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July marked the first anniversary of the World’s first scheme set up to give confidence to the public that venues who provide publically available WiFi were barring access to pornographic or child sex abuse websites.

At a time when most children and young people have access to the internet through their mobile phones it is imperative that venue owners ensure that Public WiFi is not only protected but they are reassuring the public that they are doing everything in their power to protect our children and young people in this way.

The scheme ensures that the provision of Public WiFi Service is safe and meets an agreed industry standard as agreed by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron in July 2013.

The UK Government were the initiators behind the scheme and have provided continued support with direct support coming from Minister Ed Vaizey who was instrumental in the development. The recent appointment of Baroness Shields OBE as Minister for Internet Safety and Security further strengthens the Government’s commitment to internet safety.

Baroness Shields stated:
“The Friendly WiFi scheme has been a great success and is another example of how the UK is leading the world when it comes to making the internet a safer place for young people. I am delighted that organisations like IKEA, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Maudsley Centre and the City of York Council are joining the current members who are setting the bar for the responsible provision of public WiFi. Parents can take comfort in knowing that their children are protected from harmful content in these zones, and wherever they see the Friendly WiFi logo."

John Carr, Secretary of the UK's Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety commented:
WiFi is a key pillar of our hyper-connected, always on world so it is essential that every company or organization that is involved in supplying it to the public thinks about their responsibilities towards children and young people. Friendly WiFi is the only scheme that checks to ensure that public WiFi meets a given standard, regardless of the individual WiFi provider. It is a testament to the success of the UK’s Friendly WiFi scheme that it is now being launched in the USA. I look forward to seeing Friendly WiFi grow and expand over the coming years.”

Beverley Smith, Director of the RDI commented:
“The first year of the scheme has been fantastic and it has been a real pleasure to work with all brands involved as well as the brands I am currently discussing the scheme with. To see the expansion of the scheme across all types of venues is achieving exactly what the scheme was developed to do”

Forerunners of the Scheme included Tesco and Starbucks.

Josh Hardie, Responsibility Director for Tesco stated:
“Friendly Wi-Fi means parents can be safe in the knowledge unsuitable content isn’t accessible through our wireless networks. We want to make sure children are properly safeguarded in our stores and we’re proud to be one of the first organisations to sign up to the scheme. ”

Simon Redfern, Communications Director for Starbucks commented:
“We’re delighted to have supported the Friendly WiFi initiative from the outset. We have exciting WiFi upgrades taking place over the next few months and our customers will soon be able to enjoy a faster service with the reassurance they are in a friendly and safe environment both online and in store at Starbucks.”

Expansion of scheme to the United States
RDI has been working to bring the Friendly WiFi Scheme to the United States with internationally known Internet safety expert, Donna Rice Hughes, CEO and President of Enough Is Enough (EIE), a U.S. based not-for profit organisation whose mission is to make the Internet safer for children and families. EIE launched the National Porn Free WiFi campaign in the United States in 2014 by targeting key brands such as McDonald’s and Starbucks to lead corporate America to adopt a minimum standard of filtering to ensure that pornography or child sex abuse images can’t be accessed whilst using their free Wi-Fi services

Donna Rice Hughes, President ‘Enough is Enough’ US stated:
“Corporate America needs to exercise responsibility to be part of the solution to keep children and families safe while using public WiFi services. The Friendly WiFi accreditation scheme is a win-win for the Corporation who offers filtered and friendly WiFi and is well positioned to become the good housekeeping seal of approval to help guide consumers where to go to use safe Wi-Fi in the U.S.”

New iRights framework to bring together industry and Government to better empower and protect young people online

iRights include the ability to remove web content young people have created about themselves

A right to digital literacy and to know how data collected about them is used

Endorses technical support for children to set limits on their digital activities

Research finds young people are increasingly worried about their digital legacy and addiction

The iRights initiative aims to encourage all companies and organisations with a digital footprint to enshrine a universal standard of rights into their digital services and communications to help protect and inform young people online.

iRights has today published a report which found that, although children and young people are often presented as ‘digital natives’, in reality they lack the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the risks of the internet or to benefit from its many opportunities.

Speaking ahead of the report’s publication, Baroness Shields, Minister for Internet Safety and Security said: “iRights gives a unique insight into how government can join with technology companies, civil society and business to make a better digital world for young people. We are using iRights in education, business and in our own services and digital communications.”

Baroness Beeban Kidron, iRights Founder and Crossbench Peer, added: “iRights would transform children and young people’s experience of the digital world. They are spending an increasing amount of time online yet fail to properly understand the internet’s many risks and abundant opportunities. We are therefore delighted by the UK government’s endorsement of our efforts, which will help move iRights from the theoretical to the practical.”

Today’s iRights report, titled Enabling Children and Young People to Access the Digital World Creatively, Knowledgeably and Fearlessly, followed a year of research by the civil society group and found that children and young people:

Feel that online games and social networks are compulsive and dominate their time to an unhealthy extent

Have deep concern that websites and apps which claim to delete their data have loopholes

Believe that helplines and informed support should be universally available to them online

The report has led to a series of other announcements today. The Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, has announced that she is launching a task force, Growing Up Digital, dedicated to improving the online lives of young people through the iRights framework.

This task force will build on iRights and work undertaken by Schillings, an international multidisciplinary reputation and privacy consultancy, which published its own analysis of iRights today, iRights: The Legal Framework. The Schillings report shows that existing legislation strongly supports the five iRights principles and that the UK can set a worldwide precedent in terms of protecting children and young people online.

