Earlier this month, the Internet Governance Forum held its ninth annual meeting with a fresh focus on child online protection in a new session format devoted to “tangible outcomes” and “best practices.”
Istanbul, Turkey was the host city for IGF 2014, entitled: “Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multi-Stakeholder Internet Governance.” The new session format—“Best Practices Forums” (BPF)—were piloted for five special topics, including child online protection (COP). All were aimed at gathering and disseminating useful insights to the full Internet community.
I had the pleasure of serving as co-chair and lead expert for the COP BPF, which began its work some seven weeks ahead of the on-site meeting. Joined by co-chair leads Carla Licciardello, the head of COP for the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and Hannah Broadbent, director of policy and strategy at Childnet International in the United Kingdom, our task was to tap the vast collection of knowledge, wisdom and expertise amid regular, remote and new IGF participants.
Our on-site session featured lead discussants Susie Hargreaves, chief executive officer of the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation (IWF); Patrick Burton, executive director of South Africa’s Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention, and three youth panelists, who all shared their roles and perspectives on how best to help safeguard children as they live out their lives online.
About 100 people attended the session, and a third actively contributed to the dialogue, helping to frame the various themes that emerged. For instance, participants gained a better understanding of and appreciation for the broad range of issues that fall under the umbrella of child online safety and child online protection. From the availability of child sexual abuse material and online bullying, to the need for digital and media literacy, the group touched on a number of current topics. Participants also noted the differing levels of magnitude and relevance that online safety subjects carry in diverse geographies. Differences stem mainly from varying degrees of access to the Internet and the availability of technology, as well as cultural, societal and familial values.
Nearly all participants agreed that any child online safety strategy needs to be multi-faceted, comprised of innovative technology “solutions;” legal and regulatory mechanisms; law enforcement participation; public-private partnerships, public awareness-raising and both formal and informal education. Moreover, child online safety was viewed as a “shared responsibility” among a multitude of actors, including the technology industry, government, law enforcement, the non-profit sector, NGOs, educators, parents and youth themselves. Additional prominent themes included:
- An emphasis on programs and practices that help build resilience. As children grow and mature online, they need to be able to think critically; assess the legitimacy of content and interactions, and have a plan when situations they may encounter make them feel uncomfortable.
- The need for research-based programs, with a particular focus on collecting additional baseline data from countries in the southern hemisphere. All agreed a wide array of research and surveys exist in many developed geographies, yet similar data are severely lacking for several emerging economies.
- An appreciation that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. Indeed, every child is raised in a unique environment and, while the issue of child online protection may be global in nature, strategies for helping to address it are likely to have distinctly local characteristics.
Going forward, the general consensus among participants was that the Child Online Protection Best Practices Forum should integrate related work by the ITU, the EU Commission and similar organizations. A consolidated effort could then be extended and the Forum could reconvene at the 2015 IGF set to take place in Brazil. In the meantime, the BPF is accepting additional perspectives and submissions, as an updated draft report is prepared, following the conclusion of IGF 2014. To learn more about the BPF process in general and the Child Online Protection Best Practices Forum in particular, visit the IGF 2014 website.
For more information about Microsoft’s work in Online Safety and Child Online Protection, visit our Safety & Security Center; “like” us on Facebook; follow us on Twitter, and look for my “point of view” following the #MSFTCOSO hashtag.