IGF 2017 WS #85 Online Safety or Safeguarding Dystopia–Is Keeping Children 'Safe' Online Eroding Their Rights?

Session Format: Flash Session - 30 Min

Proposer:
Country: United Kingdom
Stakeholder Group: Civil Society

Co-Proposer:
Country: United Kingdom
Stakeholder Group: Civil Society

Speaker: Andy Phippen
Speaker: David Wright
Speaker: Paul Dowland

Content of the Session:
This session will inform the community about research conducted by Plymouth University/the South West Grid for Learning surveying 10,000 children and young people about their online lives. It will raise the issue that there are a broad range of content and issues that affect young people, with particular concern around the impact of screen time on mental health and wellbeing, and the interpretation of both abuse and harmful content by children. The session will argue that prohibitive approaches to “online safety” are failing their rights and in some cases eroding them as a result of keeping them "safe"

Specifically, it will:
1. Present the findings from the survey research showing patterns of practice and issues of harm
2. Highlight the impact of online behaviours upon the emotional health and wellbeing of young people, with particular focus on implications for screen time and what “harmful content” is perceived to be by young people.
3. Relate these findings back to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
4. Consider how current policy perspectives fail to address these rights and, in some cases, are using safeguarding as justification to erode those rights
5. Propose how this research might be used to inform future policy


Relevance of the Session:
The session centres very much on the rights of child and the role of stakeholder in ensuring their safety and wellbeing can be assured without eroding these rights.

Tag 1: Human Rights Online
Tag 2: Child Safety
Tag 3: Privacy

Interventions:
Prof Phippen with provide the main part of the presentation focusing upon research findings and rights challenges, while Mr Wright will provide input from the UK and EU policy perspective and Dr Dowland will present an overview of policy responses from Australia

Diversity:
N/A for flash session

Onsite Moderator: Dr Paul Haskell-Dowland
Online Moderator: Mr David Wright
Rapporteur: Prof Andy Phippen

Online Participation:
While the flash session leaves only a short time for online participation Mr Wright will be monitoring online comments and questions to feed them live into the presentation

Discussion facilitation:
See above. The presenters will also be happy to take questions and comments live rom the audience

Conducted a Workshop in IGF before?: Yes
Link to Report: http://friendsoftheigf.org/session/250