The Safer Internet programme 5 October 2010 Workshop on Information Security Margareta Traung Project officer eContent and Safer Internet unit

2 The Safer Internet programme Overall aim “to promote a safer use of the internet and other online technologies, particularly by children, and to fight illegal and harmful content ranging from child abusive images to racism” By: Informing and educating parents, children and teachers on how to use internet in a safe(r) way Stimulating best practices and encouraging the use of hotlines across Europe Supporting cooperation among different actors from mobile operators to child welfare organizations

3 The Safer Internet programme History 1996 Communication on illegal and harmful content on the Internet 1997 Commission proposal for an Action Plan Safer Internet Action Plan Extension of Safer Internet Action Plan Safer Internet plus programme

4 Safer Internet programme The present Safer Internet programme will reinforce current activities. New features: Tackling harmful conduct online, especially grooming (adults befriending children online in order to abuse them sexually) and cyber-bullying Stimulating the involvement of children and young people through “children’s panels” Establishing a knowledge base Developing strategies to protect children better in evolving environments such as social networking sites and chat rooms Enhancing global international co-operation

5 The Safer Internet programme Implementation Actions Awareness-raising / helplines to inform parents and children Hotlines to fight illegal content Self-regulation/multi-stakeholder events Increasing the knowledge base on children’s use of technology International co-operation

6 European network of Safer Internet Centres - INSAFE awareness network present in all EU Member States + Norway, Iceland and Russia Helplines, where children and parents can get advice on how to deal with harmful conduct, contact and content, present in most European countries INHOPE network of hotlines present in 27 European countries. (+ Asia, Australia, America, Africa)

8 Awareness-raising A Europe-wide network: to inform and empower children, parents, educators etc. on potentials and risks of the Internet and communication technologies Examples of issues addressed by awareness nodes: racism, xenophobia, bullying, anorexia, harassment, peer-to-peer services, broadband video, instant messaging, chat-rooms, social networking sites, access to content and interactive information, mobiles, game consoles, consumer protection, data protection, network security issues

9 Safer Internet Day Safer Internet Days are part of a global drive to promote a safer Internet for all users, especially young people The 2010 edition of Safer Internet Day was celebrated through 500 events in more than 65 countries all over the world 8 th edition will take place on 8 February 2011 Main focus: virtual worlds, online games, social networking sites Slogan: It’s more than a game, it’s your life! Key messages: –Hiding behind your avatar, pseudo or profile page will not shield you –Your actions in your virtual life can impact on your real life –Anything you post is permanent

10 Self-regulation Initiatives of the European Commission, e.g.: European framework for safer mobile use by younger teenagers and children Signed by leading mobile providers and content providers in Brussels on 6 February 2007, initiated by the Commission Commitments: - Access Control Mechanisms - Raising Awareness & Education - Classification of Commercial Content - Fight Illegal Content on mobile community products/Internet Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU A self-regulatory agreement to ensure the online safety on minors using social networking services signed by 18 leading Social Networking companies in February 2009

11 Safer Internet Day 2009 Signatories of the Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU: Arto, Bebo, Dailymotion, Facebook, Giovani.it, Google, Hyves, Microsoft Europe, MySpace, Nasza-klasa.pl, Netlog, One.IT, Piczo, Skyrock, StudiVZ, Sulake/Habbo, Yahoo!Europe, ZAP.lu (Tuenti, Rate)

12 Filtering and parental tools For example: the SIP-BENCH study of filtering software and services to help parents to choose the parental control tool that best fits their needs to provide input to the filtering industry to track progress of the filtering solutions to produce ranking lists that will help users in the decision making process first results will be available in November/December 2010

13 Multi-stakeholder events Safer Internet Forum an annual conference organised since 2004 brings together representatives of industry, researchers, child welfare organisations and policy makers October 2010, Luxembourg Focus on research results: –EUKidsOnline II – first results of a survey of children and parents in 25 European countries about internet use to be announced –European Online Grooming Project - the first European research project that studies the characteristics and behaviour of sexual offenders who have used the internet to groom young people

14 Increasing the Knowledge base EuKids online II builds on the work of EU KIDS Online, which compared available research across 21 European countries first study across most of EU MS conducted on both parents and children to investigate their attitudes and actions towards online safety 1000 children per country aged from 6-16 years old (and their parents) directly comparable data across countries final report presented in June 2011

15 Increasing the Knowledge base Research into offenders and victims POG: to get a better understanding of the Process of Online Grooming and victim selection to describe behaviour of offenders and young people who are ‘groomed’ to investigate how is ICT used for online grooming ROBERT (Risktaking Online Behaviour - Empowerment through Research and Training): to make online interaction safe for children and young people to develop an understanding of how abuse may develop in the online environment to explore factors that make young people vulnerable as well as those that offer protection to empower children and young people in order for them to better protect themselves online

16 Activities to support law enforcement fighting against child sexual abuse material Development of technological tools which support police investigation, ex.: facilitate analysis of evidence material on seized computers etc. match victims, offenders or details of crime scenes in different pictures or videos facilitate investigations in order to rescue the victims support to INTERPOL for maintaining the International Child Sexual Exploitation Image Database (ICSEDB) that will enable the police to share information on cases of online child sexual exploitation and to identify children and locations where exploitation is taking place

17 International co-operation Why? The issues covered by the Safer Internet are global and need national, European and international solutions. Illegal internet content may be produced in one country, hosted in a second and accessed all over the world. This creates a need for cross-border co-operation. HOW: involvement of as many third countries as possible in Safer Internet Day participation in international events such as the Internet Governance Forum closer cooperation with Russia (Safer Internet Centre is member of INHOPE and INSAFE networks. the Inhope Network – 9 non-European hotline members invitation of third countries experts to Safer Internet events (e.g. Safer Internet Forum, European networks' meetings) support exchange schemes for experts or organizations from countries outside the EU to visit Safer internet centres

18 For more information: