Guidelines For Industry On Child Online Protection

Guidelines
((( (((
for Industry on
Child Online
((( (((
Protection
www.itu.int/cop
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This document may be updated from time to time.
Third-party sources are quoted as appropriate. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is not responsible for the content of external
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Neither ITU nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use that might be made of the information contained in this publication.
Disclaimer
Mention of and references to specific countries, companies, products, initiatives or guidelines do not in any way imply that they are endorsed or
recommended by ITU, the authors, or any other organization that the authors are affiliated with, in preference to others of a similar nature that
are not mentioned.
Requests to reproduce extracts of this publication may be submitted to: jur@itu.int
© International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2009
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
These Guidelines have been prepared by ITU and a team of contributing authors from leading institutions active in the ICT sector. These Guidelines would not
have been possible without the time, enthusiasm and dedication of its contributing authors.
ITU is grateful to all of the following authors, who have contributed their valuable time and insights: (listed in alphabetical order)
• Cristina Bueti and Marco Obiso (ITU)
• John Carr (Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety)
• Natasha Jackson and Jenny Jones (GSMA)
• Nerisha Kajee and Rob.Borthwick (Vodafone)
• Giacomo Mazzone (EBU) based on documents provided by Marc Goodchild & Julian Coles (both from the BBC)
• Michael Moran (Interpol)
• Brian Munyao Longwe (AfrISPA)
• Lorenzo Pupillo and Rocco Mammoliti (Telecom Italia)
The authors wish to thank Kristin Kvigne (Interpol) for her detailed review and comments.
ITU wishes to acknowledge Salma Abbasi from eWWG for her valuable involvement in the Child Online Protection (COP) Initiative.
Additional information and materials relating to these Draft Guidelines can be found at: http://www.itu.int/cop/ and will be updated on a regular basis.
If you have any comments, or if you would like to provide any additional information, please contact Ms. Cristina Bueti at cop@itu.int
Table of Contents
Foreword
Executive Summary 1
Guidelines for Industry 2
Key areas for consideration by the Whole ICT industry
Key areas for consideration by Broadcasters
Key areas for consideration by Internet Service Providers
Key areas for consideration by Mobile Operators
1. Background 6
Collaborating as an Industry
2. Classifying Content and Services 8

Broadcasters
Case Study: British Broadcasting Company (BBC) – United Kingdom 10
Internet Service Providers
Case Study: MySpace’s “Big Six” safety practices for social networking services 17
Case Study: Wireless Content Guidelines Classification Criteria – USA 19
Guidelines for Industry

www.itu.int/cop
3. Content Control Mechanisms 21

Broadcasters
Case Study: Telecom Italia and the Protection of Children, Italy 26
Mobile Operators
Age-Verification mechanisms
Parental Controls
Case Study: NTT DoCoMo Parental Controls – Japan 31
Case Study: ATT MEdia™ Net Parental Controls – USA 31
4.Customer Communications and Education 32

Broadcasters
Case Study – CBBC Media Literacy Skills, UK 33
Case Study – Once Upon a Cyberspace Series, MDA and Okto, Singapore 35
Clarity about nature of content, Terms and Conditions, Acceptable Use Policies Awareness
raising through specific web areas dedicated to the Internet threats and the available tools for
children protection Collaboration, through on-line report forms Information for parents and
teachers Education of children on safer Internet use
Using Terms and Conditions
Mobile Operators
Case Study: Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA)
Code of Conduct relating to Premium SMS – South Africa 45

Case Study: Vodafone “Top Tips” for Parents – UK 45
Case Study: Using Customer Communications to Support Efforts to Combat Spam and
Scam SMS 46
5.Illegal Content 48
Terms and Conditions, User Guidelines
Notice and Take Down (NTD) processes
Case Study: Abuse Desk Service and Notice and Take-Down Approach - Telecom Italia 50
Hotline Organisations
Industry Collaboration
6. Other Issues 52
User Generated Content: The Broadcaster Approach
Case Study: How Broadcasters Can Protect Cchildren Against Inappropriate,
Non-in House Material: the Example of BBC 55
7. Conclusions 56
8. Further Information and Reading 58
Children and young people can benefit greatly from being online, but they also face increasing
dangers in cyberspace.
As a result, a global response is needed from all segments of society in order to address what has
become a global issue.

“ Protecting children online is a
global issue, so a global response
is needed
”
Foreword
I welcome this opportunity to share with you these preliminary
guidelines which have been developed with the invaluable help of
multiple stakeholders.
Child Online Protection – in the era of the massively-available

broadband Internet – is a critical issue that urgently requires a global,
coordinated response. While local and even national initiatives
certainly have their place, the Internet knows no boundaries, and an
international cooperation will be the key to our success in winning
the battles ahead.
Industry players – whether broadcasters, ISPs, or mobile operators –

are key to winning the fight against cybercrime and cyberthreats, and
I am personally grateful for your support.
Dr Hamadoun I. Touré
Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

