Moreover, according to Dr. Touré's vision, Safer Internet Day should not be a one-day celebration. Indeed, as the Secretary-General of the ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Touré firmly expressed his commitment to make 2012 a year-long celebration – ensuring that by working together, the international community can build a really effective global framework to protect children and young people online.

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In the latest phase of its two year old Child Online Protection Initiative the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is to look at the possibility of developing international telecommunications standards whose widespread application would help protect children from online threats.

The ITU's Child Online Protection (COP) initiative was launched in November 2008 as "a multi-stakeholder effort to bring together partners from all sectors of the global community to ensure a safe online experience for children everywhere."

In this latest development the ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) has asked the ITU's security standardization study group, Study Group 17 (SG17), to investigate child protection in the online world.

The group will look at the possibility of developing interoperable standards to protect children online. The aim would be to develop a widely shared approach that could be promoted across the whole industry. The ITU has not given a timeframe for any concrete outcomes from SG17.

SG17 will evaluate what options and possibilities exist for real global coordinated and consistent action to protect children online, for example watch and warning and incident management regimes that would facilitate the gathering of threat information and its sharing among different players.

SG17 will also try to identify commonalities that span the different industry sectors (broadcasters, Internet, mobile) with the aim of developing codes of conduct to help ITU member states collaborate more effectively with the private sector/industry.

It will try to establish cooperative arrangements between government and the private sector/industry for sharing information and developing specific capabilities aimed at mitigating the risks and extending the potential of ICT usage by children. 

The ITU lists the key objectives of its Child Online Protection initiative as being to: "identify risks and vulnerabilities to children in cyberspace; create awareness; develop practical tools to help minimize risk; share knowledge and experience."

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Speaking at Safer Internet Day (at Child Focus, Safer Internet Centre, Belgium), European Commission Vice-President Kroes raised the question of balancing the unquestionable benefits offered by the Internet with the need to keep children safe online. In keeping with the aims of Safer Internet Day, ECDL Foundation’s new IT Security certification focuses on providing the right competences for safe surfing and computer usage.

European children are using the Internet on a daily basis for longer periods, and with greater frequency – not just for surfing the Web, but for accessing schoolwork assignments, developing their personal interests, and for actually contributing to the Web’s diversity by uploading video content, social networking etc. The EU has taken certain actions, such as investing €55 million into awareness-raising projects aimed at making the Internet safer for children. Despite this investment, a recent survey conducted by the London School of Economics has shown that nearly half of the participating children did not know how to change the privacy settings of their social networking sites, and in another complementary EU-wide survey, only 14% of parents surveyed said that they had set up parental web-filtering software to protect their children.

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A European Parliament decision on Monday to remove child pornography images at the source rather than promote Web blocking has been hailed as a success by Internet rights activists.

Members of the Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee ruled that complete removal "at source" must be the main aim in tackling child pornography online and that blocking access to websites is acceptable only in exceptional circumstances -- when the host server in a non-E.U. country refuses to cooperate or when procedures take too long.

The original Commission proposal would have made blocking of child porn websites mandatory for all E.U. member states, prompting concern among Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who tend to support Internet freedom.

"The new generation of MEPs has shown it understands the Internet and has courageously rejected populist but ineffective and cosmetic measures in favor of measures aimed at real child protection," said Joe McNamee, of the European digital rights movement EDRi. "This is a huge and implausible success for an army of activists campaigning to protect the democratic, societal and economic value of the Internet," he added.

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POLICE are considering holding internet safety workshops in schools across Bolton. Officers confirmed they are looking into the possibility of holding the sessions with another organisation in a bid to keep youngsters safe while they surf the internet.

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You won’t find Internet crimes such as cyberbullying and sexting listed as criminal offenses in the FBI’s uniform crime report, but such crimes are rampant and all too often aimed at children.

Similar to the way the proliferation of drugs propelled police departments and schools across the nation to partner in the 1980s and teach Drug Abuse Resistance Education or DARE programs to students, DARE 2B Cybersafe is a new crime-fighting tool allowing officers to interact with children and teens online and discuss issues such as drugs, alcohol and cyberbullying.

