Brussels, 10/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 10 February, the European Commission celebrated the sixth “Safer Internet Day”, an annual European internet safety network (INSAFE) initiative in which more than 50 countries in Europe and the world participate. Anxious to provide children and young people with the means of defending themselves against online dangers, the Commission used this occasion to give a boost to the awareness campaign by unveiling a video clip on “cyber-bullying”, one of the most frequent problems confronting young people on the internet. This day was also chosen by 17 major websites to make the agreement official on improved safety for minors using social networking sites. The agreement signed on Tuesday in Luxembourg (attended by Commissioner Viviane Reding, responsible for information society and media), intends to help young people respond to risks confronting them, such as on-line harassment and revealing personal information. The commissioner stressed that “this agreement is an important step forward towards making our children's clicks on social networking sites safer in Europe". Referring to the enormous success of social networking sites, the commissioner underlined the need to specifically inform young people about potential risks on these sites and explained that “the solution is empowerment rather than protection. Empowering them to deal with any kind of risks they may face online, informing them about what these risks may be”. Viviane Reding also welcomed the fact that this involved an initiative from the industry itself, which has recently and heavily drawn on national and European initiatives to protect individuals on the internet. Luc Delany from the Google company, one of the 17 partners, explained that “this social networking initiative is just the type of good, self-regulatory process that we are pleased to participate in with the European Commission. It follows upon our earlier initiatives to protect children online, Teach Online”. Whilst websites are committed to informing the Commission about their measures and how they intend to implement them by April, the commissioner provided assurances that she would verify whether the industry's promises were being kept. She also promised to review progress accomplished, next year.
The Arto, Bebo, Dailymotion, Facebook, Giovani.it, Google/YouTube, Hyves, Microsoft Europe, Myspace, Nasza-klaza.pl, Netlog, One.lt, Skyrock, StudiVZ, Sulake/Habbo Hotel, Yahoo!Europe and Zap.lu networking sites have together worked out the risks that may confront minors such as online harassment, “grooming”, which involves an adult who befriends a child with the intention of committing sexual abuse, and revealing personal information. They are proposing: 1) An easy to use and accessible "report abuse" button, allowing users to report inappropriate contact from or conduct by another user with one click; 2) Making sure that the full online profiles and contact lists of website users who are registered as under 18s are set to "private" by default. This will make it harder for people with bad intentions to get in touch with the young person; 3) Ensuring that private profiles of users under the age of 18 are not searchable (on the websites or via search engines); 4) Guaranteeing that privacy options are prominent and accessible at all times, so that users can easily work out if just their friends, or the entire world, can see what they post online; 5) Preventing under-age users from using their services - if a social networking site targets teenagers over 13, it should be difficult for people below that age to register.
At the “European Safer Internet Day” event, the Council of Europe announced the publication of the new edition of “The Internet Literacy Handbook”, which informs parents, teachers and young people about how best to use the internet and social networking sites safely. The Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE) also sent out a series of recommendations during this special day to European and national decision-makers to help parents in their role as educators. The development of a safe internet that guarantees fundamental rights must be based on parents who are aware and can operate in the digital universe, being involved. This involvement must be based on the principles of good education and dialogue between parents and children. COFACE stressed that all stakeholders must be involved: public authorities, access, content and service providers, researchers, user associations, family and child protection agencies. (I.L./transl.rh)