“The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as being any person under the age of 18. These Guidelines address issues
facing all persons under the age of 18 in all parts of the world. However, a young internet user of seven years of age is very unlikely to
have the same needs or interests as a 12 year old just starting at High School or a 17 year old on the brink of adulthood. At different points
in the Guidelines we have tailored the advice or recommendations to fit these different contexts. Whilst using broad categories can act as a
useful guide it should never be forgotten that, in the end, each child is different. Each child’s specific needs should be given individual con-
sideration. Moreover there are many different local legal and cultural factors which could have an important bearing on how these Guide-
lines might be used or interpreted in any given country or region.
There is now a substantial body of international law and international instruments which underpin and in many cases mandate action to
protect children both generally, and also specifically in relation to the internet. Those laws and instruments form the basis of these Guide-
lines. They are comprehensively summarized in the Rio de Janeiro Declaration and Call for Action to Prevent and Stop Sexual Exploitation
of Children and Adolescents adopted at the 3rd World Congress against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, in Novem-
ber, 2008.”
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Executive Summary
These Guidelines have been happening around the Internet as lead to the building of a more
prepared in the context of the the digital revolution continues to inclusive information society, but
Child Online Protection (COP)1 pick up speed. also enable Member States to
Initiative in order to establish meet their obligations towards
the foundations for a safe and Convergence is now an protecting and realizing the rights
secure cyberworld not only for established reality in many of children as stated in the United
today’s children but also for future countries, and there is no doubt Nations Convention on the
generations. that it is bringing with it a host Rights of the Child, adopted by
of new challenges. Cooperation UN General Assembly resolution
The information presented and partnership are the keys to 44/25 of 20 November 1989 and
in these Guidelines has been progress. No one sector of the the WSIS Outcomes Document.
developed by ITU and a team industry has a monopoly on
of contributing authors from knowledge or wisdom. We can all
leading institutions active in the learn from each other. 1
www.itu.int/cop
ICT sector, namely, the GSMA,
Interpol, Afrispa, the EBU, ITU, together with the other
Telecom Italia, the Children’s authors of this report, is
Charities’ Coalition on Internet calling upon all stakeholders
Safety and Vodafone. to promote the adoption of
policies and standards that will
The range of partners brought protect children in cyberspace
together to collaborate in the and promote their safe access to
production of this document online resources.
is itself a testament to the
rapid changes which have been It is hoped that this will not only

2 www.itu.int/cop

This section provides guidelines for industry on child online protection. In order to formulate a national strategy
focusing on online child safety, industry leaders should consider the following strategies in the areas mentioned
below:
Key areas for consideration

ICT Industry There is an urgent need for a common action that goes beyond individual ICT
as a Whole organizations. These include:
1. Developing interoperable standards and related recommendations to protect children
online. The aim would be to develop a widely shared approach which could be
promoted across the whole industry.
2. Evaluate what options and possibilities exist for real global coordinated and consistent
action to protect children online. Attention should be given to the elaboration of those
capabilities (e.g. watch and warning and incident management) that would facilitate the
gathering of threats and information sharing among different players.
3. Identify the commonalities that span the different sectors (broadcasters, Internet,
mobile) with the purpose of developing Codes of Conduct, or code of practices to
help ITU Member States collaborate more effectively with the private sector/industry.
4. Establish cooperative arrangements between government and the private sector/
industry for sharing information and developing specific capabilities aimed at
mitigating the risks and extending the potential of ICT usage by children.

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Broadcasters 5. Developing common rules regarding complaints systems. The aim would be to avoid a
situation where external complaints functions are added to broadcasters’ own internal
systems and potentially create more confusion with users or risk overloading police and
other agencies with a large number of queries which their services are not designed or
equipped to handle.
6. Developing common standards and recommendations. The aim would be to develop a
widely shared approach to protecting children online. This would be promoted across
the whole industry.
7. Establish a pan-industry project to produce more robust procedures for obtaining
parental consent for their children accessing age sensitive content at least on regional
basis.
Internet The following recommendations provide guidance to the Internet Industry & Internet
Service Service Providers (ISPs) to support a safer environment for young users. Each of the
Providers areas for consideration below should be included as part of a larger focus on user
(ISPs) protection by responsible online providers.
8. The strategic objectives for the Internet Industry for child Internet safety should be to
reduce the availability of and restrict access to harmful or illegal content and conduct.
ISPs should also equip children and their parents with information and easy to use tools
to help manage their use of the Internet in ways which minimize the potential dangers.
9. On Internet sites and on Web 2.0 services, language and terminology should be
accessible, clear and relevant for all users, including children, young people, parents and
caregivers, especially in relation to the site’s Terms and Conditions, privacy policy, safety
information and reporting mechanisms.
10. Reporting concerns, abuse and illegal behaviour: It is very important for Service
providers to have in place robust procedures for handling complaints. In particular,
complaints about harassment and inappropriate content should be assessed speedily,
and, if appropriate, the offending content should be removed promptly. To the extent
possible, service providers should consider having mechanisms, such as links to report
abuse or flag profiles that may be inappropriate or that place the child or young person at
risk, in place, and should be able to escalate any report to law enforcement if necessary.

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11. Service providers should consider making the ability to report a default presence on all web pages and
services offered by the ISPs by means of a “report abuse button” to the extent possible. A common,
recognisable button could be developed which will be always in the same location on every screen.
The reporting mechanism could be enhanced by offering technical solutions to the reporting user
such as the ability to attach screen shots, connection statistics, running process lists etc, as well as by
informing the user what information they need to include with any report to make it effective.
12. Service providers should consider emphasising, in accessible and easily understood language, ‘what
behaviour is and is not acceptable on the service’, particularly for young users and for their parents
and caregivers. It is suggested that this information should be provided in addition to its inclusion in
the Terms and Conditions.
13. Service providers should continue to evaluate the effectiveness of technologies that identify and
verify the age of customers. The goal should be to implement a suitable solution appropriate to
their individual service (this will be particularly important where the service in question is subject to
legal restrictions based on age), to the extent that the solution is legally and technically feasible, and
most importantly creates a safer, more secure Internet services. Such solutions might variously seek
to prevent under age access and exposure to age-inappropriate content or services, or work to keep
services provided exclusively for children adult-free. .
14. Service providers should consider proactively communicating with local or national law enforcement
agencies to report illegal child abuse at soon as the provider is aware of it. They should have
additional internal procedures in place within their organisation to ensure that they comply with their
responsibilities under local and / or international laws with regard to illegal content. They should also
consider actively assessing commercial content hosted on their own servers (either branded content
or content from contracted third party content providers) on a regular basis to the extent possible
in order to ensure that illegal or potentially harmful content is not accessible through their network.
Tools such as hash scanning and image recognition softwares are available to assist with this. .