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Con el objetivo de conmemorar el Día de la Internet Segura, el Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (MICIT), el Viceministerio de Paz, el Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI), la Fundación Paniamor, la Fundación Omar Dengo (FOD) y Radiográfica Costarricense (RACSA) con el apoyo de Microsoft, Jack’s, Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) y la Municipalidad de San José, trabajaron juntos para ofrecer ese día a niños, niñas, adolescentes y adultos de la comunidad de Pavas, espacios de concientización que les permita familiarizarse acerca de los riesgos potenciales que implica el uso de la Internet y los mecanismos existentes para evadirlos y aprovechar al máximo el potencial de la red. La actividad se llevó a cabo en la Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de Pavas (ADIPA).

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On the occasion of Safer Internet Day 2011, the European Commission today announced that it will step up talks with ICT industry and children's organisations to encourage the design of safer products to help keep children safe online.

Moreover, the Commission will shortly review the 2006 Recommendation on minors and how to protect them in audiovisual media and Internet and on the 2008 Communication on the protection of youngsters from harmful content in video games.

Children are going online from a younger age and not just from computers, but also games consoles and mobile phones. More than 82 % of 15-16 year olds in Europe have a social networking profile, as well as 26 % of 9-10 year olds. Safer Internet Day is being marked today in more than 65 countries around the world under the slogan "Internet is more than a game, it's your life!".

This is supported by the EU's Safer Internet Programme, which helps parents and their children to be safe online. Children's safety online is an important part of the Digital Agenda for Europe (see IP/10/581, MEMO/10/199 and MEMO/10/200).

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75% of teenagers have been contacted by a stranger via the internet, and as many as 37% of these have responded to them out of curiosity.

Many children between the ages of 14 and 18 are engaging in risky behaviour online – and while parents say they are aware of the dangers, many are doing nothing to protect their children, according to the results of a recent survey.

The MSN survey, run by Microsoft as part of Safer Internet Day on 8 February, suggests that nearly half (44%) of children have lied about their age when online; over a third (37%) of those who had been contacted by a stranger (75%) responded; and only 4% told someone older that they trusted, such as a parent or teacher.

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The Statistical Office of the European Communities, Eurostat, has revealed that almost one third (31%) of EU people who used the internet last year (from the 27 EU member states) caught a virus on their computer that resulted in the loss of information or time. That's despite 84% of surfers using security software (e.g. anti-virus) for protection, which rises to 88% in the UK.

Some 14% of individuals in the EU27 who used the internet in the last year, and live in a household with children, had parental control or web filtering software installed. This increases to 21% in the UK. Just 5% (4% in the UK) experienced children accessing inappropriate websites or connecting with potentially dangerous persons while using a home computer.

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Young People are being encouraged to think about their “digital lives” today – and to consider their online identity.

To mark Safer Internet Day 2011, an awareness campaign has been launched to spread understanding about the opportunities and risks of sharing information online – something children are doing at increasingly early age.

In the UK, a leading child protection agency has tackled the darker side of a person’s “digital identity” by making a short filmed aiming to alert young people and their parents about the dangers of “sexting”.

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Safer Internet Day is organised by Insafe each year in February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.Safer Internet Day is organised by Insafe each year in February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.

The topic for 2011 is "our virtual lives" around the slogan " It's more than a game, it's your life".

In 2010 Safer Internet Day was celebrated through over 500 events in 65 countries all over the world.

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BBC Children's is throwing its weight behind Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 8 February by hosting a range of initiatives across CBeebies and CBBC.

CBBC will air three interactive webisodes of its hit show Tracy Beaker Returns. Covering online relationships, cyberbullying and illegal downloads the webisodes aim to promote online media best practice and media literacy. Whilst CBeebies will feature a blog, written by Dr Tanya Byron, on how to keep young children safe online and advising parents how they can prepare their children to become safe independent internet users as they grow older.

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On Safer Internet Day 2011 (February 8, 2011) the Safer Internet RO Consortium will launch the online encyclopedia Saferpedia.eu!

Saferpedia.eu is an online encyclopedia with terms about Internet safety addressed to children, teens, teachers and parents all over the world. Saferpedia.eu was created by Positive Media Romania, one of the Safer Internet RO Consortium members and is part of a bigger project aiming to keep children safe on the Internet, supported by the Insafe Network which has Safer Internet centers all over the Europe.

The encyclopedia wants to be a useful tool for children, teens, parents and teachers. Here they can find terms, definitions and resources about internet safety, other terms referring to Internet, technical terms from IT and terms referring to Internet security.

