Insafe Weekly Update

With Safer Internet Day fast approaching, we have a few urgent requests for network attention. Many thanks, in advance, for your urgent attention to the following items.

Call for SIC participation in a SID focus group event – The DSA in schools

As part of Safer Internet Day actions, we are organising an event on behalf of the EC focusing on the Digital Services Act (DSA) in schools.

The event will take the form of an online focus group on Wednesday, 7 February 2024 from 15:00 CET to 17:00 CET. Participants will include children and young people, teachers and school leaders, Safer Internet Centres and Ministries of Education, and Digital Services Coordinators.

A draft agenda can be seen here but, in brief, this session will seek to:

• raise awareness among educators and children and young people about the DSA and its impact on children and young people.
• identify key challenges that children and young people face online and the difficulties that schools encounter in supporting them.
• identify the role that the school can play and their needs to support the implementation of the DSA for safer online environments.

We urgently invite expressions of interest from SICs to participate in this event; please contact Rimaas soon as possible (and byCOB on Wednesday of this week at the latest).

Network mapping of virtual words for children and young people

As mentioned in previous weekly updates, we have been looking to map available resources on virtual environments for children and young people and any SIC-related activities. To have as comprehensive an overview as possible, we have undertaken some desk research to collate information from across the network and have produced a brief overview of materials that we were able to find. We would be grateful if you could have a look at any resources which are attributed to your country and confirm if these are the best/most appropriate content for us to highlight - we will then use this as a basis for an article to be published on Safer Internet Day. It would be much appreciated if you could respond to Karl by COB this Friday, 26 January 2024. You can find the overview here.

Youth soundbites on their use of virtual worlds

Linked with this, we are keen to capture a few short video soundbites from young people (30 seconds max) giving their positive views/experiences with virtual worlds to publish alongside this article. If you can assist us in this task, please let Inna know as soon as possible(and again by COB this Friday, 26 January 2024 at the latest).

SIC plans for Safer Internet Day

With just a little over two weeks to go now until Safer Internet Day (SID) 2024, a final reminder that we still require updates to SIC profile pages/contributions to the internally-facing network plans document. We will be providing an update to the EC* tomorrow morning (23/01) – if you could attend to this urgently (as needed) it would be much appreciated. Thanks to those who have already supplied all possible information/responded to last week's email request.

* The information will also be shared with the European Consumer Centre network (ECCs) as part of our ongoing collaborations on consumer protection actions.

A reminder that you can see your existing public SID profile at https://www.saferinternetday.org/in-your-country/. Updates to your public profile can be submitted via the online form at https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/SaferInternetDay2024. We will then make the changes for you and confirm when done.

Additional SIC plans not included in public profile updates can be shared via the sheet here. If you have nothing additional to add of an internal nature, please just annotate column E with “Please refer to public profile”. In case of questions, please contact the SID helpdesk.

In a rapidly evolving digital media landscape, the European Commission continues to invest in innovative solutions to enhance media literacy skills of all European citizens, support effective cross-border cooperation, and limit the detrimental impact of disinformation. A call for proposals has been launched under the cross-sectoral strand of the Creative Europe Programme.

Grants will encourage knowledge-sharing and exchanges on media literacy policies and practices to enable the development of innovative cross-border media literacy initiatives and communities across countries, taking into account current user behaviour among various age groups.

The call is open to consortia composed of at least three entities from a minimum of three different countries participating in the Creative Europe Programme. Such consortia may include:

• profit and non-profit organisations (private or public).
• public authorities (national, regional, local).
• international organisations.
• universities and educational institutions.
• media organisations.
• research and technology institutions.
• technology providers.

Find more details on the call for proposals on the European Commission website. The call closes on Thursday, 7 March 2024.

A kind reminder that we seek 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.

The next Insafe/INHOPE joint training meeting will take place on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 April 2024 in Warsaw, Poland. As you know from previous Weekly Updates, the meeting will be held at the AIRPORT HOTEL OKĘCIE. We have a preferential rate available with the hotel: you can access this by going to hotel website (https://airporthotel.pl/en/), click book a room, then in the upper right corner click enter code. The code to book is EUN. 

The meeting will start at 13:00 on Wednesday 17 April and will finish at 17:00 on Thursday 18 April. There will be some optional activities taking place on the morning of Wednesday – a Media Literacy in the Classroom session and also a visit to the Polish helpline. 

Registration for the meeting will open at the beginning of February and we will share the agenda as well as information about the networking dinner that will take place on Wednesday (17 April). The Insafe Steering Committee meeting will take place on Friday morning (19 April). 

We wanted to share the information about the hotel in advance of registration opening so colleagues could already book accommodation and travel. If you need any further information at this point, please contact Karl. 

The next online meeting for youth coordinators will take place on Monday, 29 January 2024 at 11:00 CET. During this meeting, Regina Fuchsova and Katarina Kletecka from EURid will discuss what they do with children and young people as a member of the technical internet multistakeholder community and present their art competition, SafeOnLine; access the meeting using this link. For further information, please contact Eray.

A second meeting of the helpline early warning group took place last week.This regular meeting allows helplines to share any new trends, challenges, apps or websites that they think other helpline colleagues should be aware of.A report from the meeting along with a link to the recording is available from the BIK community (login first).

The next meeting of the helpline early warning group will take place on Wednesday, 6 March 2024 at 14:00 CET. Use this link to join the meeting; for further information, please contact Karl.

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.

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. 

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.

[REMINDER] 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.

[UPDATED] Safer Internet Day dissemination plan (edition 2)
An updated edition of the dissemination plan for the 2024 edition of Safer Internet Day is now available (please note, this supersedes the first edition and just focuses on the two-week countdown to SID). 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 - see urgent action items above

Sharing network SID plans - see urgent action items above 

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.

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 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).

• Campaign on the use of the internet in Malta focuses on the dangers of sexting (SIC MT)
• Case study: young people facing cyberbullying following a difficult family situation (SIC MT)
• 20 years of online counselling with "Nummer gegen Kummer" (SIC DE)
• Think twice before writing or uploading online (SIC MT)
• Spreading awareness across the nation on a bus tour (SIC FR)
• AFNOR standards for online platforms (SIC FR)
• Young people do not find algorithms problematic (SIC DK)
• Resource creation with highlights on youth participation (SIC FR)
• Fighting violence and hate speech in video games (SIC FR)
• Social network safety settings: the starter pack for parents (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 community of practice

• Early warning group - report from meeting on 17 January 2024
• Updates from Snapchat and Instagram

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