UK Council for Child Internet Safety

The goverment today launched the new UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) which isn't hyperlinked because, in true e-government style, it doesn't appear to have any website which I can find.

As one of the central receommendations of the Byron Review, UKCCIS will focus it's energies on centralising the widely dispersed safety campaigns littered across the web and create for the first time a one-stop shop for parents, children and other interested parties to get information on child safety. It will also work with industry to ensure illegal or harmful content is taken down rapidly and develop good practice models for web services used by children.

All of this is positive and that it reports to the PM gives it a prominence which suggests it will not simply be a lightweight talking shop. However, two primary issues concern me.

Firstly, Ed Balls greeted the launch by saying:

"We want to help children and young people to make the most of what all digital and interactive technologies can offer. By putting in place the right support for children, young people and parents we can reduce much of the anxiety that exists around the internet. "

Is it just me or are those two sentences only loosely related? Reducing anxiety about the internet has not been shown to directly lead to children and young people making the most of it. There is no paralell council on maximising the benefits of the internet.

Secondly, the Byron review also recommended a "sustained and rolling research program" and there has been no sign of this emerging and the government's action plan makes only the loosest mention of commissioning future research into small areas at some vague point in the distant future. Anyone who has tried to find information on young people's use of the internet will know this research is desperately needed if good policy is to be made.

It will be interesting to see how the council progresses in its work and whether it will be used by industry to do anything more than certify their own use credentials as child-friendly. Some genuine policy work on maximising opportunities whilst they are minimising risks would be most welcome.