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Professor Tanya Byron has confirmed the UK as a world leader in child internet safety but advised that Government and Industry need to make faster progress in delivery if the UK is to stay ahead of advances in technology. In her progress review published two years on from her first report ‘Safer Children in a Digital World’, Professor Byron highlights key successes, including:

• ‘Zip it, Block it, Flag it’, the public awareness campaign for parents;
• the creation of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), a coalition of government, charities and industry; and
• the publication of a groundbreaking internet safety strategy.

However Professor Byron also makes it clear that more needs to be done to help speed up the delivery of policy and actions that fundamentally impact on the lives of children and young people.

Professor Byron said: “I am impressed with the work that has taken place since my original review in 2008. The progress on video game classification, the public awareness campaign and improvements in education through schools should be commended. Raising awareness of, and improving education in, the way in which children and young people deal with risks online is an important first step. The UK has taken this first step but there is more to be done.

Parents should be confident enough to let their children explore the opportunities the internet and new technologies can bring. However, they need to be able to support their children to develop the skills to become savvy and risk aware digital citizens. While good progress is being made to raise awareness – this needs to continue at pace.”

In her report, she has made new recommendations including:

• UKCCIS must better engage with, and listen to, children, young people and parents to ensure that work focuses on the issues which are important to them, for example underage children on social networking sites and the issue of children’s easy access to pornography.
• Industry should speed up work on a self-regulated code of practice without delay – to keep pace with the changes in new technologies, such as wi-fi access on mobile phones.
• The UKCCIS Board must have an independent chair to provide strategic leadership, sharpen the focus on delivery and increase the pace of progress.
• UKCCIS should work with mobile phone manufacturers to improve parental controls on mobile phones and consider the need for minimum standards for parental controls on games consoles. This should include more support for parents on how they can use and access these controls.
  
  

In her report, Professor Byron is clear on the need to empower children and young people to take control of how they use digital technology responsibly, rather than simply blocking what they can access. Her report outlines recommendations on how the Government and UKCCIS can improve education for children and young people, and make parents more aware of the strategies that already exist to help ensure their children’s digital safety.

The Government welcomed Professor Byron’s recommendations and asked UKCCIS to consider these and agree a full response by July 2010.

Professor Byron’s review is available at the Department for Children, Schools and Families website.