Group to Study Online Safety Practices for Kids
Cooperation among stakeholders is the best way to protect children in a wired world, said a panel of industry executives and child protection experts at Tuesday’s PointSmart.ClickSafe summit. The communications industry faces a difficult choice on how much responsibility it should take, said the Progress and Freedom Foundation’s Adam Thierer in response to a question from Comcast government affairs advisor Torie Clarke. The choice encompasses both the content it provides and what tools are offered to parents, Thierer said, and shouldn’t include self-censorship. Thierer said the industry should not have to take responsibility for content.
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Parents care more about the Internet than TV, said Alexandra Wilson, Cox vice president of public policy. She said the company began to ask customers about content filters after the Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” incident and was surprised to learn that TV content was not the first concern parents had with what their children view.
Online safety is an issue the entire industry can tackle, Verizon Public Affairs’ executive directory for internet and technology policy Michael McKeehan agreed, saying providers around the world were working together on best practices for child protection standards: “It’s very important that we have this national and international cooperation.” Content providers should provide more options for kid-friendly places, Disney Vice President Susan Fox said, saying maintaining a safe environment is important to the company’s business.
An industry working group on child protection will hold its first meeting Wednesday, Clarke said. The group has an abundance of source material to draw on, said Thierer, pointing to commissions in the U.K. and Australia, which placed strong emphasis on education and media literacy. While the commissions considered filtering technologies, he said, they concluded there’s no substitute for education in protecting kids online.
When it comes to child safety, Thierer said, America tends to “regulate first, educate later,” citing a PFF/CDT survey that found that only two of 37 bills dealing with technology or online safety before Congress last year focused on education. “This is a problem,” he said, suggesting money spent on litigation could instead be spent on an educational program such as the U.S. Forest Service’s Smokey the Bear campaign, and that the focus should be on making kids “responsible cyber-citizens.” While some states, including Virginia, have created online education requirements, Thierer said more could be done with a nationwide effort. “I think we need that kind of program at the Federal level.”