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Keys areas for consideration
Mobile The following is a “checklist” of suggested areas for mobile operators to consider when reviewing their
Operators approach to child protection, both in terms of providing a safe and appropriate mobile environment
for their younger users and in terms of combating the potential misuse of their services for the
hosting or distribution of illegal child sexual abuse content:
15. If offering content and services that are not age-appropriate for all users, ensure that content is
classified in line with national expectations, is consistent with existing standards in equivalent media,
and is offered together with age-verification, where possible
16. If possible, work with other operators in your market to agree and promote a set of industry-wide
commitments on offering age-sensitive content appropriately.
17. Provide tools which enable access to content to be controlled by the user or a parent/ caregiver.
Again, these should be consistent with national expectations and standards in equivalent media.
18. Clearly signpost the nature of content and services offered, so that users are empowered to make
informed decisions about their content consumption and any commitment (e.g. minimum subscription
period) that they may be undertaking
19 Support parents in understanding the full range of mobile content services that their children may be
using so that they can guide their children towards appropriate mobile usage
20. Educate customers on how to manage concerns relating to mobile usage generally – including areas
such as Spam, theft, and inappropriate contact e.g. bullying – and ensure that you offer customers a
means of raising any concerns
21. Use your customer Terms and Conditions to explicitly state your company’s position on the misuse of
its services to store or share child sexual abuse content, and its commitment to support investigations
by law enforcement of any abuse consistent with national legislation; have Notice and Take Down
(NTD) - or equivalent - processes in place; support national hotlines or equivalent, where they exist..

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Background
Today’s digital world has Moreover, as the number of
transformed individual lifestyles channels for service delivery
the world over. The computing diversifies, the sector’s traditional
industry has long been all-digital, and less traditional businesses face
the telecommunications industry a number of new dilemmas.
is almost fully digital and the
broadcasting sector is well on the
way to becoming digital. Always-
Collaborating as an
on Internet access has become the Industry
norm, with people spending more In the converging media world
and more time consuming digital of today traditional distinctions
media than any other medium. between different parts of
the telecommunications and
Daily lives from China to Italy
mobile phone industries,
are brimming with SMS, e-mail,
chats, online dating, multiplayer between Internet companies and
gaming, virtual worlds and digital broadcasters, are fast breaking
multimedia. down or becoming irrelevant.
Convergence is drawing these
Although these technologies hitherto disparate digital streams
mean added convenience and into a single current that is
enjoyment for many, regulators reaching out to billions of people
and users alike are often one step in all parts of the world.
behind the fast-paced innovations Against this background the
in this field. ITU, in collaboration with

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GSMA, Telecom Italia, European repository because of the hosting,

Broadcasting Union, Interpol, caching and storage services
Children’s Charities’ Coalition which they provide. The same
on Internet Safety, Vodafone is true for the mobile phone
and Afrispa, has prepared these networks, many of whom now
Guidelines for Industry on Child extend their functionality well
Online Protection. Its aim is to beyond the original business
provide a common framework of connecting voice and data
for all parts of the industry to exchanges. Broadcasters similarly
work towards the shared goal of have become major players in the
making the Internet as safe as Internet space, providing many
possible for children and young of the online services which
people, for example, by producing previously were only associated
codes of conduct or authoritative with ISPs or online hosting
sources of advice and guidance. companies. However, because of
their enormous brand presence,
Internet Service Providers in typically established for many
particular have long accepted that years prior to the arrival of the Each of the sectors working industry as a whole is delighted
they have a distinct responsibility Internet as a mass consumer together in this collaborative to be able to advance the wider
with regards to child online product, broadcasters’ sites project brings its own history promotion of a safer Internet
protection. This is largely due frequently attract enormous and its own particular areas of for everyone, but above all for
to the fact that ISPs act as both followings. expertise. By working together children and young people.
a conduit, providing access to in this way, by pooling that
and from the Internet, and a knowledge and experience, the

2.
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Classifying Content
and Services
The notion that not all content With more traditional content
and services are suitable for (e.g. video clips) it is often
a universal audience is well- possible to apply an age-rating
understood in the “offline” by benchmarking standards
world – for example, films and against existing frameworks
games have age-ratings, and TV from equivalent national – or
programmes with content of potentially regional, depending
a violent or sexual nature are upon the degree to which
subject to time-based restrictions. social sensitivities are shared -
media, such as games or films.
Where online content is exactly However, the growing range
the same as the “offline” version of exciting interactive services
(e.g. a game or film which differs including message boards,
solely in terms of the access chat rooms, social networking
channel), it is possible to re-use and user generated content
existing ratings or classifications. services, whilst being harder
However, where content is new to “classify” in the traditional
or modified, online content and sense, can also pose potential
service providers have to find risks to younger users relating
methods of communicating not just to the consumption
the nature of that content and of age-inappropriate content,
the target age-range to their but also inappropriate conduct
customers. (e.g. bullying) and contact (e.g.
grooming).

