Relevant

The State of the Online Safety Report

This annual report provides a snapshot of online safety thinking and practice across government, industry and non-profit sectors in many parts of the world. The areas we look at include:

• Existing and pending legislation and regulatory regimes
  
• The safety implications of existing and emerging technology
  
• Education initiatives

The State of Online Safety report is presented at FOSI's Annual Conference and Exhibition each November or December. Contributions are always welcome.

Online Safety Education Initiative

FOSI and many experts in this field, believe that in addition to filtering technology, we need more online safety education to reach parents and children alike. What is also acknowledged is that there is a wide range of approaches, messages, curricula and safety tips available, with little or no evaluation of their effectiveness or relevance in our Web 2.0 world. This project, the first of its kind to be undertaken by the Family Online Safety Institute, will do a stock-take of what currently exists, what impact these programmes and messages actually have, and synthesize the very best messages and approaches and present these at our next annual conference.

With the onset of convergence and the explosion of new types of digital content devices and new meeting places online, such as social-networking-sites, the need for a new kind of approach to the issue of online safety is essential.

This project will address the growing concerns of parents and teachers alike about the harmful content and harmful contact that children are increasingly exposed to online. It is our hope that with a combination of tools and rules, children will be both better protected and made more aware of the many potential dangers on the internet