EU grant for UK Safer Internet Centre confirmed

Press release: The UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC) has received welcome confirmation that its application to the EU Connecting Europe Facility fund has been successful.

The grant of Euros 2,462,866 for January 2019-December 2020 goes to the partnership of three leading UK not-for-profit organisations – Childnet International, the Internet Watch Foundation, and SWGfL – whose joint mission is to help keep children and young people safe online.

Speaking for the UKSIC partnership, the Internet Watch Foundation CEO and UKSIC Director Susie Hargreaves OBE, said:

“We’re delighted that our application has been successful. With Brexit on the horizon, funding was far from assured, and we thank the Commission for helping the UK Safer Internet Centre continue its vital work of making the UK one of the safest places to be online.”

“However, it’s a reprieve not a guarantee. With no replacement funding so far offered by the UK government, we’re extremely concerned for the UK Safer Internet Centre when the grant comes to an end in 2020. Without this support many children and teenagers will be put at risk in a digital world which holds peril as well as opportunity.”

The UK Safer Internet Centre exists to promote responsible use of technology among young people.  Collectively, the partnership delivers the annual UK Safer Internet Day, which will be marked globally on February 5th 2019.

The partnership was appointed by the European Commission as the Safer Internet Centre for the UK in January 2011. Its chief functions are to offer an awareness centre giving advice to children and their parents, guardians and schools; to provide a helpline for professionals on internet safety issues, and a hotline for reporting child sexual abuse imagery and videos online.  

The grant is broken down with 1,093.437 Euros going to the Internet Watch Foundation; 769,794 Euros going to the SWGfL, and Childnet receiving 599,635 Euros. 

Contact: Jane Spence, IWF Press Officer jane@iwf.org.uk 07377 727058

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New National Service Launched to Assist Public in Reporting Online Harmful Content

Over the last 2 years SWGfL has successfully worked with industry to take down over 21,000 pieces of harmful content. As a partner within the UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC), SWGfL is launching a new reporting centre to assist the public in reporting online abuse and harmful content: Report Harmful Content Online.

reportharmfulcontent.online supports victims of online harmful content and abuse and includes a revolutionary new reporting and advice system. The service provides up to date information on community standards and direct links to the correct reporting facilities across multiple platforms.

Further support is available to users who would like the outcome of their reports reviewed. Report Harmful Content Online will check submitted reports and industry responses against platform-specific reporting procedures and community standards in order to provide users with further advice on actions they can take.

Advice is provided on online issues such as bullying, harassment, threats, impersonation, unwanted sexual advances, violent content, suicide, self-harm and pornographic content.

Margot James, Digital Minister said

“The government is working with a wide range of organisations to ensure users, particularly children, have the tools they need to have positive experiences online. I’m pleased to see South West Grid for Learning’s strong commitment to this aim and I hope this will be a useful resource in empowering all users of the internet in the UK to stay safe online.”

Why this and why now?

When it comes to reporting harm online, Project deSHAME (Dec 17) found that only 39% of young people aged 13 - 17 would be likely to report online sexual harassment to a social network.

The Safer Internet Day Digital Friendships research (Feb 18) found that just over half of young people aged 8 – 17 would choose to report something that upset them online.

Similarly, Ofcom’s Adult Media Use and Attitudes annual report (April 18) found that a staggering 59% of adults aged 16+ would choose not to report a negative experience online.

The UK Safer Internet Centre already provides reporting for illegal child sexual abuse material online via the IWF Hotline, and the Report Harmful Content Online hub extends this responsibility into harmful online content.

David Wright, Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre and SWGfL said

“This service extends the reporting capability of UK Safer Internet Centre to support victims of harmful content online.  We have been at the forefront of online safety for decades and this new service continues to demonstrate our contribution in helping make the UK the safest place to be online.”

Will Gardner, Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre and CEO of Childnet said

“We are very pleased to see Report Harmful Content Online launch as it helps meet a very obvious and urgent need for all internet users. SWGfL, as part of their work with the UK Safer Internet Centre, work at the front end of online safety and this new service continues to demonstrate their innovativeness as well as passion for making the UK the safest place to access the internet in the world.”

Visit Report Harmful Content Online at reportharmfulcontent.online

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Advice for giving technology gifts this Christmas

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday over, and Christmas not far away, we look at the things you can do before handing over any tech presents on Christmas day

Technology can be a great and exciting gift for young people at Christmas. Games consoles, tablets and mobile phones are often at the top of a child’s letter to Santa. We have created some top tips for parents and carers, looking at what you can do before these gifts arrive under the tree on the 25th December.