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All of these issues are dealt concerns about age-sensitive concern (such as strong language
within the sub-sections below. content through time-based or violence) rather than being
The Broadcasters sub-section scheduling – for instance, by presented with simple age ratings.
deals with the issue of making broadcasting content that is only
traditional content available suitable for older teenagers or Because of this, some
through a new medium, the adults later in the evening or at broadcasters have developed a
Internet Providers sub-section night (after the “watershed”), labelling system e.g. the BBC
looks at the content, contact when younger children will be developed the ‘G’ for Guidance
and conduct issues relating asleep. labelling system where a ‘G’ is
to managing non-traditional displayed when a piece of content
online services, and the Mobile However, as broadcasters contains challenging material
Operators sub-section provides increasingly make their content and the nature of the content
an overview of how operators available online on a non-linear is spelt out in text alongside
across the globe are approaching “on demand” basis, where direct the programme synopsis. The
the issue of classifying and parental supervision cannot presence of the ‘G’ is used to
managing mobile content and be relied upon and time-based trigger parental PIN control
services. scheduling no longer applies, systems, if enabled.
broadcasters have been exploring
ways to make their content
Broadcasters available in an age-appropriate
Television broadcasters have fashion. Note: unless otherwise stated, the term ‘broadcasters’ in this document refers
traditionally been able to use specifically to providers of traditional broadcast-type content, in the sense that the
‘broadcaster’ has creative and editorial control over the content made available, whether
the linear ‘broadcast’ nature of Research indicates that in general
‘on air’ or, as is the focus of this document, online. The term is not intended to include
television viewing to manage parents want to know about the providers of services which enable the publishing of content created by others – such
types of content that may cause organisations fall within the Internet Service Providers category.

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Case Study: British Broadcasting Company (BBC) –

United Kingdom
Through its iPlayer programme is not suitable for a can be viewed. A PIN protection educational services offered by
proposition, which provides universal audience (i.e. all ages), system will be available from BBC Learning.
online access to BBC it carries a Guidance warning – launch and the BBC is currently
programming on a non-linear in this case, a ‘G’ sign and text looking into ways to strengthen 1. The CBeebies (www.bbc.
(or “on demand”) basis and label explaining the nature of the this even further as streaming and co.uk/cbeebies) and CBBC
also currently contributes 9% content are displayed at the point downloading are integrated into (www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc) websites
of total Internet traffic in the user decides to download the one system. enable children and their
the UK, the BBC has build content. At the point of viewing, parents or carers to interact
up significant experience in the text label is also displayed and The BBC’s ‘G’ for Guidance with us and each other in a
managing the responsible the user has to enter their PIN system has also been adopted by safe, trusted and accessible
delivery of age-sensitive number, if enabled, before they other terrestrial broadcasters in environment. The sites provide
content. can view the content. Anyone the UK including ITV, Channel high quality, engaging and
using the iPlayer without the Four and FIVE for their online relevant interactive content and
On the current BBC iPlayer, correct PIN code receives an On Demand offerings. experiences for children, as
installation is restricted to explanatory message stating that well as acting as a springboard
those aged 16 and over – they do not have permission The BBC has a very clear strategy to the best appropriate external
Users are also informed about access to the ‘G’ rated content. of supporting children from websites for the under-12s.
PIN protection during the birth through to early adulthood,
registration process and have to The BBC will shortly introduce with three sites that reflect the 2. The focus is on empowering
make a decision about whether streamed content to the varying age-appropriate levels children and giving them the
to enable it there and then. If iPlayer and, where appropriate, of protection, computer literacy, opportunity to gain a deeper
they choose not to, they are told programmes will also display the independence and maturity as relationship with the BBC, the
how they can enable it later. If a ‘G’ and text label before content they grow up, as well as specific brands and characters,

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increasing the value they 3. BBC Switch provides an Blast – creative development Content Information Group.
receive, the ownership online space for all teenagers, for teenagers, currently focused The BBC is also an associate
they feel, and the impact with content aimed at engaging on creative arts, including member of the Association
they have on CBeebies young people, addressing their partnership with youth arts for Television on Demand
and CBBC. To achieve interests, and encouraging organisations (www.bbc.co.uk/ (ATVOD), the self-regulatory
this, the sites offer a range interaction. The site contains blast) body for On Demand services.
of innovative interactive both supporting TV and radio
tools and creative programmes and free-standing Some services are designed for
opportunities aimed at all content. (www.bbc.co.uk/switch) use in the classroom; others are
British children, of every increasingly used directly by
ability and background, 4. BBC Learning provides learners at home or at school,
giving them the space to output for school-aged children without the need for tutor
publish their own content, across a broad range of subjects mediation.
thoughts and opinions. We and skills. The following are
also provide a dedicated linked to curriculum or specific The BBC works closely with
24/7 news service for skills. Ofcom (the UK’s media and
children online as part of telecommunications regulator)
Newsround and through Bitesize – revision and recap and a number of broadcasters
the PressPack section we service for all major subjects for and platform providers to
can actively engage children children aged 5-16 (www.bbc. promote best practice on
in the topical issues that co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize) labeling; the BBC has also been
matter to them. an active participant in the BSG

