IGF 2022 Launch / Award Event #9 Launches of group standards related to minors' Internet protection

Time
Tuesday, 29th November, 2022 (06:00 UTC) - Tuesday, 29th November, 2022 (07:00 UTC)
Room
Press Briefing Room

Communication University of China

  1. Ming Yan, Civil Society, Communication University of China
  2. Xiuyun Ding, Civil Society, China Federation of Internet Societies
  3. Rui Li, Intergovernmental Organization, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), China
  4. Yuxuan Zhang, Civil Society, Communication University of China
  5. Rui Xiong, Civil Society, Communication University of China
Speakers
  1. Hui Zhao, Civil Society, China Federation of Internet Societies
  2. Xianfeng Zhou, Government, Cyberspace Administration of China
  3. Peng Duan, Civil Society, Communication University of China
  4. Xiaoming Huang, Private Sector, Tencent Research Institute
  5. Dora Giusti, Intergovernmental Organization, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
  6. André F. Gygax, Civil Society, The University of Melbourne
  7. Eleonore Pauwels, Intergovernmental Organization, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
Onsite Moderator

Afi Edoh, Technical Community, E-hub

Online Moderator

Dandan Zhong, Civil Society, Communication University of China

Rapporteur

Yuxuan Zhang, Civil Society, Communication University of China

SDGs

16.1

Targets: 16.1 16.2 16.10 First of all, cyber violence is not only a by-product of the information age, but also a new form of violence. In life, cyber violence is common. The harm formed by words and language in cyberspace is different from the violence of flesh and blood in reality. Cyber violence will not directly bring physical pain, but will cause a huge spiritual blow to people. More people can't bear the pressure brought by cyber violence and public opinion, resulting in extreme behavior. The launch of the group standards of the “Guidelines for children's Internet application based on AI technologies” and “Guidelines for network service modes for minors” will help to reduce the occurrence of internet violence from the technical level. (SDG16.1) Secondly, minors' network protection is the fundamental means to prevent the Internet addiction, Internet bullying, privacy disclosure, exploitation and violence encountered by minors in the online world. The purpose of this Launches and Awards is to show the world our research results, relevant standards and practical applications in minors' network protection (technology and mode). On the basis of ensuring minors' right to access the Internet, explore how to protect minors from the above-mentioned forms of cyber violence, and promote the development process of minors' cyber protection agreed by all countries. (SDG16.2) Finally, the Launches and Awards are based on the technical standards and model standards of minors' network protection, and always emphasize the concurrent governance of minors' online rights and network protection. Minors' rights to development, participation and protection are basic human rights and fundamental rights to ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms. The state, society, enterprises and guardians are all the guardians of minors. We should ensure the standards and transparency of minors' relevant network rights and interests in the implementation process to make them more meaningful and protect human rights. (SDG16.10)

Format

Presentation & panel discussion

Duration (minutes)
60
Language
English
Description

In this session, the organizers plan to launch a group standard of Chinese social organizations. This Launches and Awards session aims to actively discuss and exchange with global participants on the use norms, future development and policy issues of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in minors' Internet applications. At the same time, it also formulates and discusses the guidance standards of minors' network service mode, and makes a specific explanation through corresponding enterprise practice cases. The content mainly includes the following parts: (1) Group standard launched by China Federation of Internet Societies (CFIS) in 2022: “Guidelines for children's Internet application based on AI technologies”. (2) Typical enterprise cases selected by CFIS and UNICEF through the “AI for children” project.

The UNICEF has published “Policy guidance on AI for children” version 2.0 in 2021, which is a global policy guide for governments and industries, including practical suggestions and principles of child centered AI. In addition to privacy, security, equity and other topics, the guide also pays special attention to the applicability of AI to children, takes into account the unique development needs of children, emphasizes that AI systems should also be interpretable to children, and encourages the development of AI systems that can improve children's growth and well-being. Related links: https://www.unicef.org/globalinsight/reports/policy-guidance-ai-children

We will show the research results of the organizers in the application of AI for minors, which can be used as a reference for governments and the private sector around the world. By discussing the application norms of AI technologies for minors, it will help to better understand how to protect, provide and promote minors' network rights, help relevant departments formulate industry standards, properly respond to challenges, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of AI technologies. The organizers hope to take this opportunity to strengthen international exchanges and cooperation and discuss the construction of international standards and relevant policies.

This session highly focuses on the main focus area of IGF 2022: Addressing Advanced Technologies, including AI (Artificial Intelligence; Robotics; Smart devices; Human rights.), and we will discuss several policy questions, which are shown as follows, from the perspective of AI for children:

1. AI and human rights: How to ensure that the development and progress of science and technology do not violate ethics? How does the “Policy guidance on AI for children” guide digital policies in various countries to realize human rights covered by relevant treaties such as the Conventions on the Rights of the Child? What is the relationship between policy and development? How can policymakers and other stakeholders effectively link these global instruments and interpretations to national situations?

2. Using network technology to protect the rights and interests of minors: How to use digital technologies to promote a more equitable and inclusive society and protect the interests of vulnerable groups such as children? How to ensure that digital technologies are not developed and used for harmful purposes? What values and norms should guide the development and use of technology to achieve the above objectives? Besides, we will also discuss other essential issues related to the main focus areas, such as digital inclusion, online children rights; network security, etc.