Have a look at parental controls:

Have a look at the device before Christmas day. Take the time to install the parental controls and safety settings that you want onto the device. This way you know how the device works and don’t have to worry about finding time to install parental controls once your child already has access to the device.

If you have not yet bought the device it is a good idea to look at the parental controls that are available on it, speak to the team at the shop you buy it from, ask other parents about their experiences, and also read reviews and instructions online.

You can read our advice about smartphones, gaming devices, tablets and other internet connected devices in our parent’s guide to technology.

It is also important to look at what parental controls you have set up on your home internet, as this will help reduce the chances of children stumbling across something inappropriate while browsing the internet. Internet providers offer free parental controls that you may find useful. You can read the UKSIC guide to parental controls offered by home internet providers here.

It’s important to remember that no filter is ever 100% effective on its own and any controls should only be used if they work for you and your family.

Have a go on the device yourself

The easiest way to get to know the safety settings, reporting tools and other features available on the device you’ve just bought is by having a play on it yourself!

Before wrapping up the new toy, why not charge it up and have a go navigating the tools and resources that are available on it. This also means that first thing on Christmas morning you know you are handing over a fully charged and working device!

Make a family agreement

Making a family agreement is a great way to think about how your family uses the internet, and to help make sure that everybody understands the importance of staying safe and positive online. A family agreement is a chance for you to discuss how your family uses the internet. It can include how often you use technology, if it is allowed to be used in communal spaces like at the kitchen table, and if permission needs to be gained before downloading any new apps.

Take a look at our free family agreement template and guidance to come up with an agreement that works for you and your family.

If you already have a family agreement, it is a good idea to keep updating this as your family’s use of online services change, or whenever you get a new device!

Talk to your child about using technology safely

One of the most important things you can do before handing over a piece of technology is to talk to your child. Having a conversation shows your child that you are engaged in their online lives and that you are available and interested in helping them, should they face difficulties whilst using technology or spending time online. Some conversation starters that could help you to have these discussions include:

• What will you use this device for?
• Can you show me what your favourite thing to do online is?
• Can you show me how to play on your favourite game?
• What tips can you give me about spending time online?
• What is OK and not OK to share online?
• What would you do if something worries you whilst you’re online?
• Do you know how you block or report on the games you’re playing? Can you show me how to do it?

Resources to help you:

• Childnet Hot Topics for Parents: From cyberbullying to Digital wellbeing, our hot topics give information and advice on issues affecting young people online.
• Keeping under fives safe online: Updated in time for Christmas, this resource gives top tips that parent can put in place at home to help keep young children safe online.
• Common Sense Media: Reviews from parents, young people and experts looking at all the latest games, apps, services and films to help you decide if something is appropriate for your child.
• Ask about games gives guidance about PEGI Ratings, as well as the benefits of young people playing games online.

• eSafety Gift Guide from the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner. This covers a variety of tech gifts you may be thinking about this Christmas.

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Safer Internet Day 2019 Educational resources for 14-18 Year Olds

For Safer Internet Day 2019, the UK Safer Internet Centre has created educational resources for educators to deliver to young people aged 3-18 years old, including specific resources tailored to 14-18 year olds.

Safer Internet Day 2019 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 5th February 2019 with the slogan ‘Together for a better internet’.

About Safer Internet Day 2019

In the UK each year we choose a theme that we think best suits the landscape of online safety in the country and the issues that young people may face online. The theme for Safer Internet Day 2019 is consent and through this we will look at the way that we give, ask and receive consent in an online context.

Each year to help schools to celebrate Safer Internet Day we create a range of Education Packs that look at the theme in a way that is suitable for children and young people of different ages.

For Safer Internet Day 2018 our Education Packs were downloaded over 800,000 times, with teachers telling us of the positive impact these lessons had on their pupils.

One teacher said:

‘Students felt confident and were given a platform which enabled them to discuss concerns, ask questions and make disclosures.’ – Secondary school teacher, Surrey.

What is in the pack for 14-18 year olds?

In this Education Pack we wanted to make it easier for educators to examine the important issue of consent online with 14 to 18 years olds, whether they had 10 minutes, an hour, or a week to do so.

