Insafe Weekly Update

A final, urgent reminder that we are seeking to map available resources on virtual environments for young people and any related SIC initiatives. We are especially interested in learning more about anything education-oriented to make young people aware of what virtual reality (VR) possibilities are and what it allows/they can do with it, but with a balanced approach (that is, recommendations on safety and awareness-raising), covering both pedagogical and online safety aspects.

Please email us directly with a summary of your national situation and resources via info@betterinternetforkids.eu, at your earliest opportunity – we may then follow up with you directly with more questions.

Thanks, in advance, for your responses.

We appreciate your participation in this survey focused on gathering information about projects within Europe aimed at preventing child sexual abuse online. The data collected through this survey will be valuable for the implementation and future planning of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) programme within the INHOPE and Insafe networks. Additionally, it will contribute to the research efforts of Kantar Emor, a prominent research company in Estonia, as part of its study commissioned by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.
 
Please complete this survey before the close of business on Wednesday, 31 January 2024. If your organisation has multiple projects on preventing child sexual abuse online, kindly complete the survey separately for each implemented project.

In case of questions, please contact Rima.

A final reminder that assessment Platform (AP) submissions for awareness centres, covering the period of 1 January – 31 December 2023, are due for submission by close of business today: Monday, 15 January 2024. The reporting template can be found in the BIK community (login first).  

In case of issues or delays with submissions, please contact Eray as soon as possible.

A second meeting of the helpline early warning group will take place on Wednesday, 17 January 2024 at 11:00 CET. It will provide an opportunity for helplines to share any issues they are seeing with young people who are contacting the helpline, new trends, challenges, apps or websites that they think other helpline colleagues should be aware of. Use this link to join the meeting; for further information, please contact Karl.

The minutes of the previous helpline early warning group meeting, along with a recording of the session, are available from the BIK community (login first).

This meeting will take place on Wednesday, 31 January 2024 at 11:00 CET; use this link to join. The meeting will provide an opportunity to hear more about the EDUbox on politics and, in particular, the sub-section on propaganda. The resource has been developed by a number of partners in Belgium, including Mediawijs (part of the Belgian Safer Internet Centre), and aims to empower young voters in the upcoming European elections later in 2024. It is currently available in English, Dutch and Croatian. For further information, please contact Karl.

See also further information below on the MLA EDUmake showcase to provide insights on localising educational resources, taking place on Wednesday, 24 January 2024.

Emil, a colleague from the Danish helpline will lead the discussion and share information, particularly about the incel communities online in an online meeting on Monday, 12 February 2024 at 11:00 CET; use this link to join the meeting. For further information, please contact Karl.

Several colleagues from helplines and hotlines have already been approached by the organisation expected to become the Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) in their country and asked to consider applying to become a trusted flagger under the auspices of the Digital Services Act (DSA). This meeting, taking place online on Wednesday, 14 February 2024 at 14:00 CET, will be an opportunity to share experiences about the local negotiations that are taking place and to discuss good practice, financial implications, workload etc. Use this link to join the meeting; for further information, please contact Karl.

Many thanks to all those who attended the recent online meeting on providing support for younger users. Particular thanks go to Manon from the French helpline for her overview of the 3018 app. A link to a recording of the meeting along, with a report on what was discussed, is available from the BIK community (login first).  For further information, please contact Karl.

INHOPE is returning its successful webinar series "Expert Insights" in 2024 for another season filled with deep-dive webinars covering a range of topics within the realm of online child protection. Each webinar is specifically designed to provide unique insights and provide the audience with educational content presented by an expert from the field.

Funded by the European Commission as part of the BIK Phase 5 project, these webinars are non-commercial to educate the audience, creating an open environment for discussions and fostering relationships between the different stakeholders.

This year, the Expert Insights series will run from February to June 2024, with each session exploring nuances of digital safety and emerging trends within the sector. The webinars will cover relevant themes in the field, such as empowerment through digital literacy, AI-generated CSAM (child sexual abuse material), and user safety in the gaming world.

More information on specific webinars and registration is available from the INHOPE website. 

[NEW this week] Safer Internet Day promo video
As usual, we encourage the network to use and disseminate the SID promo video. Please note that, should you wish to do so, we can also assist you in creating a version of the promo video dubbed in your national language and with subtitles, which you can use as additional campaigning material. If you are interested in this option, please contact Annarita at your earliest convenience.

Safer Internet Day dissemination plan (edition 1)
A reminder that the first edition of the dissemination plan for the 2024 edition of Safer Internet Day is available; it can be accessed from the SID minisite here (SID resources section).

Please note: if localising SID resources from the Canva file, please be sure to make local copies first and make your changes in your copies.

Safer Internet Day public profile page updates
All Safer Internet Centres are asked to update their SID public profile pages for the next edition as soon as possible via the customary online form. Please remember that you may update your profile as many times as needed leading up to the campaign. We will make the changes to the SID profile pages centrally and confirm when done. Thanks to all SICs that have already done so.