13
Internet Service information such as where in complex and extensive one-to-many and many-to-many
they live, interests and tastes ‘game worlds’ and where they bases. This clearly increases
Providers (for example in music, films can interact and talk to each concerns about unwanted
Generally Internet content or books) as well as photos or other during play. contact and, in some cases, illegal
and Web 2.0 services are terms videos, music tracks and links conduct. Making the distinction
to friends’ profiles. They may Frequently, these categories
referring to the increasing use between contact and conduct
also include facilities for chat, overlap and these networking sites
of the Internet by individuals is useful in order to understand
file sharing, blogging and are increasingly being seen as part
to create and distribute their of youth culture, as reported in differences, overlapping and
own content, in audio-visual as discussion groups. possible countermeasures. The
the complete and independent
well as in written form. Specific l Online communities UK review looking at the risks to key distinction is that: ‘contact’
examples of Web 2.0 services and social worlds where children on the Internet and in refers to a situation in which
include: participants select, customise video games. the child is the receiver of the
or create characters, called communication/message (the
l User generated content It can be useful to make
‘avatars’. Their avatars ‘victim’); whereas ‘conduct’ refers
sites such as wikis, blogs and distinctions between potential
can build houses, furnish to a situation where the child is
image-sharing sites, which risks based on “content”,
environments, interact with the instigator of the inappropriate
are designed specifically for “contact” and “conduct”,
others and even exchange behaviour (the ‘perpetrator’)3.
users to upload, share or view according to a structure put
content. virtual money while Other commentators have added
purchasing and selling items forward by EU Kids Online a further two categories which
l Social networking sites in a multi-player virtual world. project2. With Web 2.0 and it is worth bearing in mind:
where users display their with the relevant increasing “commerce” – which refers to
personal ‘profile’, including l Online gaming where interactivity, communication is the possibility of children and
players play with other, often now possible on one-to-one,
young people being exploited by
2
www.eukidsonline.net/
Note: Sections on Internet Service Providers discuss approaches available to the Internet industry as a whole. This includes Internet access providers, as well as electronic service
providers / providers of content and services – these are referred to collectively in this document as Internet Service Providers (ISPs). As such, it should be noted, that not all
recommendations will be applicable to all ISPs.
Safer Children in a Digital World: the report of the Byron Review, ( http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/ ).
3

14 www.itu.int/cop
unscrupulous companies that l Reduce Availability: reduce An important consequence software, safe search, and age
take advantage of young people’s the availability of harmful and of the nature of the Internet verification on websites).
inexperience or it refers to inappropriate content, contact is that there is no obvious
problems such as phishing where, and conduct (industry); single point at which editorial An example of the role of
again, younger people might be control can be exercised, Internet Industry working in
l Restrict Access: equip co-operation with families is the
more vulnerable; finally there can unlike broadcast media where
children and their parents following:
be issues of “addiction”, which the channel exercises editorial
with effective tools to manage
refers to the way in which some control. Editorial controls 1. User generated content
access to inappropriate content
children and young people can exist (e.g. moderators of user websites take down harmful
(industry and family);
become obsessively engaged with generated content sites) but and inappropriate material
technology in such a way as to l Increase Resilience: build they are widely dispersed across uploaded to their sites.
present an obstacle or a barrier children’s resilience to the the ‘Internet value chain’. This
to them developing normal material to which they may value chain contain content 2. Children and parents report
relationships with other people be exposed; equip children to producer, content aggregator, harmful and inappropriate
or taking part in healthy physical deal with exposure to harmful Internet Service Providers material to host websites
activities. and inappropriate content and (ISPs) and Web host, search, when they find it.
contact, and equip parents directory and web providers,
From the Internet Industry to help their children deal consumer device, etc. 3. ISPs block access to illegal
point of view, there are three with these things and parent material such as child abuse
key strategic objectives for child effectively around incidences At each point of the value chain, images.
Internet safety, which require of harmful and inappropriate there are a range of technical
industry and parents/caregivers tools that can help parents 4. Parents install software
conduct by their children to filter out harmful and
to take joint responsibility for (parents). manage their children’s access to
increasing children’s safety the Internet (e.g. parental control inappropriate content.
online:

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5. Websites provide clear and l Base the moderation process understandable and age- Restricting access:
easily visible advice about upon reports from the user appropriate. Reports should
The objective of restricting
how to stay safe. community - responding be acknowledged and acted
access to in appropriate
effectively to reports from upon expeditiously. Users
6. Parents talk with their content can be dealt with in the
more than one user, and from should be provided with
children and children talk following ways:
long-standing users (based on the information they need
with their friends and siblings their level of activity or rating to make an effective report l Parental control software,
about e-safety. or reputation they have been and, where appropriate, an which enable parents to
given by other users), can help indication of how reports are manage their children’s access
Reducing availability: create an active community typically handled. to Internet resources.
which “self-polices” and seeks
The objective of reducing Link reports of abuse to l Safer Internet tools, including
to keep themselves and others l
availability of harmful and “Notice and Take Down” parental controls, ideally would
safe online.
inappropriate content, contact processes – with a public allow the following types of
and conduct can be met by l Provide a mechanism for service level agreement on the categories: White Lists, Content
service providers undertaking reporting inappropriate response or take down times. filters, Usage monitoring,
the following: content, contact or behaviour Contact management, Time/
as outlined in their Terms l Avoid harmful or program limits.
Adopt an effective of Service, Acceptable inappropriate advertising
l
Deliver new computers or
content online.
l
moderation process of Use Policy and / or User Internet services access with
user generated content – for Guidelines - mechanisms parental control software
example, MySpace conducts a should be easily accessible enabled by “default”, linked
post-upload review of every to users at all times and the to prominent safety messages
image and video posted on its procedure should be easily which explain what the
site default settings do.

