Insafe Weekly Update

Please note, as next Monday (20/05) will be a public holiday in many places, next week’s Weekly Update will be issued on Tuesday (21/05).

The Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Policy Monitor (previously the BIK Policy Map) has been tracking how European countries support children’s and young people’s digital experiences since 2014. Since its launch a decade ago, the main objective of this series has been to compare and exchange knowledge on policies and actions that promote children's safety and well-being in the digital environment based on the recommended measures of the European Strategy for a Better Internet for Kids (the BIK strategy). Along with changes in the digital environment, the strategy has also evolved and was relaunched as the BIK+ strategy in May 2022. In May 2024, as BIK+ celebrates its second anniversary, the fifth report of this series is released to mark this important milestone.

Read an article on the report launch here.

Read the full BIK Policy Monitor Report 2024 here.

Age assurance is one solution that can be used to keep children safe from online risks. In recent years, research has been undertaken to investigate and analyse different measures for age assurance online. As part of comprehensive EU efforts, as enshrined in the European Strategy for a Better Internet for Kids+ (the BIK+ strategy), the European Commission recently published a research report, Mapping age assurance typologies and requirements, that examines various types of age assurance and outlines ten essential requirements to consider when implementing age assurance tools.

To support and expand the implementation of proportionate age assurance methods and build on the report, an age assurance self-assessment tool and corresponding questionnaire have been launched, helping digital service providers to critically reflect on their digital services and how these may intersect with the protection of children and young people online. It offers practical guidance to digital services providers throughout the self-assessment process, providing relevant questions about age assurance to attain a robust and critically reflected decision-making process regarding the protection of minors online.

Read the article on the tool launch here.

Download the self-assessment tool manual here, and the corresponding questionnaire here.

Following on from recent discussions at the training meeting and Insafe Steering Committee meeting, we are convening two new short-term working groups in the framework of the BIK Phase 5 project:

Short-term Public Concerns Working Group
We are looking for people to join a short-term Public Concerns Working Group (PCWG) to discuss how best to collect public concerns at the national level, including information about online safety research, the latest trends, media coverage of online safety-related issues, and any new legislation. It is important to capture this information from across the network in a timely manner in order to have an understanding of the current landscape in Europe.

The group is expected to meet two or three times over the next six months to determine the best way forward.

If you would like to join this working group, please contact Karl by close of business today - Monday, 13 May 2024.

Short-term Media Literacy Campaign Working Group 
As you may know, within BIK Phase 5, we are carrying out a media literacy awareness-raising campaign in collaboration with the Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs). Such a media literacy campaign needs to build on the networking resources available in the SICs while also building synergies and creating opportunities for collaboration across the network. We first pilot tested an approach in March-April 2024 in a restricted number of European countries (Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland), and now plan to gradually scale the campaign at an EU-wide level. Therefore a short-term Media Literacy Working Group (MLWG) will now be established, which will provide a dedicated space for SIC members to contribute their insights and perspectives in rolling out a full-scale, EU-wide media literacy campaign going forward.   

As members of the short-term MLWG, SIC members will have the opportunity to contribute to the development and co-creation of the awareness-raising campaign, from its concept to its delivery, in collaboration with the network. The group will also provide a unique opportunity for exchanging views and sharing best practices on the topic of media literacy, highlighting events and initiatives at the national level all across Europe.

If you would like to join this working group, please contact Annarita by close of business today - Monday, 13 May 2024.

Please note, the following item relates to wider INHOPE work. It is not part of the BIK Phase 5 project and is provided here for information purposes only.

What is needed to reshape the workflow of law enforcement who are processing the continuously growing number of NCMEC reports? At this year’s AviaTor Forum, taking place in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, 26 June 2024, INHOPE aims to answer that question by focusing on innovation, legislation, and cooperation. Law enforcement, industry, legislators, trust and safety teams, tech, academics, NGOs and hotline analysts are invited to register for this in-person event. Advance registration is essential.

Find more about the AviaTor Forum here. 

The menABLE project (Empower Manpower against gender-based violence online) is organising an EU hackathon on Wednesday, 25 September 2024, in Aarhus, Denmark. Participants will collaborate to tackle the crucial issue of gender-based violence (GBV) online and contribute to the development of educational materials addressing GBV. Young people (aged 15-18) and educators are invited to express their interest in participating in the hackathon by responding to a call for interest by the close of business on Sunday, 26 May 2024.
 
Please visit the menABLE EU hackathon page for more information.  

