Project overview
In order to keep children safe online, UKCCIS wants industry to agree a set of rules to stick to, rather than the Government imposing them. This is self-regulation. The principles include the availability of parental controls to restrict access to adult content, and ways to enable harmful and inappropriate content to be reported. The technological challenges involved mean that industry is best placed to come up with solutions to these issues.
There are two self-regulatory initiatives currently in progress working in parallel at EU level:
- Principles for the safer use of connected devices and online services by children and young people in the EU.
- Coalition to make the internet a better place for children.
Discussions at EU level are currently leading, with a UK dimension to be added to this project should the EU process not deliver the UK Government’s expectations.
The principles are designed to be flexible so that as new services, means of access and interaction with the internet evolve, the principles can accommodate this. It is intended that the principles can be applied to everyone involved in delivering internet services, including but not limited to device manufacturers, internet service providers, mobile operators and content providers.
Project members
Project lead: Annie Mullins, Head of Global Content and Standards, Vodafone
Project representatives include:
- Action for Children
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety (CHIS)
- Department for Education (DfE)
- London School of Economics (LSE)
- Mobile Broadband Group
- Research in Motion (RIM)
- Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE)/UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE)
- Yahoo.
Next steps
Industry will continue developing proposals to apply a set of Europe-wide good practice principles. This will be complemented by a framework to review how the principles are being used so that parents and young people can understand how these are applied.