The measures are just some of the recommendations of a report by
child psychologist and television personality Dr Tanya Byron which
was commissioned by the Government.
Education minister Ed Balls said that the Government was "fully
committed to implementing the report's recommendations," and that
it would immediately begin establishing the recommended UK Council
for Child Safety.
Byron addressed widespread fears about children's use of
computers and the internet, including worries about violent
computer games, exposure to potentially harmful discussions about
self-harm and suicide, exposure to inappropriate conduct and to
contact from people who want to harm them.
She said that parents' worries are not helped by the fact that
they often understand the technology less well than the children
they hope to protect.
"There is a generational digital divide which means that parents
do not necessarily feel equipped to help their children in this
space – which can lead to fear and a sense of helplessness," she
said in the report. "This can be compounded by a risk-averse
culture where we are inclined to keep our children 'indoors'
despite their developmental needs to socialise and take risks."
Byron did say, though, that news coverage often distorted the
issues and stripped children of the credit they deserve for being
in control of the technologies they use.
"Headlines have contributed to the climate of anxiety that
surrounds new technology and created a fiercely polarised debate in
which panic and fear often drown out evidence. The resultant
clamour distracts from the real issue and leads to children being
cast as victims rather than participants in these new, interactive
technologies," she said.
Byron has proposed the establishment of a national information
campaign to inform parents and children about how to stay safe
while using the internet.
Byron has proposed that the new Council establish codes of
practice which internet publishers and social networking sites
would sign up to.
"The incentive for signing up to one of these codes would be the
opportunity for companies to promote themselves as responsible
businesses with an interest in online child safety," she said in
her report. "It is likely that the main consequence of breaching
the codes would be public censure by the Council. Avoiding this
kind of reputational damage would be a strong incentive for
companies to co-operate."
Byron said that social networking sites, for example, could
adhere to the code of practice by having more stringent privacy
controls for children than for adults.
Byron has recommended that the Council be established with its
own secretariat by this time next year, although Balls did not give
a concrete funding commitment to reporters at the launch of the
study.
Byron said that user-generated content can pose dangers for
children of exposure to inappropriate material. Though she
recognised that moderation by the site operators themselves was
often impractical, she did say that sophisticated models of
moderation could help keep harmful content away from children.
"Sites harness the social capital of their community of users to
improve moderation. Reports from more than one user, from
long-standing users or users who have been ‘rated’ highly by their
peers can be flagged for attention with a higher priority, and such
users can even be given moderation powers themselves, so that
content they flag is removed until a moderator can look at it,"
said Byron in the report.
"This approach to moderation empowers children, young people and
adults to be active participants in keeping themselves and others
safe online, and making their web communities the kind of place
they want to be."
Byron said that content producers and hosts had told her during
the consultation period of the report that they were reluctant to
monitor any content because it would make them liable for it under
the E-Commerce Act.
She said that the Council, when founded, should investigate the
issue.
"There have been suggestions that companies could minimise the
risk of liability by engaging a third party to monitor the content
on their site and explicitly inform them about content which
breaches their site’s acceptable use policies," she said. "I
recommend that the Council explores the possibility of developing
such arrangements to minimise the risks of liability for companies
that take steps to make their products safer for children."
Struan Robertson, a technology lawyer with Pinsent Masons and
editor of OUT-LAW.COM, said that he doubted this measure would
alter a company's responsibility for content.
"Monitoring user-generated content before or after it appears on
a site is a good way to maintain the quality of a site's content,"
said Robertson. "If a site is aimed at children, there are even
stronger arguments for pre-moderation. But as soon as you monitor
content, you risk liability for anything that slips through the
net, whether you check the content before or after it appears on
the site and whether you monitor the content yourself or outsource
the task to a third party."
Using an overseas monitor can save money, though, according to
Robertson. The terms of engagement can also protect a site operator
against fines or damages. "Your contract with a third party monitor
can be used to shift the financial burden if something goes wrong,"
he said.
