Safer Internet Day is being celebrated today in over 100 countries (including the USA
for the first time.) In one of thousands of events taking place
European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes will reward the creators
of the best online content for kids and, together with INSAFE, will launch a Youth Manifesto on how to make a better Internet based on ideas from young people.
Neelie Kroes said: “This
initiative is exciting – it’s young people speaking up directly about
what they want from the most important infrastructure in our world
today, the internet. I have no doubt they will follow through with
action.”
Safer Internet Day 2014 is all
about a better Internet to encourage people of all ages to create good
online content for youngsters. The winners of the best online content
are chosen from 1100 entries. The awards will be given to the adults and
children from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, the
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Neelie Kroes said: "I
see children and young people doing amazing things with digital tools.
We need to encourage that, help them to be safe, and give them ways to
create a better internet themselves – and to stand up against
cyber-bullies.”
Winners of the best online content awards in four categories:
- Young individuals - 15 year old Dutch girl Jiami Xili Jongejan for her blog Lifesplash on fashion, school, cooking, and sports.
- Young people groups - Video blog about the Polish language created by the pupils of Saint John Cantius Primary School in Bestwina, Poland.
- Adult non-professional - Paxel 123 games for entertaining, educational games for children in pre-school & primary school; developed by a teacher Anna Margrét Ólafsdóttir from Iceland.
- Adult professional - The Czech creators of the website Web a Webik – Junior Radio offering youngsters recorded fairy tales, online games & other interactive features.
Background...
As part of its Strategy for a Better Internet for Children, the European Commission supports the INSAFE/INHOPE network of Safer Internet centres across all Member States.
It also convened the CEO Coalition, under which 31 top tech companies completed a series of changes and introduced tools for better consumer protection.
The works across a range of areas to make the internet safer, including against cybercrime.
A new EU Directive has been
adopted to fight large-scale attacks on information systems, along with
an overarching cyber security strategy of the European Union being
presented by the Commission. In parallel, at Europol headquarters in the
Hague, Commissioner Malmström has set up the European Cybercrime
Centre, or EC3, dedicated to strengthening the EU's defences against
online organised crime – fraud, theft of credit card details, extortion
through virus attacks, and similar crimes.
A Directive has also been adopted
to tackle sexual exploitation of children, covering the prosecution of
offenders, protection of victims and prevention measures. Furthermore,
in December 2012, Ministers of Justice and representatives from 52
countries met in Brussels to form a Global Alliance against Child Sexual
Abuse Online. Set up following an initiative from Cecilia Malmström and
the US Attorney-General, the alliance – consisting of countries from
the United States to New Zealand to Cambodia, to all the members of the
EU – have committed themselves to strengthening resources to identify
more of the victims appearing in child abuse photos and videos online.
The Commission is also
implementing an Action Plan to build trust in the wider Digital Single
Market for e-commerce and online services (IP/12/10).
That trust will be achieved by improving legal certainty about the
rights and obligations of businesses and consumers, by improving the
quality and reliability of various online activities and services, by
addressing security concerns when it comes to online payments and by
combating abuse and resolving disputes more effectively.
