Few would argue that the Internet is now a mainstream facility. The majority of households in leading nations are online and rapid global adoption continues apace.

As a mass medium that children use regularly for both education and entertainment, parents and governments want to ensure that children enjoy the positive elements of the Internet - whether on a desktop or mobile device - whilst avoiding unwanted activities and content.

The Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) is an international non profit organisation that has designed a global content labelling scheme so as to empower users to make their own decisions about the type of content they want to access, whilst respecting the free speech rights of content providers.

ICRA contributes to this month’s issue of the newsletter to highlight and explain how its content rating system works.

The issue also includes contributions from national nodes promoting Internet safety awareness and other organisations and companies active in the field. These articles address such issues as defining harmful content, filtering, and alternative methods of filtering such as “white listing”.

Next month’s issue will look at illegal content.


Author: Stephen Balkam, CEO, ICRA
 

100,000 websites apply descriptive labels
The ICRA approach to Internet safety is divided into two core elements, Labelling and Filtering, which are the responsibilities of the content provider and the end user respectively.
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Slipping the Net
There are a number of software products on the market promising to block or filter undesirable content. But do they work, and are people using them?
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The magic of white listing
Parents are concerned what content their kids can find on the Internet or who they contact using an Internet connected PC. “White listing” is one answer.
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Belgian sects target children online
The Belgian "Safer internet" website held a forum on 13 April to warn against some of the “plagues” that can put Internet users at risk. Issues tackled in the forum included religious sects, racism and child pornography.
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Danish parents prepare children for harmful content
New forms of media have also meant children have new potential channels of access to pornography. In particular, new delivery platforms such as mobile phones make the need for teaching media literacy more urgent.
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Committee of Ministers adopts international declaration
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers today adopted a declaration that will set standards for human rights and the rule of law in the information society of mobile phones, the internet and computer communication.
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Parents unaware of exposure to harmful content
Children claim to know more about the Internet than their parents. But even if parents are less net-savvy than their kids, they still have an important role to play in supervising and controlling their use of the Internet.
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Danish national awards ceremony for Insafe story-telling competition
1June 2005
Copenhagen, Denmark
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Safer Internet picnic
4 June 2005
Warsaw, Poland
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NetAlert launches CyberQuoll
NetAlert is pleased to announce 'CyberQuoll' as the primary school resource in the NetAlert CyberSafe Schools program. This resource will help educators teach important Internet safety issues to students, through engaging and challenging computer based activities.
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About Insafe
Insafe is a European network of 19 countries, dedicated to raising awareness of Internet safety. The network includes a broad range of organisations, including charities, universities and media councils.

The Insafe network is coordinated by European Schoolnet, and supported by the European Commission’s Safer Internet Programme.

Further information about the Insafe network and its members is available on the Insafe Portal.