Agenda:

1) Introduction: 15mins. The moderator will start the session by giving a broad overview and invite speakers Hui Zhao, the secretary general of CFIS, Xianfeng Zhou, deputy director-general, the Bureau of International Cooperation, Cyberspace Administration of China, and Peng Duan, vice president of Communication University of China, specially introducing the achievements and contents of related projects.

2) Launch Session: 15mins. Xiaoming Huang, senior standard expert from Tencent will launch the main contents of group standard and enterprise cases.

3) Expert speech: 15mins. Two experts, Eleonore Pauwels from UNICEF and André F. Gygax from the University of Melbourne, will share their opinions and suggestions on the future development of this field, and further explore and exchange the substantive achievements and policy issues involved in AI for children.

4) Conclusion: 10mins. Dora Giusti from UNICEF will summarize the discussions.

5) Q&A Session: 5mins. The moderator will queue up the audience and speakers for questions, responses or comments upon requests.

1. Given the impact of the COVID-19, participants may not be able to attend the meeting on site. We will set up an offline branch venue and invite domestic participants to the branch venue as much as possible.

2. We will be using Zoom to interact and encourage online participation. The online moderator will have a positive interaction with the online participants. In addition, the onsite moderator will strictly control the speaking time to ensure the participation of each speaker and the process of the seminar.

3. The organizers will design and produce videos, animations, posters, etc. around the theme of the seminar, which will be disseminated in the form of multimedia to arouse the thinking of the guests and the audience and create an atmosphere of joint participation.

Key Takeaways (* deadline 2 hours after session)

The establishment of artificial intelligence for children-related standards is conducive to the protection of children's rights and interests. It is suggested that the current draft standard should be improved in the following aspects: (1) Participation and Inclusion of and for Minors, (2) Data-Protection and Management, (3) Minors’ Sensitive Information and Group Privacy, (4) Child Online Protection and Acute Types of Abuse.

International cooperation should be strengthened in the cyber protection of minors. Based on UNICEF's guidance framework, many countries are developing detailed guidelines to guide Internet businesses. We should apply these standards to the management of enterprises as soon as possible, and strengthen the supervision of government organizations to ensure that the artificial intelligence technology is not abused.

Call to Action (* deadline 2 hours after session)

We call on relevant government departments to give guidance to this standard, and look forward to more beneficial cooperation attempts with industry colleagues to optimize and upgrade the "Guidelines for the Construction of Internet APPs for Minors Based on AI Technology", gather more wisdom and experience, and strive to promote it to become an industry standard or even a national standard, so as to build a better digital future for children.

We hope that UNICEF and other international organizations will continue to pay attention to the development of AI technologies and applications in the field of children, and call on all parties to deepen exchanges, increase consensus and strengthen cooperation, find common guidelines and rules for AI, promote the sound development of AI and bring more benefits to people around the world.

Session Report (* deadline 26 October) - click on the ? symbol for instructions

IGF 2022 Launch / Award Event #9: Launches of group standards related to minors' Internet protection. The objectives of the session are to strengthen international exchange and establish cooperation by showcasing the draft industry standards related to AI and child protection of Internet which is organised by China Federation of Internet Societies(CFIS) and representative application cases, to further explore economic and social equality and inclusion from the perspective of AI , to explore how to actively innovate children's education in the wave of AI, and to explore the construction of a meaningful international common standards for AI.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, the session was held online on 29 November. Representatives from relevant international organisations, government departments, enterprises and experts were invited to attend, with some of the speakers participating by way of pre-recorded video.

The session introduced the construction of the standards and shared practical experiences in the development of AI technologies and applications for minors. CFIS, UNICEF and Communication University of China have jointly carried out the project of collecting and promoting cases of AI for Children, and guided Tencent to work with more than 10 institutions and universities to compile the Guide for the Construction of Internet Application for Minors Based on AI Technology. It was officially released in China as a group standard in June this year. It is hoped that the group standard will be used as a draft to apply for and promote the formation of industry standards or national standards for AI for children.

AI experts from China, the United States, Australia and other countries offered constructive advices for the continued optimisation and upgrading of the standard, and useful discussions were held on the model and effectiveness of AI technology-based network services for minors in conjunction with corporate cases.

The session was held in both Chinese and English, with real-time Chinese and English simultaneous interpretation available on the zoom platform, with attendees able to select the appropriate language channel. Due to the fact that zoom conference access required registration and login, individuals within China were unable to register for free resulting in a lower than expected number of attendees online.

The participants agreed that this session has set up an international exchange platform for mutual inspiration and promotion in the application of AI technologies for children, and is a forceful move to focus on the empowerment and development of children in the era of AI. All parties were called upon to deepen exchanges, enhance consensus and strengthen cooperation, find common guidelines and rules for AI, and promote the healthy development of AI for the better benefit of people around the world.

In addition, this session recommended the deployment of core AI technology and product standards and specifications related to minors, etc., and the exploration of international common standards to control potential risks and safeguard the physical and mental health of minors. 

Participants also responded to the questions from remote participants during the session. The value of AI standardisation efforts for the development of AI technology and industry, the role of the information communication and technology companies in terms of ensuring child participation in the design and implementation of applications using AI technology, the Australian Government's specific measures to protect children from online exploitation, and more were discussed respectively.