2nd important update Sept. 19: As if in direct response to the open letter from privacy activists around the world, the WeProtect Global Alliance published their own statement saying Apple must not pause its expanded protections, the Guardian reported. I stand by my thoughts in the update just below. We need privacy activists and protection activists in the same room answering the questions: Would … [Read more...] about Apple & the child online safety challenge
Risk & Safety
If anything needs to go viral, it’s this…
...the message, "Report it. Don't share it." The "it" in this public awareness campaign Facebook just launched is child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the accurate term for what is typically called "child pornography" in the United States. Thankfully, it's extremely unlikely you'll ever see content like this. "The prevalence of this content on our platform is very low," Facebook researchers … [Read more...] about If anything needs to go viral, it’s this…
Key piece of the puzzle: Australia’s ‘Safety by Design’ tools
A vital piece of the global online safety puzzle has just fallen into place: Australia’s eSafety Commissioner’s Office this week unveiled its Safety by Design tools for Internet companies everywhere. They’re the outgrowth of extensive international research and consultation with people in industry, government, academia and advocacy, including youth and parents – a process eSafety started in … [Read more...] about Key piece of the puzzle: Australia’s ‘Safety by Design’ tools
How our kids can become ‘indistractable’
I was almost too distracted over the past couple of days to write this review of Indistractable. But there’s some real “digital parenting” wisdom in it, so here we are, blog post done. For example, co-author Nir Eyal says, “Teach traction.” The opposite of distraction isn’t focus, as we typically think. It’s traction, which “comes from the Latin trahere, meaning ‘to draw or pull',” Eyal writes. … [Read more...] about How our kids can become ‘indistractable’
Finally! A YouTube (flexibly) designed for kids 9-12
Tweens are no longer little kids, but they’re also not yet teens. Like all their peers, younger and older, 9-to-12-year-olds love to explore and mess around with media, especially video. They want to be safe so they don’t have to worry, which means they really don’t mind a little help from parental types, but they also don’t want to be contained in an app for “little kids.” YouTube Kids, which … [Read more...] about Finally! A YouTube (flexibly) designed for kids 9-12