young people, friends are often the best brand marketers. That?s one of the key takeaways from a new global study about youth and technology called "The Circuits of Cool/Digital Playground" from MTV, Nickelodeon and Microsoft, which used both qualitative and quantitative methodology to talk to 18,000 kids (8-14) and young people (14-24) in 16 countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In the study, MTV Networks and Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions studied 21 technologies that impact on the lives of young people: Internet, e-mail, PC, TV, mobile, instant messaging, cable and satellite TV, DVD, MP3, stereo/hi-fi, digital cameras, social networks, on and offline video games, CDs, HDTV, VHS, webcams, MP4 players, digital-video recorders/personal video recorders and hand-held game consoles. See also Teens establish ?community? generation (FT).

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness, Statistics, Video_games

EG - International Youth Forum - Rules of Engagement: What it Takes to be Safe on the Net.

At the International Youth Forum in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak attended the session on "Rules of Engagement: What it Takes to be Safe on the Net". Speakers included Leila Ben Debba, Manager International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, Stephen Carrick Davies, CEO Childnet International.Questions raised in the session focused on the major effects of misusing the internet and how to protect young children from the detrimental websites. see Agenda, Net Family News and Childnet International Press Release.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

Parents shaky about kids' safety online

(CNET News.com)
by Stefanie Olsen. The majority of parents say they've taken some action to ensure their child's safety online, but at least some will admit they're clueless about how to protect kids. According to a new study from research firm Harris Interactive, roughly a third of parents said they don't feel confident about teaching kids how to use the Internet safely and responsibly. Nevertheless, as many as 94 percent of parents have turned to Web content filters, monitoring software or advice from an adult friend to help shield their kids from harm on the Net.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness, Statistics

Fighting antisocial behavior on social networking sites

(IHT)
With social networking sites exploding in growth, most young users are well aware of the risks and the seamy side of the territory, from cyber-bullying, identity theft and encounters with adults posing as children to communities that promote anorexia and bulimia eating disorders as lifestyle choices. With backing from the European Union, which is spending ?45 million on an Internet safety program through 2008, a collection of national groups are now focusing specifically on the issue of online sexual grooming.

Labels: Cyber-bullying, Safer_Internet_awareness, Social_networking

The Internet's new Dr. Spock?

(News.com)
by Stefanie Olsen. All parents question how technology is affecting their kids. Henry Jenkins, a media scholar at MIT, is working on the answer. As director of the comparative media studies program at MIT, Jenkins is working under a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to study how digital environments are influencing children and to develop educational curricula based on his group's findings. (Last year, the MacArthur Foundation said it would invest $50 million over the next five years to build a network of researchers and community activists to work on digital education and new media literacy.)

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

EU - Eurobarometer: Are Europe's children too confident in tackling online risks?

(RAPID)
Can parents trust their 13 year old daughter when she surfs the web? Do they know for sure that their 11 year old son's mobile phone conversation is safe? A Commission survey of children from all over Europe has looked into how they use new media. It shows that the use of internet and mobile phones has become almost self-evident for Europe's young generation. In general, they also know the risks of using the internet and mobile phones. However, when facing trouble online, minors will ask an adult only as a last resort. See Findings from the Eurobarometer on Children's use of online technologies.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

Internet Safety Month, Part 10: Good Parenting Means Everything!

(Progress & Freedom Foundation)
by Adam Thierer. This is the final installment of my 10-part series of essays that have coincided with Internet Safety Month. Many of these essays have focused on the variety of parental controls tools on the market that can help parents better control, or at least monitor, their children's Internet usage or online communications. (See parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.) Other essays focused on the importance of education, building public awareness, and the need for stepped-up law enforcement efforts aimed at prosecuting online predators. (See parts 7, 8, and 9). In this final installment, I want to focus on what I believe is the most important?and most frequently overlooked?part of the parental controls and online safety discussion: Good parenting!