Safer Internet Day 2024 reporting template
The customary SID reporting template is now available to download from the BIK community (login first) for completion following the campaign. The deadline for returning the completed reporting template to the SID Helpdesk is COB on Tuesday, 5 March 2024 (or sooner if possible).

Safer Internet Day key messages
A SID key messages document, which SICs are invited to use as the basis for their own materials, is available from the Join SID tab of the SID minisite.

Safer Internet Day logo set
Access the SID 2024 logo set and Guidelines on the use of the SID logo and related campaign assets from the Join SID tab of the SID minisite. Please remember, the SID logo should not be modified without prior permission, and the EC and joint Insafe/INHOPE logos should remain intact.

Sharing network SID plans
We have once again made an online document available for SICs and SIC+ countries to share their SID plans with other members of the network. A reminder that this is an internal document only, to allow network members to see what other SICs are planning and make connections where there are synergies. The EC can also access this to help inform SID planning. Please update the document regularly as your plans progress. 

In case of questions
Further updates will follow in future Weekly Updates but in case of questions on any aspect of the Safer Internet Day 2024 campaign, please contact saferinternetday@betterinternetforkids.eu.

The Media & Learning Association (MLA) is dedicated to advancing education through the strategic utilisation of media and digital technologies across all levels of education. Its mission is to promote and foster innovation and creativity in teaching and learning by empowering educators, students, and institutions with the necessary skills and competencies to effectively integrate media and digital tools into their daily practices. MLA is partnering with EUN on the development of media literacy campaigning work taking place in 2024; more information to follow.

In the meantime, MLA has asked us to extend an invitation to SICs to participate in - and share information on - the EDUmake showcase: localising educational resources, taking place on Wednesday, 24 January 2024 from 14:00 – 15:30 CET. During this session, primarily aimed at primary and secondary education, participants will discover the power of adapting educational content to local contexts, languages, and cultures to foster relevance and relatability. This session features the newly released EDUbox Politics, addressing the 2024 European Parliament elections, alongside localised EDUboxes within the EDUmake project.

Discover more and register to participate on the MLA website.

The EU policy roundtable, hosted by the menABLE project, will bring together a diverse group of public and private stakeholders, including policymakers, representatives from civil society, academia, industries, education and young people to discuss priorities in tackling gender-based violence (GBV) online. The primary objective of the roundtable is to present and discuss the research findings of the menABLE Research Report – an empirical study on understanding and responding to gender-based violence online; and the Educational Toolbox concept - a plug-and-play game to prevent and combat gender-based violence online.

The roundtable will take place on Tuesday, 20 February 2024 in Brussels and online. For more information about the event, agenda, speakers’ bios and registration, please visit the menABLE website. 

The European Digital and Media Literacy Conference is taking place from Tuesday, 27 February 2024 to Friday, 1 March 2024 in Brussels. It puts the many faces of digital and media literacy in the European spotlight during the Belgian EU presidency. The conference is focused on showcasing and exchanging initiatives, tools, projects and practices that can be integrated into your own work or policy. Meet and connect with professionals from around the EU and from all policy levels. Let’s strengthen European cooperation and the future of Digital and Media Literacy! Attending the conference is free, but you need to apply to ensure a good European spread of participants. SIC representatives are warmly invited! 

More information is available from www.medialiteracymatters.eu. In case of questions, please contact Andy Demeulenaere (Coordinator at Mediawijs).

Those SICs who have indicated that they wish to claim the 2023 lump sum mechanism (LSM) should receive the claims template via email by the end of the day. If your SIC intends to claim but has not received an email communication, please contact Sarah as soon as possible.

• National label for online child protection awareness resources (SIC FR)
• Media education promotes equality (SIC FI)
• A glimpse of child online safety at the Web Summit 2023 (SIC PT)
• Young people do not find algorithms problematic (SIC DK)
• Second phase of the #ReadBeforeClickAfter awareness campaign (SIC PT)
• Resource creation with highlight on youth participation (SIC FR)

Remember to submit your public portal blog articles to the BIK content mailbox; they count towards your SIC’s lump sum mechanism (LSM) criteria.

Helpline case studies

Safer Internet Centres have again been busy uploading helpline case studies, with several recent entries from France, Ireland and Slovenia predominantly focusing on OSCEC topics - online sexual coercion and extortion of children and young people. Check out the helpline case repository in the BIK community (login first) for the full overview.

Helpline community of practice

• Reaching younger users - 3018 app

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.

• 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; #SaferInternetForum
• BIK Policy Map on BIK portal:
  www.betterinternetforkids.eu/bikmap; #BIKPolicyMap
• Safer Internet Day (SID) minisite:
  www.saferinternetday.org; #SID2023; #SID2024; #SaferInternetDay
• Positive Online Content (POCC) minisite:
  www.positiveonlinecontentforkids.eu; #positivecontent; #PositiveOnlineContent; #POCC
• BIK Youth minisite:
  www.bikyouth.eu; #BIKyouth; #Pledge2Youth
• 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