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UK Council for Child Internet Safety Launches

The UK Government launched its programme to help protect children from exposure to potentially harmful content on the Internet, including some forms of advertising. New Media Knowledge spoke to AOL, one of the companies involved, to see what real impact the new group would have.

The new UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), launched Monday this week, aims to bring together more than 100 organisations from the public and private sector working to protect children from exposure to harmful content online, such as pornography, gaming and certain types of advertising.

The Government will act on recommendations from child psychologist Dr Tanya Byron unveiled earlier this year. Google, Facebook, AOL and Microsoft are among the digital firms involved in the project.

The council will report directly to the Prime Minister and will be tasked with tackling issues like online bullying and violent video games. Mr Brown himself called the creation of the UKCCIS an “important landmark” in protecting children online.

Children’s Minister Ed Balls summed up the objectives of the UKCCIS thus: “We want to help children and young people to make the most of what all digital and interactive technologies can offer. UKCISS will enable everyone from parents to industry, government, education, and children’s welfare organisations to play their part in keeping children safe online.”

Real Impact

Internet service provider AOL is one of the major corporations involved having helped the Home Office Task Force and the Byron Review compile their findings. Camille de Stempel, Director of Policy for AOL Europe, spoke to NMK about the role ministers, business and charities will play in making the UKCCIS successful.

“I think this group can have a strong impact,” she said. “The aim is to empower children to be safe online. With government, charities and industry involved, as a collective, we need to promote [the UKCCIS] well, and to the right people. The novelty of this project is that we do have more than one sector involved, which enables us to learn from law enforcement and be more pragmatic in our approach.”

De Stempel said that one of the main aims must be to encourage parents to report damaging content online, so that they know where to turn to. “I think parents are getting the message, but more work needs to be done. We need to make it easier for parents – and kids – to report any inappropriate sites that they find,” she said.

She also does not believe that the UKCCIS will be limited in its effectiveness due to much of the Internet’s content being generated outside UK jurisdiction. “Many of the companies involved, such as AOL, are global, so we can make real strides in making sure we achieve good practice across the board,” de Stempel added.

The UK Government is the first in Europe to launch such a project to address internet safety for children. A similar project was launched in the US earlier this year featuring many of the same companies involved in the UKCCIS. The Internet Safety Technical Task Force (ISTTF), however, is more business-focused.

And what about advertisers? How will they be impacted by the UKCCIS? “Advertising was one area which the Byron Review recommends we look at. At AOL we already have good internal guidelines on content directed at kids,” de Stempel said.

De Stempel said that the presence of Gordon Brown and five leading Government ministers at the launch of the UKCCIS demonstrated how seriously the UK Government takes young people’s safety online and believed the group will make a difference.

“There’s good commitment from the Government. The high-level nature of those involved at the launch, such as Gordon Brown, Jacqui Smith and Ed Balls, demonstrates this,” she concluded.

About Camille de Stempel

Camille de Stempel has been Director of Policy for AOL since 2004, covering high priority matters such as law enforcement and security, child protection and consumer confidence issues as well as advertising and privacy policy. She is responsible for AOL's policies in areas such as safety and security, editorial and advertising content. In her role, she works closely with government, law enforcement, charities, academics and other policy stakeholders.