Kristina Schröder: "Intelligent Child and Youth Protection on the Internet calls for joint thinking"
Published on: 12.09.12
Source: Pressemitteilung des Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend

German Family Minister launches I-KiZ Centre for Child Protection on the Internet To protect children and young people from online risks is the core task of the new "Centre for Child Protection on the Internet", Internet-Kinderschutzzentrum, in short: I-KiZ launched by the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Dr. Kristina Schröder, on Monday, 10th Sept. 2012.
Children and young people need to grow up with the Internet safely and to enjoy the benefits and opportunities of the digital world,
German Family Minister Schröder said at the launch event for the foundation of the I-KiZ. Unfortunately there is no 100-percent guarantee for safe surfing areas, therefore we want to achieve with the I-KiZ, to minimise risks on the Internet as far as possible and provide facilities for reporting and support within easy reach. The I-KiZ should act together with its partners as a central contact point for children, youths and adults and offer help and advice on problems.
With the establishment of a Centre for Child Protection on the Internet, an alliance of experts from federal and state governments, youth protection and law enforcement, of providers, platform operators, associations and initiatives, as well as science and technology is set up, to develop in expert commissions, how children and young people can make use of the opportunities the Internet offers and avoid risks in advance as far as possible.
With the I-KiZ (www.i-kiz.de) a think tank is set up to deal with the general framework and conditions of a contemporary online protection for children and young people. The I-KiZ also acts as a contact point for children, youths and parents to receive support and get access to counseling and reporting facilities. With the buttons 'Ask for help'' and 'Tell about'' young people can call the helpline for children and youth 'Nummer gegen Kummer'' or access an online form. Adults or parents reach through the button "help and advice" the parents’ line of "Nummer gegen Kummer" and through the button "report violation" a hotline form where they can complain about Internet threats.
At the launch event, the Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM), with UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), as well as numerous well-known companies in the Internet industry, the voluntary self-regulation and of child and youth protection were involved. Peter Davies from CEOP stressed in his keynote, that it is in the responsibility of the platform providers as the owners of the playground to make it easy for young users to protect themselves.
The I-KiZ is inspired by models such as the CEOP Centre (UK), the Cybersmart program of ACMA, Australian Communications and Media Authority's (Australia) or the NetSmartz initiative of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (USA), which co-operate systematically on knowledge acquisition, function as a corporate platform for prevention and fight against online threats and also raise awareness among parents, youths and children. To work well with the many existing facilities in Germany, the I-KiZ will realise its goals mainly through co-operation and professional networking.
The establishment of the I-KiZ on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs is supported by jugendschutz.net, the joint office of the German states (Länder) and regional media authorities for the protection of minors on the Internet. Moreover Klicksafe works together with the I-KiZ, an awareness campaign for the promotion of media literacy in the use of the Internet and new media funded by the European Commission in the "Safer Internet Programme".
In 2010, Federal Family Minister Dr. Kristina Schröder set-up the so-called Dialogue Internet to develop a political strategy for children and adolescents on the internet, together with representatives of children and youth services, youth protection, media education and science, the Internet industry, the Internet community and federal and state goverments. An essential recommendation of the Dialog Internet was that effective protection of minors on the Internet requires an intelligent risk management and anticipatory corporate strategies, to combine reasonably the providers' precautions, technical instruments and digital literacy training.
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http://www.bmfsfj.de/BMFSFJ/Presse/pressemitteilungen,did=188366.html
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