EDUCATION IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF ONLINE SAFETY

Following concerns that Government’s new Online Safety Bill does not go far enough, award-winning social entrepreneur, Anisa Morridadi – founder and CEO of youth engagement and insight organisation, Beatfreeks highlights why more clarity is vital:

Overall, we welcome the Online Safety Bill but there needs to be more clarity and a rigorous review of what falls under the definition of ‘legal but harmful’ to ensure that we can truly earn the badge of the ‘safest place in the world to be online’.

We recognise that any legislation around online safety will be challenging to implement, which is why educational work with teachers and young people remains a vital part of the online safety solution.

For the past two years, we have successfully delivered the Be Internet Citizens programme to hundreds of teachers who will reach hundreds of thousands of young people across the country. We have provided teachers with the training and support needed to empower their young people to be safe and have positive voices online.

Over this period, largely owing to the effects of the pandemic, we’ve seen changes to the concerns, fears and consumption of online content amongst young people. It’s vital we take note, educate and make changes to ensure our young people are able to exist confidently and safely in the online world in which they regularly inhabit.

Anisa Morridadi, Founder and CEO of Beatfreeks

Beatfreeks has been delivering an online safety programme, Be Internet Citizens, for the past two years, and is currently planning for its third year. It has vast amounts of experience looking at the concerns of young people and their teachers, and how their online experience has changed over the past two years.