Better Internet for Kids

One in four children has received personal photos of others and has been harassed online, while one in two chats with strangers and makes friends online. One in four children has encountered hate speech on the internet and one in nine children has fallen victim to cyber fraud. According to the findings of a recent survey in Greece, children and young people do not seem to hesitate to block someone or something that has upset them on the internet, but they do not proceed so easily to make a report.

The sixteenth edition of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) took place from 6-10 December 2021 in Katowice, Poland and was hosted both offline and online. The theme of this edition was ‘Internet United’. During the event, the Insafe delegation hosted two workshops: one looking at gender-based issues relating to online violence or abuse, and one discussing the overarching challenge of the digital divide.

A Safer Internet Day Summit was organised and held by Twitter on 10 February 2022, discussing how to stay safe on the social media platform, and wanting to hear more about the participants’ online safety concerns. For the occasion, 24 Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Youth Ambassadors from all over Europe participated in the event.

We celebrated the 19th edition of Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 8 February 2022 with events and activities taking place right across the globe.

With the slogan, "Together for a better internet", Safer Internet Day 2022 was celebrated in Nepal and in approximately 180 countries on 8 February 2022. The Safer Internet Day is celebrated each year on the second Tuesday of February to promote a safer and more positive use of digital technologies for children and young people, and to inspire conversations at a national level around these topics.

The Maltese Safer Internet Centre BeSmartOnline! has created a special video to celebrate the 19th edition of Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, 8 February 2022.

Today is the day! On Tuesday, 8 February 2022, we celebrate Safer Internet Day – the annual flagship campaign under the European Strategy for Better Internet for Children. With a theme of "Together for a better internet", today calls upon all stakeholders to join together to make the internet a safer and better place for all, and especially for children and young people.

The Better Internet for Kids review of the year 2021 is released on the occasion of Safer Internet Day 2022, Tuesday, 8 February. 2021 was yet another year overshadowed by the global pandemic, with many children and young people obliged to study and socialise online, as daily life was again disrupted by lockdowns. This report provides an overview of a multitude of stakeholder efforts to both protect and empower in their digital lives.

Lockdown (-like) measures and social distancing, families in isolation or quarantine, schools in-between hybrid or distance learning – the ongoing pandemic and its dynamic development is challenging for children and young people, and also for their parents and teachers. Digital content and services play a more important role than ever before when children use and need them daily to stay connected with family and friends, to learn and keep up with homework, as well as to compensate for missing offline activities and cultural events.

Safer Internet Day (SID) is almost here – on Tuesday, 8 February 2022, we will be millions around the globe, joining forces “Together for a better internet”. How are you going to get involved in celebrating the big day?