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Representatives from a number of leading child protection organisations participating as members of the Youth Protection Roundtable welcomed the commitment expressed by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the inaugural session of the second IGF for a strong focus on online child protection at the IGF. Literally he said:
"One particular area of hope, but also concern, is the relationship of children and young people with the Internet. The Internet has opened new doors to them, to knowledge and culture. Yet, it can also present a threat to their safety. The program of this year's meeting has a strong focus on the protection of children. And I hope that it will contribute to making them safer."
Members of child protection organisations working towards online child protection in many parts of the world are addressing the online safety issues for young people. Members contributed to a number of key sessions at the IGF, including themes as 'Measures to protect and fight child pornography on the Internet' and 'Protecting children from sexual exploitation through Information and Communications Technologies'.
John Carr, one of the members of the group representing children’s charities in the UK and the Youth Protection Roundtable, said: "As more and more children come online it is crucial that all sectors including Governments and Industry recognise their responsibility to protect children and ensure that the issue of child safety is addressed at the highest level."
The workshops of the IGF highlighted the work of NGOs and their collaboration with industry and government concerning online child safety. Increasingly NGOs are working with industry to develop self-regulatory frameworks, which respond to public concerns regarding the risks and harms experienced by children in the online environment. However such initiatives appear to be limited to a few developed countries and a small number of industry stakeholders. This shows that the value of such partnerships in shaping policies and programmes has yet to be recognised, if the global challenge to end exploitation of children through information and communication technologies is to be met.
Margaret Moran, a Member of Parliament in the UK and Chair of EURIM, said: "Industry self regulation is desirable but it must have government support. At the same time legislative initiatives must be kept broad and flexible to respond to fast changing technologies."
During several sessions at the IGF it became the objective of the group of child protection organisations to ensure sustainability for their collaboration on child protection. They therefore set up a Dynamic Coalition, which aims at anchoring the issue on the agenda of the coming Internet Governance Forums permanently. The Dynamic Coalition seeks for co-operation with the freedom of expression advocates as the members are convinced that there is not necessarily a contradiction between the desire to protect children online and the desire to protect free speech online.
Available on the website since November 30, 2007
paper: Strong focus on child protection at the Internet Governance Forum 2007 in Rio
by Jutta Croll, Stiftung Digitale Chancen
Representatives from a number of leading child protection organisations participating as members of the Youth Protection Roundtable welcomed the commitment expressed by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the inaugural session of the second IGF for a strong focus on online child protection at the IGF. Literally he said:
"One particular area of hope, but also concern, is the relationship of children and young people with the Internet. The Internet has opened new doors to them, to knowledge and culture. Yet, it can also present a threat to their safety. The program of this year's meeting has a strong focus on the protection of children. And I hope that it will contribute to making them safer."
Members of child protection organisations working towards online child protection in many parts of the world are addressing the online safety issues for young people. Members contributed to a number of key sessions at the IGF, including themes as 'Measures to protect and fight child pornography on the Internet' and 'Protecting children from sexual exploitation through Information and Communications Technologies'.
John Carr, one of the members of the group representing children’s charities in the UK and the Youth Protection Roundtable, said: "As more and more children come online it is crucial that all sectors including Governments and Industry recognise their responsibility to protect children and ensure that the issue of child safety is addressed at the highest level."
The workshops of the IGF highlighted the work of NGOs and their collaboration with industry and government concerning online child safety. Increasingly NGOs are working with industry to develop self-regulatory frameworks, which respond to public concerns regarding the risks and harms experienced by children in the online environment. However such initiatives appear to be limited to a few developed countries and a small number of industry stakeholders. This shows that the value of such partnerships in shaping policies and programmes has yet to be recognised, if the global challenge to end exploitation of children through information and communication technologies is to be met.
Margaret Moran, a Member of Parliament in the UK and Chair of EURIM, said: "Industry self regulation is desirable but it must have government support. At the same time legislative initiatives must be kept broad and flexible to respond to fast changing technologies."
During several sessions at the IGF it became the objective of the group of child protection organisations to ensure sustainability for their collaboration on child protection. They therefore set up a Dynamic Coalition, which aims at anchoring the issue on the agenda of the coming Internet Governance Forums permanently. The Dynamic Coalition seeks for co-operation with the freedom of expression advocates as the members are convinced that there is not necessarily a contradiction between the desire to protect children online and the desire to protect free speech online.
Available on the website since November 30, 2007