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l Adopt “safe search”: most l Network level blocking, resilience (e.g. by providing of Practices; these Codes would
search engines offer a safe where, on a national-based safety advice), parents and others be more transparent than good
search option, which does criteria, some material on the working with children are likely practice guidelines, provided
not return results containing Internet, such as child abuse to have the most impact here and that the body that oversees/
images or keywords which images, is clearly illegal. so have the greater responsibility. coordinates them is effective in
would be considered monitoring them and publishing
inappropriate for children. These overlapping, but differing, the results. Mechanisms could
Increasing Resilience:
roles for industry and families also be developed within these
l Adopt appropriate age across the three objectives are
Increasing the resilience of frameworks to give parents and
verification methods to prevent very important and suggest a
children in managing risks children a voice.
children accessing age-sensitive need for a national-base and
is an important objective
content, sites or interactive shared strategy to keep children
and is interdependent and
services, such as chat rooms,
complementary with the other safe online, that is capable of Mobile Operators
etc. where risks of inappropriate influencing and empowering
two objectives of reducing
contact and conduct exist. both industry and families. As growing numbers of mobile
availability and restricting access.
l Content labelling: Providers operators offer their customers
of professionally produced Although parents and children By looking at the strengths access to a rich and compelling
content (i.e. games, broadcast- have a role in reducing the and weaknesses of existing range of content services,
style editorially controlled availability of harmful and arrangements to improve child including games, music, video
content) should provide a inappropriate material (e.g. by Internet safety, and looking and TV programming, they
clear external label describing reporting abuse to host sites), to the different country-based are faced with the challenge of
the content on their sites this is mainly a task for industry. existing laws, the Internet how to manage customer access
to indicate its suitability for And although industry does Industry can usefully develop to commercial content which
children. have a role in building children’s self-regulatory national Code would have been subject to age-
17
Case Study: MySpace’s “Big Six” safety
practices for social networking services
• Image and Video • Meaningful Efforts to • Cooperation with Law

Review: Sites should Enforce Minimum Age Enforcement: All
find ways to review hosted Requirements: Sites sites should have law
images and videos, deleting should enforce their enforcement hotlines
inappropriate ones when minimum age requirements available at all times to
found. and take steps to identify assist law enforcement
and remove underage users during emergencies and on
• Discussion Groups who have misrepresented routine inquiries.
Review: Social networking their age to gain access.
sites should review
discussion groups to find • Protection for Younger
harmful subject matter, hate Users From Uninvited
speech, and illegal behavior, Communication: Social
deleting that content when networking sites should
it is found. implement default privacy
settings that prevent adults
• Removing Registered from contacting teens
Sex Offenders: Social under 16 who they do not
networking sites should ban already know in the physical
registered sex offenders world.
from setting up accounts on
their sites using technology
that already exists today.
18 www.itu.int/cop
restrictions if accessed through classification systems. The However, given the practical music and games into either the
different channels. classification systems are typically challenges involved in mobile ‘Cellular Accessible’ (general) or
designed to manage commercial operators establishing the age ‘Cellular Restricted’ (18-rated)
The increasing range of new mobile content – i.e. content of the end user, a number of categories, the results of which
community and interactive which mobile operators produce markets (for example, Australia, are summarised by the CTIA as
services available to users also themselves or where they have Denmark, New Zealand) have follows:
come with concerns about users’ a commercial involvement with currently committed to operating
age. For example, many major third parties – and are based on a simple two-tier classification This binary approach allows
Social Networking Sites have accepted national standards and system: content which is suitable the sale of a full range of
minimum age-requirements consistent with approaches taken for adults only, and other / legal commercial content by
stated in their Terms of Service, in equivalent media (e.g. games, general content. mobile operators and third
as there are concerns that film). parties whilst meeting national
younger users face risks – such For example, the Australian acceptability tests; it ensures
as identity theft or inappropriate Indeed, where possible content code has simply mapped across that the area of greatest risk is
contact – relating to posting classifications from other criteria and ratings from the managed, and also reflects that
too much information about industries should be re-used. An existing Classification Board to the age of majority is the point
themselves, and so on. example might be of a film the ‘restricted’ (adult 18-rated) at which it is most practical to
or film trailer or a PC game and ‘unrestricted’ (general) age-verify (for example, through
In order to provide a shared and (assuming that the images are categories used in the mobile presence on the electoral role or
transparent approach, mobile repeated in the re-purposed arena, while operators in the credit card ownership).
operators and content providers for mobile version) so that USA - under the auspices of
in a number of countries are customers’ experiences of the their trade association, CTIA - Some markets, however,
responding to this challenge same content are consistent have created a grid which maps are moving towards a more
by working together to agree across national media. existing standards from TV, film, granular approach. Germany has

19
Case Study: Wireless Content
Guidelines Classification Criteria USA
adopted a three-tier system for
classifying commercial content Mobile content will be classified • Hate speech
which is broadly based on the as Restricted Carrier Content
• Graphic depiction of illegal
German ‘FSK’ film classification or Generally Accessible Carrier
drug use
system: Content based on existing
criteria used to rate movies, • Any activities that are
l General content / services: television shows, music and restricted by law to those 18
available to all by default games. years of age and older, such
l 16-rated content / services: as gambling and lotteries
available to all by default, Content is generally considered
“Restricted” if it contains any Any content that has not been
parents can choose to apply a
of the following restricted classified as “Restricted Carrier
block
content identifiers: Content” will be considered
l 18-rated content / services: “Generally Accessible Carrier
blocked by default to all users, Restricted Carrier Content: Content” and will be available
adults must be age-verified to all consumers.
• Intense Profanity
In France, a recommended • Intense violence Further details of the Wireless
four-tier classification system Content Guidelines can be
• Graphic depiction of sexual
(‘all users’, 12-rated, 16-rated, found on the CTIA website:
activity or sexual behaviors >
18-rated), created in consultation http://www.ctia.org/advocacy/
Nudity
with a broad spectrum of index.cfm/AID/10394
stakeholders under the auspices
of Le Forum des droits sur
l’Internet, was announced in