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

AU - Predator protection 'in weeks'

(Australian IT)
Australians will have access to a national online child protection hotline and free internet filtering software "within weeks", when the long-delayed $116 million scheme to protect families from predators and porn finally gets off the ground. A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan confirmed that the Government was working to a tight deadline to launch the scheme in time for national child protection week, which begins September 7.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

EU - Public consultation - Safer Internet and online technologies for children

The Commission has launched a public consultation to identify the most effective ways of making the online environment and communication technologies safe for users, in particular children. The current Safer Internet plus programme will end in 2008 and the Commission is conducting this consultation for creating a basis for deciding whether to propose a follow-up programme from 2009 to 2013 and how best to address issues relating to online technologies in the future. The deadline for contributions is 07/06/2007.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

US - Think Before You Post'

(Net Family News)
The US Justice Department, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and Ad Council just launched a new phase of their media campaign to raise public awareness about exploitation of online teens, Government Technology magazine reports. The article cites a news study by Cox Communications showing that 61% of 13-to-17-year-olds have a personal profile on social networking sites; half of them 'have posted pictures of themselves online'; 20% of them say it is 'somewhat safe' or 'very safe' to share personal info on a public blog or profile; and 37% say 'they're not very concerned or not at all concerned about someone using personal information they've posted online in ways they haven't approved.' The 'Think Before You Post' videos can be viewed in the Ad Council site, and here's the National Center's press release.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness, Social_networking

UK - Many net users 'not safety-aware'

(BBC)
Fewer than half of the UK's 29m adult internet users believe they are responsible for protecting personal information online, a survey suggests. One in six of the 2,441 people surveyed felt responsibility rested with banks. The research, for a government-backed online safety campaign, found 12% had suffered online fraud in the last year - at an average loss of £875.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

New Web safety institute unveiled

(CNet News.com)
The Internet Content Rating Association, a nonprofit aimed at labeling adult Web sites, have launched a new institute to promote kids safety on the Web. Called the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), it will broaden its work from the ICRA rating system to include the development and support of other kid-safe technologies, educational programs and public policy work.

Labels: Rating_and_filtering, Safer_Internet_awareness

Net safety day marked worldwide

(BBC)
Efforts to make the net less risky for children are being marked by the fourth Internet Safety Day on 6 February. Events are being held in 31 nations and a blogathon will record activities held as far apart as Australia and Canada.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

US - Parents shaky about kids' safety online

(CNET News.com)
The majority of parents say they've taken some action to ensure their child's safety online, but at least some will admit they're clueless about how to protect kids. According to a new study from research firm Harris Interactive, roughly a third of parents said they don't feel confident about teaching kids how to use the Internet safely and responsibly. Nevertheless, as many as 94 percent of parents have turned to Web content filters, monitoring software or advice from an adult friend to help shield their kids from harm on the Net. See Cable in the Classroom Press Release and Internet Safety page.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness, Statistics

Finally a Good Internet Safety Site for Teens

(Safeteens.com)
by Larry Magid. It's hard to get teens to pay attention to safety material. And that?s a shame, because teens are actually more vulnerable to Internet related problems than younger kids. But there is a new site that teens might actually enjoy visiting. Microsoft Network (MSN) in the UK along with several UK-based non-profits has created what I think is the first good online safety web site that speaks directly to teens. The new UK venture, WebSafeCrackerz.com is compelling for its target audience of 12 to 16.

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness

SAFT Future Kids Online - Conference Documentation

(SAFT)
Politicians, researchers, experts, industry representatives and kids themselves gathered in Stockholm at the end of October for the SAFT conference Future Kids Online - How to Provide Safety Awareness, Facts and Tools. It turned out to be two eventful days with speakers and guests from Europe, Asia, Australia and America debating possibilities and risks concerning children's online life. Below you will find links to the presentations as well as some pictures from the event. [Ed: including one of QuickLink's editor in serious mood, supervised by the SAFT detective].

Labels: Safer_Internet_awareness