What no one at #IGF2014 is courageous enough to address about #childsafetyonline (1200 hits)
By Ayori S.
Internet Global Forum was developed to discuss public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance “in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet” (among other key activities) through engaging with multiple stakeholders from internet users, NGOs, industry and government.
For more information on IGF please refer to the Fact Sheet: “What is IGF”
The key themes of the forum were Internet Access in developing nations such as Africa, maintaining an open & free internet, childhood safety, rights & protection, governance and implementing a multistakeholder process to continue to develop the internet in it’s growth and expansion to +7 Billion people in the world. Well, my being a mother tunes my ears to areas related to human rights & equitable access and my passions were powerfully drawn to the topic of child safety online. When it came to child safety online the key messaging from panelists was quite boilerplate: Childhood safety is the parents responsibility. Sadly what key participants in IGF missed is the opportunity to rise the social responsibility of not just ISPs, but every corporation that benefits & monetizes off of the internet, especially those with engineering teams focused on technology that influences end users behaviors based on the highest bidder. This isn’t simply relegated to the Google’s and Facebook’s in the advertising industry, but any company where providing recommendations, or identifying the user is a key activity in maintaining their business’ competitive edge and profit share. Sadly panelists who did address this all seemed more concerned about taking a defensive angle for these companies than being honest and saying: We must ask for stronger collaboration & partnership with these organizations on this issue to make it a priority in innovation.
