Towards more accessible and safer Internet
The Internet is in the news these days, and not always for the right kind of reasons.
There is quite a hot discussion about what ACTA will change or not change. As generally happens nowadays many shoot first and ask questions afterwards. The number of myths propagated and disseminated is not little. One hopes though that changes to the treaty could be made to address real or perceived concerns.
The position of the Maltese government to balance the safeguarding of the rights of producers by guaranteeing the access of users is a laudable strategy.
Accessible Internet
The Internet is a very important and radically innovative communication environment. We cannot afford to let confusion dominate the discussion. The Internet is different from any other medium that came before it. Before the Internet the media created a message in a particular centre and then diffused it towards peripheries. The media pushed their message, in different ways, outwards. The Internet, on the other hand, allows the communication by many to many, at the time of their choice and to anywhere around the world.
McLuhan's Gutenberg Galaxy has been replaced by Castell's Internet Galaxy.
The Internet creates a new communications environment. Its basic social form is the network society which in more sense than one can bring with it a qualitative leap forward for each one of us. This will only happen if the internet remains a technology which enhances freedom. This possibility will be endangered if the networks are controlled by the powerful to the exclusion the rest; if capital speaks more than ethical value; if areas of society or whole nations are either excluded or have very limited access.
Safer Internet
While the debate about ACTA is raging the discussion about Safer Internet is more muted. Safer Internet Day – for those who noted it – was celebrated on February 7 but the events in connection with this day will go on till February 25. On that day Appogg will organise an awareness raising event at The Point, Sliema held between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
EU Kids Online III
On Safer Internet Day 2012 the results of a new report from the EU Kids Online project based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) were published. This pan-European project surveys the strategies used by parents to support their children’s internet use. It asks which strategies reduce online risks and harm experienced by children, based on interviews with 25,000 children and parents in 25 European countries.
Malta was not part of EU Kind Online I and II but is now part of the third re-incarnation of this project. A team of four researchers is part of the European project ascertaining that the local scene will be reflected.
Maltese parents like other European parents are concerned about the risks and possible harm that befalls their children because of their Internet use. Some of them go through all kinds of strategies to prevent their children being harmed.
The European study makes the difference between risk and harm. The former is part of the process of growing up. We all have to take risks. The result of taking risks can be quite positive. Consequently the attempt should be made to avoid harm than to eliminate risks.
According to the study the best way to optimise the possible positive potential of risk and to eliminate harm is for parents to engage with their children while using the Internet. This strategy is better than restricting Internet use. Parents should actively engage with their children’s online activities by talking to them about the Internet and occasionally staying nearby when they go online. Compared with restricting children’s Internet use, positive engagement can reduce the risk of harm without preventing the benefits of Internet use.
The comments of Professor Sonia Livingstone, who leads the EU Kids Online project, crystallise this position:
“For parents, talking to their child about the internet, encouraging them to explore alone but being nearby in case they are needed and talking to them about what they do online are all ways in which they can reduce online risks without reducing their child’s opportunities. Overall, the evidence reveals a positive picture in which children welcome parental interest and activities and parents express confidence in their children’s abilities.
“But there are some parents who do not do very much, even for young children, and there are some children who would like their parents to take more of an interest. It should be a policy priority now to reach these parents with awareness raising messages and resources.”
Parents who love their children should invest all the time needed by them to be certain that they benefit the most that they can benefit from Internet use. The potential is fantastic. Let’s not throw away this wonderful tool.
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M Grima
Feb 18th, 09:38
"The position of the Maltese government to balance the safeguarding of the rights of producers by guaranteeing the access of users is a laudable strategy".
Can you please explain what laudable strategy the Maltese governement has taken? As far as everyone knows, the governement, behind everyone's back, including yours truly, gave it's go ahead for this agreement to be officially ratified, when the government's officials only attended and participated in one out of the ten meetings. But, perhaps they were more focused to ensure that Franco Debono keeps them hanging on the power seat. This is the type of lousy government we have to endure!!
Jean-Pierre Aquilina
Feb 17th, 20:33
Professor Sonia Livingstone hit the nail on the head. I found that encouraging my children to explore yet being nearby to observe what they are doing and in case I am needed is a very effective way to encourage learning whilst lowering risks. I installed parental control software to make their experience safer. I can appreciate however that not all parents have the capacity to help out as they lack the necessary skills. Some may have never used the Internet, so the children are left to their own devices facing all the risks. Programs aimed at parents would surely help to address this issue.
A child's experience of the internet is a product of the values nurtured during its early years. Teaching a child the right values that will guide it through life will also guide it through the tangled web. Whilst it is essential to help a child experience the internet, it is even more essential to equip the child with the right tools (ie value) before exploring the internet. With these tools, the child is slowly being empowered to guide itself through life and the tangled web.
Matthew Galea Debono
Feb 16th, 20:35
While I am certainly in agreement that the EU Kids Online III initiative is a good thing, I struggle to understand how ACTA will make the internet safer for children in tandem with the initiative. Let us be entirely honest here, the things we don't want children to see on the internet (such as pornography among other things) are made legally be people around the world who still hold the Intellectual Property rights for the same scandalous material. In all fairness, while the agreement will curb the IP theft of such material from its owners, thereby potentially decreasing the accessibility to such material, the true impact this will have on the internet remains to be seen.
To be clear, I am all for a safer internet for children and do not believe such material as mentioned above should be available to begin with, however let us be careful not to assert non sequitur's like 'a trade agreement protecting Intellectual Property will yield a safer internet.' While this may not be an untruth in itself, I remain skeptical in regard to how much ACTA will make the Internet safer as opposed to being more controlled.
carlos ellul
Feb 16th, 16:03
There's a feeling that our government tend to sign treaties first and ask question later. The Dublin 2 treaty springs to mind.
However I understand and share your concerns about the Internet and children. Its time for parents to see Internet as some sort of knife, ie a useful item that can kill if used badly.