It can be difficult for schools and colleges to find the time in the curriculum to cover online safety, and for youth groups to cover issues with a wide range of ages. Because of this we have designed this Education Pack to be different. Instead of traditional lesson plans there is a presentation that can be delivered as an assembly, or broken up into smaller sessions with quick activities to follow.

This Education Pack focuses upon consent in two main ways. Firstly, it looks at young people’s everyday interactions online whether this is adding someone to a group chat, joking with friends, or sharing photos.  The pack then encourages young people to think about when they need to ask for consent, and when they are okay to act without.

Secondly, the Education Pack looks at consent in terms of our data and the data that we share online with people and companies. It covers issues such as: What data is being shared and who with? How is our data being used now? And what might happen to our data in the future?

To help educators deliver these sessions there is a guide to explain how this pack works, as well as top tip videos, a poster to promote the day and much more.

What are the key learning objectives?

Through using this pack we want young people to take control of their own lives online and to recognise the importance of consent. Consent can be expressly given, but can also be passive or even assumed; because of this, consent is an issue that needs to be considered with some thought, respect and sensitivity.

The Education Pack for 14-18 year olds examines the issues around data use and data sharing. When it comes to young people’s data we want them to understand what data actually is, how it is created, and who collects or stores it.

Key quick activities in this pack 

A really great way for young people to start thinking about their data is through using the Data Rater task. This is the third of the Quick Activities in this Education Pack. In this task learners are asked to decide how they feel about parts of their data being stored on the scale of ‘’most happy’’ to ‘’least happy’’.

Whilst the young people may not be worried about some of the data that is stored about them, it will be interesting for them to reflect upon the data stored by the apps and sites they already use.

Guidance for educators

We have also created a guidance pack for the people delivering Safer Internet Day messages in your school, youth group or other setting.

This gives further advice about how to mark Safer Internet Day, including information on how to handle disclosures and sensitive topics, as well as how you can spread the word even further.

Join hundreds of organisations across the UK

You can link up with the wider campaign taking place across the UK – and globally in over 130 countries – by joining the social media campaign and registering as an official supporter.

Simply complete our registration form to become a Safer Internet Day supporter and we will add your organisation’s statement and logo to our supporter page. You will also receive a certificate and be added to our map of supporters.

Plus, download our template to make your pledges for the Safer Internet Day social media campaign #OurInternetOurChoice.

Key links

Visit www.saferinternetday.org.uk for:

• Education Pack for 14-18 year olds, as well as packs for a range of other ages
• COMING SOON: SID TV educational films for 14-18 year olds
• Join the social media campaign #OurInternetOurChoice
• Guidance for educators
• Join the supporters list

Safer Internet Day

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IWF breaks record for actioning reports in a single day

The IWF, a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, has reported a record-breaking day, in which their world class Analysts confirmed 2,015 reports of online child sexual abuse imagery in a single day. The reports were fully assessed, confirmed and marked for takedown.

The number of reports being processed daily by the 13-strong Hotline team has seen a steady rise as a direct result of the IWF’s unique role in proactively searching the web for illegal images of child sexual abuse. Each report is appraised against strict legal guidelines by the IWF’s highly trained Analysts, whose assessments are trusted and acted upon by the police and internet industry players across the globe. 

On the same day - November 14th - last year, the number of reports actioned was 353. This year’s figure of 2,015 is an increase of 470%.
The breakthrough daily figure represents a new high. Where images and videos were assessed as containing child sexual abuse, the Analysts traced the country where the hosting server was located and triggered the process of blocking and removing the disturbing images from all over the world.

Of the 2,015 actioned reports, the highest proportion was assessed in the 11-13 years age bracket with 1,535 reports, while 46 reports were assessed as 3-6 years and four reports were marked as aged 0-2 years.

Over one thousand of the actioned reports involved images from the most serious legal classifications, which involved the rape or sexual torture of children. There were 531 Category A reports and 493 Category B reports. 

Susie Hargreaves OBE, IWF CEO said: “Huge congratulations to our Hotline team for their proactive work over recent weeks. 2,015 reports actioned in one day is a phenomenal achievement in the IWF’s fight to eliminate online images of child sexual abuse. The balance of technology and specialist knowledge brought to bear by our analysts is key to their success in finding and taking down online CSA images.

“It’s also vital that members of the public who stumble across images of child sexual abuse on the internet reported them to our Hotline, because reports can lead to the rescue of a victim. The IWF exists to protect the children of this digital age and we know that every time an image or video of child sexual abuse is viewed, the victim suffers repeat victimisation, so actioning reports without delay is vital. The sooner it’s done, the sooner we can get the pictures down.”