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Knowing where your kids are can be a full time job. Knowing where they are online—which websites they’re visiting and who they’re talking to—is even harder, but is no less important. The Better Business Bureau Children’s Advertising Review Unit encourages parents to teach their kids and tweens about unsafe online situations and recommends looking out for seven stop signs.

According to a study by the Neilsen Norman Group, kids as young as nine years old are becoming just as capable—if not more so—than their parents at navigating the Internet. While young kids may be computer whizzes, they aren’t necessarily as smart as their parents when it comes to identifying online threats, including predators and fraud.

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Parents need to maintain an open line of communication with their children and understand what they are doing on-line to help them deal with cyber bullies and protect them from Internet predators.

That is what law enforcement and school officials emphasized to the dozen people who attended a special Internet safety program Tuesday night at Ashland Middle School.

"If your kids are awake, they're probably online," said Josh Welch, school resource officer for the Ashland Police Department.

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The survey, “Youth 2.0 – 10 to 18-year-olds in the digital world,” found that youths use the internet more for learning that recreation. But it also reached some worrying conclusions, including that German adolescents rate using the internet and having their own computer more important than participating in sports.

The results had important implications for society, said Bitkom president August-Wilhelm Scheer, including the need for better child protection.

“Children and youths should be able to use the full potential of the internet. That’s why we need the proper skills and more protection,” he said.

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Adults do it; teens do it; kids do it, too. Which brings up the question: How young is too young to be on Facebook and other social networking sites?

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A mobile phone application which claims to identify adults posing as children is to be released.

The team behind Child Defence says the app can analyse language to generate an age profile, identifying potential paedophiles. Isis Forensics developed the tool after parental concerns over children accessing sites on their mobiles. But child protection experts warned against such technology lulling people into thinking they are safe.

Child Defence project leader James Walkerdine, based at Lancaster University, said: "This software improves children's chances of working out that something isn't right. "Parents told us they would much prefer to see software solutions that empowered and educated their children to help them protect themselves."

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There’s a whole new playground where students can be bullied and sexually harassed — the Internet.Local parents are saying they want to stay one step ahead of the game so they can keep an eye on whom their children are meeting and how children are treating each other online.

“I think as our kids become of age, as parents, we can’t keep our heads in the sand and we have to be one step ahead,” said Joan Abington, of Libertyville.

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Present-day technical and legal methods of preventing child pornography offences and online grooming are not sufficiently effective and do not meet their purpose. A thesis from the University of othenburg, Sweden, shows that new approaches are needed to improve online protection for our children.

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Saudi Arabia’s appointed parliament has endorsed a law on the protection of children and set the child’s age limit at 18 years, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

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A Parents’ Guide to Facebook was designed to help you understand what Facebook is and how to use it safely. With it, you will be better informed and able to communicate with young Facebook users in your life more effectively. That’s important because 1) if something goes wrong, we want our children to come to us and 2) as the Internet becomes increasingly social and mobile, a parent’s guidance and support are ever more key to young people’s well-being in social media and technology.

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It has been revealed in a recent report that UK parents are taking the most precautions when it comes to their kids getting online to surf the Internet.

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Parents are starting to think about the need to filter access to the Internet on phones and other wireless devices. A few companies offer apps with 'kid-safe' browsers.Every day, Teresa DiFalco's children clamor for her iPhone.

The kids, ages 9 and 11, use the smart phone and DiFalco's iPod Touch to play such games as Angry Birds and Zombie Farm. Around the nation, other kids are doing the same, either on their own or on their parents' mobile devices, such as smart phones, iPads and other tablets.

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More than 150 seventh-graders at Taft High School on Chicago's Northwest Side were given a lecture on Internet safety and online crimes put on by the Cook County Sheriff's Youth Services Department on Wednesday.

The presentation was intended to be a "scared straight" talk to warn middle school students about the dangers of cyberbullying, "sexting" and online predators, and also educate them about social-networking safety.

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Parents in the Beverley area are being invited to an internet safety workshop to find out what they can do to safeguard their children. The free event will look at how the internet is used differently by children and adults and will explore how young people use social networking websites, instant messaging, chat rooms and download music.

Those attending the course will be advised about the potential risks and what can be done to address them.

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