Major companies have already pledged their support for iRights and plan to launch their own initiatives to further its cause. They include Sky, Barclays, the BBFC, the Southbank Centre and Freeformers, which provides digital skills training to young people for free. Earlier this month, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon signed the framework and launched a Commission to establish how to make Scotland iRights-compatible.

iRights now has nearly 200 signatories from across government, business, technology and children’s and civil society groups. The iRights coalition is currently hosted by leading children’s charity the National Children’s Bureau.

Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, said:
“If children of today and tomorrow are to grow up digitally, we need to be sure that the rights to protection and empowerment that they enjoy in their lives, are embedded in the new digital world they inhabit. As the legal guardian of children’s rights and best interests in England, this is of uppermost concern to me as Children’s Commissioner. I am grateful to iRights for the groundbreaking work they have undertaken in this fast developing area. I intend to build on this work to establish a new Growing Up Digital taskforce, which will launch in the autumn.”

Jenny Afia, Partner, Schillings, said:
“Our research has revealed that the law of England and Wales broadly supports the five iRights principles. The challenge is that the law isn’t being applied. Our sense is that there’s a big appetite amongst commercial entities to do the right thing by children and young people, but there is uncertainty as to what this entails in practical terms. To help companies overcome this challenge, Schillings will now embark on producing a set of guidelines that will enable companies to address this issue.”

Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister for Scotland, said:
“We believe that every child and young person has the right to grow up in a safe environment – that principle applies to the virtual world too. That is why we’re proud to support the iRights coalition and to ensure the Scottish Government is doing its bit to keep children and young people safe online.”

Ashok Vaswani, CEO, Personal and Corporate Banking, Barclays, said:
“If we are to do trusted business online then we have to have to make commitments to the communities that we serve. iRights sheds light on the way in which we should consider our interactions with children and young people. We are now working to make sure we manifest all the principles in our digital space.”

Gi Fernando, Co-founder of Freeformers and long-time iRights partner, said:
“To be a 21st century citizen, children and young people should have the right to critically understand the digital world and be confident in managing new social norms. iRights is an important step towards achieving that.”

Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau said:
“The internet and digital technologies are fundamental parts of children and young people’s lives, shaping the world in which they live. But digital technologies are rarely designed with their needs in mind. iRights provides an empowering framework for realising the potential of the internet for children and young people so they can enjoy a safe and vibrant digital life.”

The full iRights report and framework can be found at www.irights.uk.

E-safety charity, Childnet, announce winners of the Childnet Film Competition 2015 in association with PhonepayPlus - Winning films to be used as Internet safety resources for schools

UK children’s charity, Childnet International, announced the winners of their sixth annual film competition at a private screening held at the BFI Southbank earlier this week.

Judged by a panel of experts from the BBFC, BFI, PhonepayPlus and beauty vlogger, Lily Pebbles, the three winning schools and the six other finalists will now see their films used as Internet safety resources to educate other young people about how to use the Internet safely.

Children and Families Minister, Edward Timpson, said:

"The Internet is a tremendously powerful tool that is changing the way our children learn and stay in touch but we cannot afford to be complacent about the risks - the dangers of the virtual world are no less pressing than those in the real world.”

“And it’s through initiatives like the Childnet Film Competition that we can make sure children really harness all the opportunities that the Internet provides while at the same time giving them the information and tools they need to protect themselves online. Well done to all of those who have taken part.”

As Childnet Education Projects Officer, Becky Nancarrow, said:

“This year’s film competition has been truly inspiring! Today we were able to celebrate the achievements of the 9 finalists who have met the challenge set by the competition amazingly well, addressing many of the key issues young people face online in a fun, creative and positive way. But it doesn’t end there! Now the young people’s films will have an even wider impact, as the films become resources for schools and youth groups to use to educate young people about staying safe online”.

Founded in 2010 as a way of asking young people to focus on positive use of the Internet, the Childnet Film Competition invites schools and youth organisations from across the UK to capture their Internet safety messages in a short film. For 2015, secondary schools were given the opportunity to illustrate another part of their digital lives, as UK regulator PhonepayPlus teamed up with Childnet to introduce the PhoneBrain category.

With over 130 entries across the three categories, primary, secondary and PhoneBrain, 8 schools and 1 youth group attended the shortlisted event where there films were shown on the big screen.

Taking home the top prize of film equipment for their school was Ludworth Primary School winning the primary school entry with ‘Chips and Bangs’. Weavers Academy took home the top prize for their entry ‘We have a choice to make a better Internet’ in the secondary category and the PhoneBrain Category was won by Willow Bank School for their film ‘Mummy I wuv you’.

Martin Stamper from Ludworth Primary School said:

“As a school we loved the opportunity to give our children an outlet for their creativity which could possibly be seen on a nationwide level. We had no idea it would lead to the day we have just had. Thanks!”

Creator of the secondary school winning film from Weavers Academy, Keith, said:

“When I heard about the film competition, I saw it as an opportunity to do what I love. It was special to me because as someone who isn’t really keen on sports and a lot of after/outside of school activities it felt really good to be part of something big! Also, the fact that I’ve actually won 1st place makes every second I put into the making of the animation worth it.”

Steve Pepper from Willow Bank School said:

“The film competition was a great opportunity to get across an important message! Nobody realises how much more is being taken from the young and vulnerable – it’s great to get the word out.”

The winning films from the Childnet Film Competition can be viewed here