Along with our counterparts in more than 100 countries, my colleagues at ConnectSafely and I are busy getting ready for Safer Internet Day, which gets underway Feb. 6. Exactly 10 years ago, ConnectSafely became the official U.S. host of this global event. Our first event was in Washington, D.C., where Sen. Chuck Schumer addressed the audience, which was made up mostly of high school students. Then California Attorney General Kamala Harris spoke at our second event in Silicon Valley.
Programs for home and school
Our last big in-person event, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, took place about a month before the lockdown. Since then, it’s all been virtual, which, as it turns out, makes it a lot easier to reach more students and family members who can participate from school or home. This year, we are planning programs in schools and communities across the country, on track to reach about 100,000 students. But there are also plenty of Safer Internet Day resources that parents, grandparents, teens and children can use to educate themselves and others about how to use the internet in the safest way possible. As with nearly every technology from kitchen appliances to airplanes, you can’t eliminate all risks, but you can manage risk to reduce the likelihood of problems and recover if one emerges.
So, in addition to the events at schools, we’re encouraging families to have their own “events” at home. Have a conversation, perhaps at dinner, about how each family member uses connected technology and what they can do to make it safer. Our primary goal is to help protect children and teens, but even if you don’t have kids at home, it’s also a day for adults to think about how they’re using technology in ways that are safer, more civil and more productive.
Categories
The program this year focuses on six major categories: Generative AI, Civility, Picking on Peers (aka cyberbullying), Wellness, Identity & Self Respect, Scams, Predators & Creeps, and Media Literacy & Critical Thinking. Each category has its own web page with resources for both schools and families, including posts, lesson plans, guides, Quick-Guides and, in some cases, slide presentations.
Some of these categories have been part of the program for years because they represent ongoing concerns, but generative AI is a new category, reflecting what is the fastest growing and, in my opinion, one of the most exciting developments in my more than four decades as a technology journalist and three decades as an internet safety advocate. Generative AI has the potential to change the way we learn, work and go about our lives, but it also comes with plenty of risks, as we outline in this slide presentation and in our Safer Internet Day Family Program, where we provide general advice for parents and other caregivers, including tips on how to try services like ChatGPT, Google Bard and Microsoft Co-pilot.
In partnership with National PTA, there is a recorded video webinar featuring ConnectSafely Education Director Kerry Gallagher and PTA Connected National Ambassador Mikki Wilson. On Feb. 8, we will hold a live event at 7 p.m. PST, with My Digital Tat2, a Bay Area-based digital education program. You can register for both events at saferinternetday.us/get-involved.
Senate hearing
This year’s Safer Internet Day comes a few days after the CEOs of Discord, Meta, Snap, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about online child sexual exploitation and online safety in general. It was a contentious hearing, with senators from both parties demonstrating rare unity over demands that big tech take more responsibility for child protection, including that they endorse a number of pending child safety bills as well as calls for the repeal or modification of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides these companies with immunity from civil liability from those harmed by user-generated content that appeared on their services.
I’ll leave it to subsequent columns to comment on these and other proposals, but it’s important to recognize that there is definitely a role for Congress to play in helping to protect children and adults from online harms. As is always the case with legislation, details matter. Well-meaning and seemingly beneficial legislation may or may not improve the situation and can sometimes make matters worse.
Our behavior matters
ConnectSafely’s Safer Internet Day program won’t solve all the problems associated with connected technology, nor will it make anyone 100% safe. But, as the name suggests, following the lessons you can learn or reinforce on that day – or any day – can make us all safer by learning to understand and manage risks.
We also need some help from both industry and government. Lessons on how to more safely drive cars have been around since the early days of the automobile, but it took public outcry, federal and state legislation and industry compliance to make cars safer than they were in the days of the Tin Lizzie. Seat belts, airbags, anti-lock braking and many other car safety features weren’t around during my childhood, but now we take them for granted, along with all sorts of regulations on the auto industry and those of us who drive cars. But neither technology nor regulation is a substitute for safe, or should I say “safer” driving. The same goes for our use of connected technologies.
Disclosure: Larry Magid is CEO of ConnectSafely, a nonprofit internet safety organization that receives financial support from Discord, Meta, Snap, TikTok and other technology companies.