Alliance for the Protection of Children in a Digital Environment

The Alliance for the Protection of Children in a Digital Environment aims to create a child-safe Internet space that can fully unleash the creative potential of a new generation.

History

2022: Results of work

The Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment on December 27, 2022 presented the results of the first 1.5 years since its inception.

The alliance was created on September 1, 2021. For almost 1.5 years, the Alliance has implemented many initiatives aimed at improving the digital literacy of children and their parents, teachers, as well as protecting children in the digital environment:

• Created the world's first soft law document - the Digital Ethics of Childhood Charter, which was joined by more than 12 thousand organizations
• Conducted more than 20 activities to improve the digital literacy of children and adults
• Developed and published more than 10 tutorials on child safety and protection measures on the Internet
• Created an Internet risk map of present and future

To protect the rights of children, strengthen their safety and comfort measures in the Internet space, the Alliance has created the Digital Ethics of Childhood Charter, which reflects recommendations for all participants: parents, teachers, the state and business. This is the world's first soft law document, which is based on ethical principles: respect for the child as a person, joint responsibility, preservation of privacy and value guidelines in the online space, an inclusive approach.

From November 2021 to December 19, 2022, more than 12 thousand organizations from 78 regions of Russia joined the Charter. Among them are public and non-profit organizations, commercial companies, schools and lyceums, universities, cultural institutions and institutions of secondary vocational education. The first international participant was the Serbian company OpenLink Group.

Internet threats are evolving. This is not only and not so much about technical as about psychological dangers for children on the Internet. Rostelecom, as part of the Alliance's activities, conducted the first scientific study that revealed that the most dangerous Internet threats to children and adolescents are: cyberbullying, stalking, grooming, sexual harassment, as well as risks associated with information and marketing pressure, the spread of misinformation and content not intended for underage users. In addition, 10 cyber risks of the future were identified, which are necessary to prevent them from spreading further. They are associated with the growing influence of influencers and opinion leaders, VR and metaverse, artificial intelligence, biometrics, "gray" technologies and online exploitation of children, tightening information warfare, strengthening the digital divide and problems of socialization in real life, where online skills are not needed.

To help children, their parents and teachers learn more about threats on the Internet and how to combat them, the founding companies of the Alliance have developed about 10 educational materials and projects. Among them: "Digital Literacy Course," "Yandex Digital Trust Platform," "MegaFon tested in more than 50 schools in the regions, a book on cyber security " A Beautiful, Dangerous, Cybersecurity World, "" Rostelecom, "which has become part of the fund of regional school and children's libraries, and much more.

Digital literacy is a skill that the user requires regardless of age. But children are most vulnerable in the face of internet risks. To form basic knowledge of Internet threats among young users, the founders of the Alliance held more than 20 online and offline educational events throughout Russia.

In early 2022, Yandex, VK and Kaspersky Lab launched a single database of proactively identified content by companies related to the spread of child pornography and sexualized content involving minors. The existence of the database allows you to reduce the time for identifying and removing illegal or undesirable content against children from the Internet.

{{quote 'The main thing that unites companies in the Alliance is responsibility for future generations. For a year and a half, the Alliance has become a driving force around which everyone who is interested in creating a comfortable and safe digital environment for children - business, educational organizations - is concentrated. There is a constructive dialogue with state, - said Elizaveta Belyakova, Chairman of the Alliance. - In 2023, we will continue to jointly improve technical and non-technical methods of combating digital threats, strengthen educational and educational activities. In particular, our plans include educational tours in several regions of Russia and attracting new partners. We are open to cooperation and dialogue, both internally and countries globally, }}

2021: Alliance Foundation Agreement

The Alliance was founded by 9 Russian companies operating in the field of IT and communications: VimpelCom, Gazprom-Media Holding, Kaspersky Lab, MegaFon, MTS, VK (formerly Mail.ru Group), National Media Group, Rostelecom and Yandex. On September 1, 2021, the companies signed an Agreement on Cooperation and Accession to the Alliance. Members of the Alliance have made voluntary commitments to improve the digital literacy of children, parents and educators, form and promote positive and educational content, develop new approaches to protect children on the Internet, create the necessary information and technology solutions to protect personal data, proactively identify and remove content that can harm the health and development of children. An important area of ​ ​ work of the Alliance is constant dialogue with the state and international organizations to unite efforts to protect children in the digital world.