Together For Better Internet: Safer Internet Day 2020

Do you know that 3 in 4 youngsters said that they have been bullied online in Singapore? Cyberbullying is actually a growing problem and is rising a concern in our world now. This is one of the reasons why we need to raise awareness about safer internet usage.

Safer Internet Day 2020, taking place on Tuesday, 11 February 2020, join forces across the globe to work “Together for a better internet”.

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day (SID) is organised by the joint Insafe/INHOPE network, with the support of the European Commission*, each February to promote the safe and positive use of digital technology, especially among children and young people. Celebrated on the second day of the second week of the second month, each year on Safer Internet Day millions of people unite to inspire positive changes online, to raise awareness of online safety issues, and participate in events and activities right across the globe.

Safer Internet Day aims to create both a safer and a better internet, where everyone is empowered to use technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively. The campaign aims to reach out to children and young people, parents and carers, teachers, educators and social workers, as well as industry, decision makers and politicians, to encourage everyone to play their part in creating a better internet.

By celebrating the positive power of the internet, the Safer Internet Day slogan of “Together for a better internet” encourages everyone to join the movement, to participate, and to make the most of the internet’s potential to bring people together.

With a global, community-led approach, Safer Internet Day encourages everyone to come together and play their part. There are many ways to do this:

• Children and young people can help to create a better internet by being kind and respectful to others online, by protecting their online reputations (and those of others), and by seeking out positive opportunities to create, engage and share online.
• Parents and carers play a crucial role in empowering and supporting children to use technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively, whether it is by ensuring an open dialogue with their children, educating them to use technology safely and positively, or by acting as digital role models.
• Teachers, educators and social workers can help to create a better internet by equipping their pupils and students with digital literacy skills and by developing the critical thinking skills, which will allow them to better navigate the online world. They can empower them to create their own content, make considered choices online, and can set a personal example of positive online behaviour for their pupils and students.You can do your part by registering your support for SID here.
• Industry can help to create a better internet by creating and promoting positive content and safe services online, and by empowering users to respond to any issues by providing clear safety advice, a range of easy-to-use safety tools, and quick access to support if things do go wrong.
• Decision makers and politicians need to provide a culture in which all of the above can function and thrive – for example, by ensuring that there are opportunities in the curriculum for children and young people to learn about online safety, ensuring that parents and carers have access to appropriate information and sources of support, and that industry is encouraged to self-regulate its content and services. They must also take the lead in governance and legislation, and ultimately ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people through effective child protection strategies for the digital world.
• Everyone has a responsibility to make a positive difference online. We can all promote the positive by being kind and respectful to others and by seeking out positive opportunities to create and connect. We can all respond to the negative by reporting inappropriate or illegal content and behaviour online
  

  *Safer Internet Day would not be possible without the support of the European Commission. Currently the funding is provided by the Connecting Europe Facility programme (CEF). Find out more about the EC’s “European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children” on the European Commission’s website.

   

  Industries like Facebook supported by including some of these features recently.

  • Off-Facebook Activity: The Off-Facebook Activity is a tool where the user can see and control the data that other apps and websites shares with Facebook that are used to show you ads that are relevant to you. Now, you can view the summary of information and remove the identifying information if you want to. Facebook will not know which websites you as a user have visited or what you did there, and this will help in limiting the number of personalized ads on your Facebook, Instagram or Messenger.
  • Alerts for Third-party Logins: Facebook Login lets you sign into other apps and services, using your Facebook account. To keep you on track of your activity, Facebook rolled out Login Notifications where you will be alerted when you use Facebook Login to sign into third-party apps, to help you stay aware of how your account is being used and to edit your settings.

We as users can do our part by raising awareness to everyone around us and by registering our support for SID here.