Better Internet for Kids

The Swedish Safer Internet Centre organised two main activities during the week: a webinar for professionals working with children and young people and an educational resource consisting of three videos targeted at middle and secondary schools in Sweden.

The live-streamed webinar was two hours long and spotlighted what is known about children’s lives online and what is needed going forward. The first hour consisted of presentations from the awareness centre (Swedish Agency for the Media), the helpline (Bris), and the hotline (ECPAT Sweden). The second hour was divided into two panel discussions: the first gave a voice to young people, while the second provided an opportunity for a conversation about the way forward. The audience had the opportunity to ask questions about exposed accounts on social media, how chats in games are moderated, and which children are the most vulnerable online. Over 200 people took part in the live stream, and the evaluation survey shows that it was very appreciated by the audience. A recording of the webinar was also published online; four weeks after it went live, it had counted over 4,000 views.

The videos targeting middle schools were also a collaboration between the three parts of the Swedish Safer Internet Centre. Each organisation created its video in a similar format, focusing on topics relevant to their area of work:

• The Swedish Agency for the Media focused on Your rights online.
• Bris focused on Vulnerability online.
• ECPAT focused on Nudes and consent.

The videos were combined together and shared in a joint email, along with discussion points for teachers, with more than 100 interested schools in Sweden. The videos are also available online for anyone interested in this material.

During the week, the Swedish Safer Internet Centres also gathered together its youth panellists to discuss the topics of hate speech and harassment online.

Celebrating the whole week was a new initiative, and this year, the consortium paid special attention to disseminating the activities nationally and getting other actors involved, which proved to be a great success. Different actors organised various across the whole of Sweden, while the three organisations composing the Safer Internet Centre also had led separate initiatives:

• The Swedish Agency for the Media launched educational resources on Your rights online.
• Bris held a lunch lecture on Children, youth and the internet during which data from the helpline was showcased.
• ECPAT arranged a digital parental meeting on Flashers online – a part of children's everyday lives. 

"It is great that children’s and young people’s safety online is noticed in so many ways. Actors, such as community youth centres and national organisations, participated in activities relating to this important area," said Annika Engström, project officer for Safer Internet Centre Sweden.  She continued,"'Together for a better internet' is the slogan used within the European Union, and I think it summarises the week pretty well. We also need to spend the rest of the year working towards making the internet a safe and fun place for everyone. 

Find out more about Safer Internet Day in Sweden and learn more about the work of the Swedish Safer Internet Centre more generally.