Celebrating Safer Internet Day Across the World
The IWF will join 40 countries participating in the fourth edition of Safer Internet Day (SID) which this year takes place on 6 February. The event is organised by European Schoolnet, coordinator of Insafe, the European safer internet network (www.saferinternet.org). Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for the Information Society and Media is once again patron of Safer Internet Day, as in the past two years.The highlight of the day will once again be a worldwide blogathon, which will reach Australia on 6th February and progress westward through the day to finish up in the USA and Canada. Following the huge success encountered in 2006, this year’s blogathon goes one step further to include the voices of hundreds of youngsters. In the framework of a competition launched in October 2006, more than 200 schools in 25 countries across the globe have been working in pairs, using technology to cross geographical borders, to create internet safety awareness material on one of three themes: e-privacy, netiquette, and power of image. On Safer Internet Day, all of the projects they have produced will be uploaded to the blogathon.
The 4 prize-winning teams in the competition will be announced on 6 February when the blogathon opens to well over 100 organisations waiting on the starting block to add their postings on this year’s theme, Crossing borders..
To find out more about young people’s use of the internet and mobile phones, Insafe has been collecting data over the past two months through an online survey (http://insafe-survey.eun.org/). Preliminary results will be made available on Safer Internet Day along with a wealth of other information tailored to the needs of not only media but also parents, teachers and youngsters in an online media room specially set up at www.saferinternet.org to mark the event.
On Safer Internet Day in the Netherlands, HRH Princess Maxima will be the special guest at an event featuring theatre, music and stories. In Slovenia, young people will showcase art projects and Slovenian national television will broadcast internet safety clips. Across the globe, hundreds of other events will highlight the growing importance of internet safety in the lives of us all.
Further information:
European Schoolnet
Janice Richardson
Tel: +32 790 75 75
Info-Insafe@eun.org
Media room – press kit for journalists
Online survey
Alexa.Joyce@eun.org
Insafe:
National nodes of Insafe:
http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/focus.htm
Safer Internet Day Blogathon:
Safer Internet Programme:
eTwinning (partner in the Safer Internet Day competition for schools):
About European Schoolnet:
European Schoolnet (www.europeanschoolnet.org) is a unique not-for-profit consortium of 28 ministries of education in Europe created in 1997. It provides major European education portals for teaching, learning and collaboration and leads the way in bringing about change in schooling through the use of new technology.
About Insafe
European Schoolnet coordinates the European Safer Internet network, Insafe (http://www.saferinternet.org), which aims to empower citizens to use the Internet, as well as other information and communication technologies, safely, ethically and effectively. The network is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate General for the Information Society and Media. It comprises 26 national nodes which work together in close partnership in 24 countries across Europe and with three associated nodes, in Argentina, Australia and the USA.
About the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
The IWF is the only authorised organisation in the UK operating an internet ‘hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their exposure to potentially illegal content online.
Its aim is to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, specifically:
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child abuse images hosted anywhere in the world
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criminally obscene content hosted in the UK
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incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK
The IWF work in partnership with UK Government departments such as the Home Office and the Department of Trade and Industry 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.
The IWF is funded by the EU and the UK internet industry including internet service providers (ISPs), mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers (CSPs) and telecommunications & software companies.
Through the hotline reporting system, the IWF help ISPs to combat abuse of their services through a ‘notice and take-down’ service by alerting them to any potentially illegal content on their systems and simultaneously inviting the police to investigate the publisher.
As a result, only 0.4% of potentially illegal content is apparently hosted in the UK, down from 18% in 1997.
As the number of people using the internet and the diversity of content available continues to grow, the mechanisms for dealing with illegal content must be better known and understood.
In partnership with many organisations, the IWF 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 the terms "child pornography" or "child porn" can act 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 abuse images.
IWF is an incorporated charity, limited by guarantee.
Charity No. 1112398
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 237 700
Created: Mon, January 29th, 2007 | Last Modified: Tue, June 19th, 2007