20 www.itu.int/cop
October 2006. The four different l Contrôle parental renforcé: was launched by the industry- partners and therefore reduce
levels will facilitate the handling blocks access to 12-rated funded Independent Mobile costs and increase efficiencies
of challenges relating to managing and 16-rated content, all Classification Body (IMCB: for the industry as a whole.
access to interactive services and user-generated / interactive http://www.imcb.org.uk/) in They also make the classification
user generated content – much of services, the Internet. 2005. In addition to formulating system more transparent for
which is suitable for older teens the classification criteria, the customers, particularly for
Content classification systems
but is neither ‘adult rated’ nor is it IMCB can provide advice or act third party services promoted
are either defined by the
appropriate for younger teens and as an arbiter in (the extremely independent of the operator
operator community itself or
children. rare) disputes over classification portal (for example, in
outsourced to a third party
of individual items of content. magazines), and allow for the
To access 18-rated content, organisation with relevant
consistent introduction of tools
users will have to age-verify; expertise. Many countries It should be noted that not all such as pre-determined adult
the 12-rated and 16-rated tiers (including Denmark, Malaysia, content classification systems short codes for premium SMS
will correspond to two levels of Singapore, and New Zealand, relate to age-sensitivities: services, which can facilitate the
parental controls as follows: for example) have simply Malaysia and Singapore use a implementation of age controls.
defined the classification binary content classification
l Contrôle parental de premier boundaries within or as an system based on existing
niveau: blocks access to appendix to their national Code national standards, however this
16-rated commercial content, of Practice itself. is based on ‘acceptable’ versus
user-generated / interactive ‘unacceptable’ content, and there
services that facilitate Others, including France
is no distinction based on age.
meetings (e.g. dating sites), above, have had classification
the Internet. criteria defined through a third Shared content classification
party organisation. The UK’s systems simplify self-
two-tier classification system classification for content

21
3.
Content Control
Mechanisms
Providers of online content and minimum age. To ensure that
services are developing a range of younger users are only consuming
approaches for enabling the age- age-appropriate content and
appropriate control of content in services, broadcasters use a range
the online world. These include of techniques such as:
mechanisms to restrict access to
content until the user has proven l Single Sign On processes –
his or her age (“age-verification”) For example, at BBC online
as well as controls made available services, when children sign
to parents to enable them to up to the message boards, they
place restrictions on their child’s are asked to provide their date
consumption of online content of birth. This is then used to
and services. determine whether they are old
enough to access the service –
and they are not able to change
Broadcasters the original date of birth at a
later date if they discover that
Broadcasters offer a range of certain content is unavailable to
content and services online, them because of their age.
including some which is only
suitable for users above a certain
Note 1: mechanisms to combat the presence of illegal online content, in particular

child sexual abuse content, are discussed separately in the next section.
Note 2: more detailed information regarding broadcasters and user generated content
can be found in section 6.

23
Parental Consent via email

l
- For example, the BBC is

regulation4, have adopted a Internet Service if the law does not require it,
more drastic approach on there may be well-established
presently engaged in a range the web, than on their air-
Providers expectations that children and
of trials to review the use of waves. RAI Italy, for instance, young people should not be able
It is important for Internet
parental consent by email, has a restrictive policy and to access adult content. In that
Service Providers to offer
and a registration system doesn’t publish on its web connection ISPs and others may
controls which prevent access
that would allow parents to sites any content that has not wish to consider developing or
to certain types of content and
decide what activities their received the “clearance for using age-verification systems
service.
children could engage in on all the family” classification, as a means of ensuring legal
PSB websites and what level (distinguishable by a white In many countries the national compliance.
of reporting they would butterfly). All content with a law will specify that certain
receive. The BBC is also yellow butterfly (to be seen types of content, or services Internet Service Providers
reviewing what rules should with an adult) or a red one should not be made available should keep in mind that simple
apply for teenagers up to 16, (restricted only to adults) are to children (ie. those users click-through age-confirmations,
and whether they should have not currently available on the who are below the legal age of which require the user to state
access to greater levels of Internet. majority / adulthood). Where they are over 18, are not reliable
interaction before they need such content services are because they rely solely on the
to ask for parental consent”. being offered on commercial user’s integrity.
Many public service terms by ISPs, a method for
l However, it is also important
broadcasters, at the moment, verifying adult status should
to be aware that even solutions
whilst waiting for better be implemented. Alternatively
which seek to confirm the age
4
It is worthwhile to note that the BBC has expressed some caution about how to allow users to activate a “red button” if they come across material that is harmful, explicit or
worrying to them. The main concern is that in by having too many options, this may drive users to other less reputable, unregulated sites. It is essential that broadcasters maintain
their reputation as a safe environment and so ensure that critical safety alerts are not off-putting.