Save the date for the next BIK Teacher corner webinar on virtual worlds and immersive realities on Thursday, 6 June 2024 at 17:00 CEST. It will take place online.

This webinar will explore virtual worlds and immersive realities. Some of the key developments in recent years revolve around artificial intelligence (AI), with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and extended reality (XR) applications emerging in all sectors of society, such as leisure, health, and especially learning, training and education. Such technologies entail both great opportunities and concerning risks. How can teachers and educators be empowered with the skills and knowledge needed to tackle the implications of immersive realities in educational settings? 

You can already register for the webinar here. 

Did you miss Webinar 1, which introduced the BIK Teacher corner, or Webinar 2 on disinformation and fake news? Check the BIK Teacher corner webinar page regularly for recordings of previous webinars and more information on future ones. 

The "Make it clear: effective media education" international conference will take place in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, 28 May 2024.

The event brings together international experts from different areas of media education and internet safety, who will share their knowledge and experience related to developing young people's information literacy, an informed and critical approach to media content, and countering disinformation. Several presentations and debates will provide concrete tools and inspiration for use in everyday teaching practice.

The conference will be held in a hybrid format (onsite and online) in both Polish and English. You can register for onsite/online participation here. Please note that the deadline to register is Sunday, 26 May for in-person attendance, and Tuesday, 28 May for online participation.

This conference is organised within the framework of the Creative Europe Programme by a consortium consisting of NASK (Poland), the Latvian Internet Association, and Save the Children Romania.

The network is encouraged to disseminate this information further, and/or to participate in the conference. For any additional queries, please contact mic@nask.pl.

• New launch: BIK age assurance self-assessment tool for digital service providers
• BIK Policy Monitor Report 2024 published
• Understanding children and adolescent social media usage (SIC RO)
• A comprehensive guide to safe internet practices for teachers (SIC RO)
• Let us celebrate together #EuropeDay 2024

Please submit your public portal blog articles to the BIK content mailbox. (SIC RO)

Remember, article contributions to the BIK portal will count towards your SIC’s lump sum mechanism (LSM) criteria for 2024.

Helpline case studies

• A teenager confronted with a scam: A mother's call seeking help (SIC FR)
• Too much time spent on screens: A mother worried about her teenager (SIC FR)
• Suspected harassment and cyberstalking: A worried mother's story (SIC FR)
• Betrayed by a friend, the danger of exchanging intimate content between people you trust (SIC FR)

Awareness community of practice

• Media literacy: methodological support for educational activities (SIC LT)
  

We hope that you are enjoying exploring the BIK platform. Please note, a BIK user guide is available to download from the BIK community (login first). In case of questions or issues when using any aspect of the BIK platform, please contact us using the contact link in the top right navigation area or email support@betterinternetforkids.eu.

IMPORTANT – if you have new starters who need to register for the platform, please direct them to www.betterinternetforkids.eu/register, in parallel with sending an email to support@betterinternetforkids.eu so that we can verify them and provide further instructions.

Remember, contributions to the BIK community will count towards your SIC’s lump sum mechanism (LSM) criteria for 2024.

• Better Internet for Kids (BIK) public portal:
  www.betterinternetforkids.eu; #BIK; #BIKbulletin
• New BIK strategy (BIK+) on BIK portal:
  www.betterinternetforkids.eu/newbikstrategy; #BIKplus
• Safer Internet Forum (SIF) on BIK portal:
  www.betterinternetforkids.eu/sif;#SIF2023; #SIF2024, #SaferInternetForum
• BIK Policy Map on BIK portal:
  www.betterinternetforkids.eu/bikmap; #BIKPolicyMap
• Safer Internet Day (SID) minisite:
  www.saferinternetday.org; #SID2024; #SID2025; #SaferInternetDay
• Positive Online Content (POCC) minisite:
  www.positiveonlinecontentforkids.eu; #positivecontent; #PositiveOnlineContent; #POCC
• BIK Youth minisite:
  www.bikyouth.eu; #BIKyouth; #Pledge2Youth
• Child and youth consumer protection campaign (launched on Safer Internet Day 2024):
  www.betterinternetforkids.eu/adwiseonline; #AdWiseOnline
• Media literacy campaign (launched in March 2024):
  www.betterinternetforkids.eu/mediasmartonline; #MediaSmartOnline
• Project Facebook profiles:
  Insafe, Safer Internet Day, Insafe network closed Facebook group, INHOPE
• Project X (formerly Twitter) profiles:
  @insafenetwork; @safeinternetday; @BIK_youth; @inhope_pr
• Project LinkedIn profile:
  Better Internet for Kids