The IWF helps victims of child sexual abuse worldwide by identifying and removing online images and videos of their abuse. It works in partnership to disrupt offenders who use the online environment to distribute and share these disturbing images and videos. The IWF is also part of the UK Safer Internet Centre, alongside Childnet International and SWGfL, working together to make the internet safer for everyone to use.

This article was originally published on the IWF website.

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Young People from Across Europe Hack Hate in Berlin

Last week saw SWGfL and their European partners working with teams of young people in Berlin in their SELMA ‘Hacking Hate’ hackathon. SELMA is conducted by SWGfL outside of its work in the UK Safer Internet Centre.

SELMA (Social and Emotional Learning for Mutual Awareness) is a two-year project aiming to tackle the growing problem of online hate speech with mutual awareness, tolerance and respect.

The hackathon at the Facebook Digital Learning Centre involved six teams from Italy, Denmark, Greece, Germany and the UK. Students from Fife College in Scotland and Newbridge Integrated College in Northern Ireland represented the UK.

What happened at the hackathon?

Across two days, the teams worked to develop their ideas for tackling online hate speech. They had the opportunity to work with experts involved in education, coding and anti-hate speech initiatives. These experts provided valuable information and ideas that would be crucial in helping teams realise their ideas; particularly with regards to ethics, safety, marketing, project development and quality assurance.

The teams were given time to further develop their ideas and prepare an eight-minute pitch which they then delivered to a panel of experts. Each entry was judged on a number of criteria including creativity, innovation, and possible impact in order to pick one winner for the hackathon competition.

The UK entries

Fife College’s team ‘L.A.D.’ presented their idea of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) app that would support young people if they were the target of hate speech online. The app would allow a young person to talk to the AI via text or voice to explain what they experienced and, importantly, how it made them feel. Based on the information the young person gives, the AI would offer strategies for regulating emotions, advice on what they could do to resolve their problem, and signpost to trusted organisations/helplines who could offer professional advice and support. The team shared prototypes for how the app might look and function, and also explained ways that they could partner with local and national organisations in the UK.

Newbridge Integrated College shared their concept for ‘Hate Defuse’, an interactive web app that would help young people understand what hate speech is and provide opportunities to explore different aspects of hate speech through advice pages, drama footage (both from their school and other local schools in Northern Ireland) and an interactive 3D game. The team were also committed to writing regular blogs about hate speech issues and to promoting positive advice messages through social media channels.

Other entries to the competition included an app that aimed to educate users who had been blocked from social media for being offensive, an app that educated young people on a number of online hate speech topics, and a drama based educational programme that helped educators and young people understand the effects of hate speech and how to counter it online.

The winning entry

All the ideas showcased at the hackathon were worthy winners but victory went to the Digital Vikings’s entry from Denmark; a reward system to promote positive behaviour in users of popular online games.

The judges were impressed by the relevance of the idea and the use of incentives and rewards to create a positive counternarrative to the online hate that some gamers experience. The winning entry will receive extra support to help make the idea a reality.

To learn more about Project SELMA and how SWGfL is working with European partners to hack online hate, visit www.hackinghate.eu.

This article was originally posted in the SWGfL Magazine.

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Online Pornography is UK Parents' Most Widely Shared Worry

The most widely acknowledged concern among parents is exposure of their children to online pornography according to recent research. A collaborative study was conducted with the University of Plymouth by South West Grid for Learning, as part of its work within the UK Safer Internet Centre.

Read the full report here.

The large scale study, which included a UK-wide focus group, found that concern about exposure to pornography was one of the top three worries when parents were asked about their single biggest concern. This was well ahead of concern about mental health and self-esteem related issues. The study also found that parents, in general, feel confident that they would know how to deal with an issue related to their child seeing upsetting content online.

The study also found that parents, in general, feel confident that they would know how to deal with an issue related to their child seeing upsetting content online.

“It is clear from this research that parents across the world are concerned about content that their children encounter online.  It is encouraging that parents in the UK appear confident in addressing these concerns and often obtain support from others.  This comes at a time where there is much national attention on this issue, ahead of the introduction of age verification processes to access legal online pornography,” says David Wright, UK Safer Internet Centre and South West Grid for Learning Director.

