Workshop organisers : ECPAT International , Coordinator Dynamic Coaltion on Child Online Safety.
Background:
30+ Child rights agencies participated at the IGF in Rio de Janeiro and convened in a side meeting to systematize the fight against child sexual exploitation in the online environment by forming a dynamic coalition that would enable them to constantly engage with relevant stakeholders at the IGF platform which was identified to be one of the policy forums that brought together key stakeholders from the states, industry, and civil society among others and significant in carrying forward the combined work to combat such crimes against children. The platform was envisaged to bring together the child protection agencies to share and enhance their work and collective learning and also to have meaningful dialogue with the freedom of speech and expression lobby by engaging in fundamental conceptual discussions around the issue of freedom of expression as it applies to child protection and working out clear solutions in that regard. The dynamic coalition initially constituted of 15 founding members and was later joined by Cyber peace initiative of Egypt. The members continued to remain engaged in the forthcoming period and organized joint activities before meeting up again for the IGF in Hyderabad.
The workshop:
Total audience: 60+ participants representing Governments, ICT industry, academia, civil society etc.
Chair : Anjan Bose, ICT officer, ECPAT International
The workshop was divided into two distinct sections : 3 separate presentations from IT Industry ( Microsoft) , Youth Protection roundtable, Germany and Cyber peace initiative Egypt followed by active interactive dialogue amongst the member of the coalition and other members of the audience.
The presentation from Microsoft touched on child safety standards that are being incorporated into the Microsoft products such as integrating reporting to hotlines from within messenger programs in some countries, age verification systems, and working with various partner agencies to develop child safety curriculums and educational programs. Close collaboration with respective child rights agencies and including children in development of such programs was emphasized.
The Youth protection roundtable in Germany conducted a survey to judge the situation of youth protection in their country by including child welfare organizations and IT companies as well. The results were presented during the workshop. It was interesting to note how different stakeholders viewed the responsibility of providing protection to the youth population in the online space, and the variations with different regions with the majority of the Southern European nations putting the responsibility on the states.
The Cyber peace Initiative of Egypt presented the process of engaging the youth with ICT led activities by youth driven activities and a private- public social Partnership. The youth empowerment program seeks to increase the capacity of the youth by providing soft IT skills and promoting IT in a positive way. This unique program has managed to produce more than 300 master trainers who in turn impart their skills and knowledge to a much greater target and eventually incorporated in school curriculums. Internet Safety is a strong feature of the program and it aims to reach out the children through effective advocacy of the youth. A notable feature of the program is the direct collaboration with the IT industry and the private sector to produce the materials and obtain technical know-how.
The second part of the meeting revolved around the main objectives of the coalition. The chair initiated the sessions by trying to identify the kind of issues that might cause tension. It was noted that one of the key aims of this DC when it was established was to create a forum for discussion with groups advocating in favour of freedom of expression and privacy but in spite of regular efforts from the members of the coalition, to bring such advocates to the forum proved difficult. It was also observed that there were misconceptions at the IGF around “child protection lobby” trying to press against the freedom of expression group and it was clearly mentioned by the chair that such misconceptions needs to be resolved. It was emphasised the esoteric debate between the child protection /freedom of expression should yield to more practical engagements where deeper solution could be obtained and to that end both party should engage equally. A common ground held was the need to include educational and awareness initiatives as part of the mandate of the coalition particularly in the context of the developing countries and also to clearly delineate the issues around abusive practices (including the entire issue of child abuse material) and the emerging behaviour of young people online that might put them into risky situation. The view was expressed that the most effective way to protect children is not to focus on filtering technologies but rather to install a ‘filter in the head’ of each child – to educate children to be able to protect themselves online. This will also avoid conflict with the freedom of expression lobby as it won’t rely on filtering technologies. On the other hand, it was also argued that while education is important it is not enough on its own and technical solutions also need to be developed and used. This is especially important as while a ‘filter in the head’ will work for some children, all children and families are different and this won’t work for all children. A concern was expressed that especially in developing countries, technological development is very fast but policy and legislation is not keeping pace. There was commitment from a developed country representative to help the developing countries in this regard. Need for child specific laws and legislation stressed and was felt to be missing in many developing countries including India. Debate around realistic images of non-existing child in abusive context was raised to which the chair mentioned that such images should be treated as child abuse images as they contribute to increasing demand for child abuse images, which can fuel abuse of real children.
- Future of the Dynamic Coalition