Internet Watch Foundation

The pan-European Insafe network organised the fourth edition of Safer Internet Day on 6 February, once again held under the patronage of Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media.

 

IWF again this year participated in a worldwide blogathon which started in Australia, then moved across Asia and Europe and finished in USA and Canada. The theme for this year’s blogathon was “crossing borders”. To see the full blogathon click here.

 

Other activites for the day included Safer Internet events organised in the EU at national level.

 

In the UK, the national awareness node for safer internet, the Cyberspace Research Unit at University of Central Lancashire, in partnership with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre hosted a conference to promote safe and responsible ICT use by children and young people.

 

The conference had three aims. Firstly, it aimed to address the ways in which children and young people’s use of ICTs and social networking services crosses borders and dissolves boundaries. Secondly, the conference aimed to examine the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders in promoting safe and responsible use of ICTs and social networking services by children and young people. Thirdly, the conference aimed to identify the challenges associated with crossing borders and dissolving boundaries in educating children and young people, parents, teachers and others involved in education and child services, about the risks and opportunities associated with ICT use and social networking.

 

CEOP also hosted a series of workshops with input from child protection and industry partners to help young people to stay safe online.

 

The workshops were designed to educate children about how to have fun online without exposing themselves to potential risks.

More than 100 secondary school children took part in activities to increase their awareness about Social Networking, Cyberbullying, Gaming and Online Auctions. The interactive sessions were presented by the CEOP Centre’s Education Team, Childnet, Microsoft UK and SwapitShop and supported by Communications Industry Regulator, Ofcom.

 

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre also launched its latest education film at the event. The hard-hitting, four-minute film shows how a teenage boy falls victim to sexual abuse, after he is tricked into meeting a girl he believed he’d been talking to online. The film will form part of a rolling education programme, currently being delivered in secondary schools throughout the UK.

 

Other countries that held activities on the day included Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Slovenia.

 

In Germany, visitors were quizzed on their internet safety knowledge and video clips broadcast by over 10 TV stations and shown in over 250 cinemas.

In the Netherlands Princess Maxima was the special guest at an event featuring theatre, music and stories.

In Portugal a national contest for schools on safer internet use was launched and awareness sessions took place in schools.

In Luxembourg a week-long exhibition on safer internet use was run in the shopping centre Belle Étoile.

In Bulgaria the results of a nationwide safer internet competition for school children were presented, with the participation of around 1000 children.

In Slovenia, young people showcased art projects and Slovenian national television broadcasted internet safety clips.