The UK Safer Internet Centre study was part of international collaborative research with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner and Netsafe New Zealand. Findings were drawn from a survey conducted with Mumsnet involving 1,033 parents and grandparents, focus groups with 100 parents and a long-established South West Grid for Learning survey of 8,928 young people aged 7 to 18. 

The survey also found that 42% of parents use network parental controls to tackle online safety in the home, with 62% of parents using physical monitoring and ‘house rules’ that impose limits on being online.

Focus group discussions found that technological ‘solutions’ bolstered parental confidence, while other parents felt that reliance on technology was not always the best measure to protect their children.

Intrusive technology, including monitoring and tracking, was seen as eroding to parent-child trust, with a minority of parents convinced that surveillance is the best way to approach online safety.

The results highlight that parents in the UK, Australia and New Zealand have similar concerns when it comes to digital parenting.

The UK report will be published soon.

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Safer Internet Day 2019 Educational resources for 11-14 Year Olds

For Safer Internet Day 2019, the UK Safer Internet Centre has created educational resources for educators to deliver young people aged 3-18 years old, including specific resources tailored for use with 11-14 year olds.

Safer Internet Day 2019 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 5th February 2019 with the slogan ‘Together for a better internet’.

About Safer Internet Day 2019

In the UK each year we choose a theme that we think best suits the landscape of online safety in the country and the issues that young people may face online. The theme for Safer Internet Day 2019 is consent and through this we will look at the way that we give, ask and receive consent in an online context.

Each year to help schools to celebrate Safer Internet Day we create a range of Education Packs that look at the theme in a way that is suitable for children and young people of different ages.

For Safer Internet Day 2018 our Education Packs were downloaded over 800,000 times, with teachers telling us about the positive impact these lessons had on their pupils.

One teacher said:

‘Students felt confident and were given a platform which enabled them to discuss concerns, ask questions and make disclosures.’ – Secondary school teacher, Surrey.

What is in the pack for 11-14 year olds?

The pack facilitates discussion with young people through a range of interactive and thought provoking activities, all of which are relevant to how 11-14 year olds use the internet. This pack is filled with opportunities for discussion and debate, with practical messages which are designed to be applied in the real world. Multiple scenarios around the use of social networking platforms, messaging apps and friendship groups are included to help young people stay safe online   

The pack includes a lesson plan, assembly script, PowerPoint presentation, quick activities and whole school activities. There is also a social media template to help your school to join in with the national Safer Internet Day conversation. All of the activities are fun, easy to use and adaptable to be used in any educational setting.

What are the key learning objectives?

The learning outcomes within this pack will give young people the opportunity to recognise the importance of having a choice and giving others a choice online. This is done through exploring what consent is and what it looks like online.

The pack aims to empower young people to feel more confident in asking, saying yes or no, and reading what other people are communicating about their choices on the internet.

We can all feel pressured sometimes to share something online and often that can be done without much thought to what is being shared or who it might be about. Sometimes asking for consent or saying no to someone can feel awkward but the focus of this education pack is to make the space for those important discussions around the content we share online.

In the lesson plan consent is explored through the young person’s personal relationships with friends and family, whereas the assembly challenges the young person to think about the consent they give to others, including the data which they consent to be stored by online platforms.

Key activities from the pack

The ‘How many ways?’ activity is fast-paced and allows learners to think about the ways in which they can ask for, give or deny consent online.

Learners have just five minutes to come up with as many ways as possible to do this before feeding back to the group. These can be both verbal and non-verbal cues such as saying ‘I don’t want you to post that picture of me’ or nodding to someone in agreement to be added to a snapchat group.

Guidance for educators

We have also created a guidance pack for the people delivering the Safer Internet Day messages in your school, youth group or other setting.

This gives further advice about how to mark Safer Internet Day and information about how to handle disclosures and sensitive topics, as well as how you can spread the word even further, including by contacting local press.

Join hundreds of organisations across the UK

You can link up with the wider campaign taking place across the UK – and globally in over 130 countries – by joining the social media campaign and registering as an official supporter.

Simply complete our registration form to become an official supporter on our website and receive your supporter certificate.

Plus, download our template to make your pledges for the Safer Internet Day social media campaign #OurInternetOurChoice.

Key links

Visit www.saferinternetday.org.uk for:

• Education Pack for 7-11 year olds, as well as packs for a range of other ages
• COMING SOON: SID TV educational films for 7-11 year olds
• Join the social media campaign #OurInternetOurChoice
• Guidance for educators
• Join the supporters list

Safer Internet Day

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