“When we deliver water to remote communities, it needs to be safe and clean. We need to deliver connectivity to kids in the same way – it needs to be safe & empowering,” said Marija Manojlovic setting the tone for the ‘Safe Connections’ event hosted by Safe Online with support from Giga on 11 July 2024 in Geneva.
The event was the first of its kind in bringing together connectivity experts and child online safety practitioners to place safety and well-being of children at the heart of the connectivity agenda.
Connecting every child to the internet is vital, but ensuring their safety online is equally crucial. Children should be able to learn, grow, and thrive in the digital world without facing online harms. The digital world has amplified existing challenges like sexual violence, exposing children to new dangers and unprecedented risks of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Dr Najat Malla, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children opened the session highlighting the severe risks that children face online. She stressed that “connecting every school to the internet is essential to close the digital divide but as more and more children go online, we must ensure that they can do so safely”.
Over the last several years, online child sexual exploitation and abuse has skyrocketed – As per the new Childlight study, one incident of online child abuse is reported every second. The Internet Watch Foundation noted 2023 as a ‘record year’ for child sexual abuse with analysts discovering over 275,000 reports of child sexual imagery, marking an 8% increase from the previous year.
“In the age of AI and deepfakes, the risks and threats facing children and young people online are becoming increasingly complex and frequent. It’s never been more important to protect and empower our youth to exercise their rights in the digital world.” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin stressing the risks posed by latest technological trends like Generative AI and Extended Reality (XR). Gen AI, for instance, is turbocharging the creation and spread of child abuse material online blurring the line between ‘real’ and ‘synthetic’ images.
The initial panel discussion highlighted the latest data and trends on the risks and harms children face in digital spaces and how digital connectivity impacts children’s development, safety, and mental health. Experts discussed how new technologies can both increase risks and offer opportunities to enhance digital skills and prevent harm.
“Child protection must accompany digital transformation. This includes integrating online safety into tech infrastructure and education curricula, fostering children’s resilience both online and offline.”, said Sheema SenGupta, Director Child Protection, UNICEF in the session on solutions which offered practical strategies to maximise the benefits of connectivity in children’s lives while ensuring digital spaces are free from risks and violence. Experts from multiple sectors showcased context-rich information and countries’ experiences including strategies, resources and best practices for robust policy and regulatory frameworks, programs’ design, technology tools and industry practices.
Panellists stressed on the importance of ensuring child safety-by-design and embedding child safety considerations in the connectivity life-cycle planning and provision, including integrating safety features at the onset of digital tools and platforms & establishing legal frameworks that meet the highest standards of child protection.
The event ended on an optimistic note with panelists looking to the future and exploring what we can do now to ensure that the benefits of technology outweigh the risks.
“As we embrace AI and emerging tech, we must prioritize safety and ethics, ensuring a future where technology enhances lives, especially for our children, said Cathy Li, Head of AI, Data & Metaverse, World Economic Forum , “The World Economic Forum exemplifies this by uniting global stakeholders to build trust and set principles focused on security, safety, and ethical responsibility in digital technologies.”
“We talked about a lot of dark things that technology enables but I believe that the only thing that can stand against that darkness is the type of quick, fair, open development of technology that can help humanity work at scale together”, said Giga’s Co-Lead Chris Fabian, wrapping up the event.
Images: Giga
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