Internet Watch Foundation

The Internet Watch Foundation joins organisations from 55 countries across the world in marking the fifth international Safer Internet Day.

 

Safer Internet Day is organised by Insafe, the European internet safety network. to celebrate the opportunities brought about by increasing internet access whilst raising awareness of how children can stay safe online and how many organisations work to make the online environment as secure as possible.

 

2008 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. The unprecedented take-up reflects a growing concern from all sectors including government , the public and media on the importance of educating young people to use online technologies safely, effectively and ethically. This year’s theme “Life online is what you make of it” has not only inspired efforts to make the event more memorable than ever, it has resulted in exemplary teamwork across borders hence underlining the global nature of the virtual world.

 

This week, hundreds of events are rolling out at the national level, from eSafety workshops organised throughout Germany and a national gaming debate with policy officials in Amsterdam to Safer Internet Day buses travelling the countryside in Spain, Italy and Cyprus. Two major central actions have been launched today in Brussels.

 

The Internet Watch Foundation is supporting Safer Internet Day in a number of ways. We have featured the event in our monthly e-newsletter which goes out to nearly 2,000 subscribers (if you would like to sign up to this free service go to: http://www.iwf.org.uk/media/newsletter.htm) as well as advertising the day throughout our website. We are also contributing to the Safer Internet Day Blogathon which was launched at midnight by Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media. This has now crossed half the world through Australasia and the middle-east and will soon leave Europe on its path to South and North America. A Youth Forum of thirty youths (14-17 year olds) from all corners of Europe will lead the second event, where they will discuss their use of mobile phones and social networking websites and make proposals concerning awareness on internet safety to the European Commission, industry and politicians. 

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About Insafe
Insafe is the European Safer Internet awareness-raising network co-funded by the European Commission. It comprises national contact centres across the European Union and in Iceland and Norway, with partner organisations in Argentina, Australia and the USA. Insafe aims at empowering users to benefit from the positive aspects of internet whilst avoiding the potential risks. Further information is available at www.saferinternet.org or contact info-insafe@eun.org

 

About the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
The IWF is the organisation in the UK operating an internet ‘Hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their inadvertent exposure to potentially illegal content online.

 

Our aim is to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, specifically:

We work in partnership with UK Government departments such as the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to influence initiatives and programmes developed to combat online abuse. This dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe, to ensure greater awareness of global issues and responsibilities.

We are a self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry. This includes internet service providers (ISPs), mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, telecommunications and filtering companies, search providers and the financial sector as well as blue-chip and other organisations who support us for corporate social responsibility reasons.
Through the 'Hotline' reporting system, we help ISPs to combat abuse of their services through a ‘notice and take-down’ service by alerting them to any potentially illegal content within our remit on their systems and simultaneously inviting the police to investigate the publisher.

As a result, less than 1% of potentially illegal content has apparently been hosted in the UK since 2003, down from 18% in 1997.
In partnership with many organisations we strive to create continued awareness of the role and purpose of the IWF and aim to foster trust and reassurance in the internet for current and future users.

Please note that "child pornography", "child porn" or "kiddie porn" are not acceptable terms. The use of such language acts to legitimise images which are not pornography, rather, they are permanent records of children being sexually abused and as such should be referred to as child sexual abuse images.

 

www.iwf.org.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 237 700
media@iwf.org.uk