“ The industry is demonstrating
commitment to developing a responsible
approach to children’s use of online
ICT and communications
”
25
of the user – for example, by upon for age-verification as a user under the age of 13 lies
requiring credit card or ID these details are often known by about his or her age, employs a
details – cannot be entirely others (e.g. family members). search algorithm, using terms
guaranteed: an underlying commonly used by underage
concern for all age verification Such approaches could also users, to find and delete
methods is that identity potentially infringe on the underage profiles. MySpace’s
verification on the Internet is user’s right to privacy – for site is scanned for such terms
difficult because it is virtually example, ID cards disclose and the database of search
impossible to know whether personal details (e.g. date of terms is updated to reflect
the individual user supplying birth) beyond those which are changes in user behaviour and
the information is indeed the strictly necessary to confirm terminology.
individual whose information is that the user is above the age of
being supplied. Although a user majority. Many major Internet Access
may provide certain information Providers now offer parental
ISPs are becoming increasingly control solutions which help
when registering with a
creative about managing parents to manage which sites,
website, there is no efficient or
challenges relating to age- content and services their child
effective way to ensure that this
sensitive content. For example, can access.
information has been entered
MySpace requires in its Terms
truthfully. For example, the use
and Conditions of service that
of government-issued national
all users are 13 years or older
ID cards with associated PINs
and, to combat a situation where
cannot necessarily be relied

26 www.itu.int/cop
Case Study: Telecom Italia and the

protection of children – Italy
In addition, Telecom Italia, in
To allow children and detailed control of the parents. learning and use a lot of order to comply with the very
adolescents to surf the web The targets for this service are instructive materials; restrictive national Italian Law7
safely, Telecom Italia has children of 10 years and under. • Global Parental Control about child protection, and to
taken steps to inhibit content
Interface, that allow to the ensure a global response for the
that offends their psycho- The principal characteristics of the parent to control and to security and safety of citizens
physical integrity, described product are: define the children’s “walled who use its commercial services,
on the Group’s portal5, and • PC protection from improper garden”. has launched a programme of
has provided its customers use by the children (avoiding close collaboration with the
with protective services and damage of files, configurations, The safe environment can be Italian police forces and with the
instruments, capable of installed software of the parent, used by the children in a very specialized National Center for
fostering safe surfing6. etc.); easy way, with different desktop combating Child Pornography
themes, a personalized Internet Online (CNCPO)8, by making
The most important tool for • Safe Internet surfing, based on
browser (“My first Browser”) highly specialized technological
children is the software Alice’s a white list of preferred websites
where the child can only visit infrastructure available and
Magic Desktop which is a provided by the parent;
the “preferred” web sites implementing a filter system to
simplified operating system, • Email client, specific for approved by the parent; a Magic
running on normal PCs. Alice children, with a dedicated block sites communicated by
email program with which CNCPO.
Magic Desktop allows children Graphical User Interface and a email coming from not allowed
to use PCs and the permitted pre-defined address book by the email addresses are posted to a
Internet functionalities in a parent; “quarantine” folder for parent’s
secure, amusing and educational • Web games and tools for verification prior to being
way, under the granular and children, dedicated to playing, passed to the child.
5
www.telecomitalia.com, Sustainability->Hot Topics-> Protection of Children and Abuse Source: Telecom Italia
6
Alice Total Security and Alice Magic Desktop, http://adsl.alice.it/servizi/index.html

27
Moreover, in order to combat Although parental controls Age-verification mechanisms However, a number of
and prevent the diffusion of solutions are improving all the operators across the globe
child sexual abuse content time, they cannot be expected The “age-check” tools available are addressing this challenge
(child pornography) and protect to provide complete safety – to more traditional retailers through the development of
children, Telecom Italia has however, in conjunction with and broadcasters of media age-verification systems. To
made a helpline/reporting teaching children responsible and content are not readily date, these typically focus on
mechanism available on the Internet practices (see Customer transferable to the mobile age-verifying adults who wish
web for reporting illicit content Communications and Education, content environment. For to have full access to all content
encountered by users while below), parental controls can example, with mobile content and services. It should be
navigating the Internet. These help provide younger users with there is no opportunity to do noted that where operators are
reports, which can be made a safer online experience. a visual check at the “point offering commercial content
anonymously and by filling out a of sale”, such as can be used and services that are subject to
web standard form, are analysed in cinemas and shops; nor, legal age-restrictions this is of
and promptly forwarded to the Mobile Operators given the personal nature of particular importance.
Postal Police (CNCPO), which the mobile device, can mobile
will investigate the alleged Mechanisms for controlling operators rely on parental
crimes since this type of activity access to age-sensitive content supervision in the same way
is entrusted exclusively to police fall broadly into two categories: that TV broadcasters have
force. l Age-verification mechanisms traditionally been able to do.
l Parental controls
7
Italian law 38/2006, to combat the sexual exploitation of children and pedopornography, including over the Internet; Italian Legislative Decree 70/2003, which regulates
e-commerce and ask Telco Operators such as Telecom Italia to provides reporting to the competent authorities of cybercrimes involving the network infrastructure and child’s
sexual abuse notices; EU Convention on Cybercrime, signed at the Council of Europe on 23 November 2001, ratified in Italy with Law 48/2008
8
http://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/10232-Centro_nazionale_per_il_contrasto_alla_pedopornografia_sulla_rete

29
Different operators are taking Due to the difficulties of Many operators, from a range Most parental controls systems
different approaches to age- verifying age prior to adulthood of countries, have already currently focus purely on
verification, based on leveraging in the virtual / ‘online’ introduced parental controls commercial content, reflecting
existing options such as: environment, operators enable systems – some propositions the area where the operator has
parents to control younger focus purely on blocking access the greatest degree of control
l National ID schemes users’ access to content and to age-inappropriate commercial and, therefore, responsibility.
l Credit cards services through the application content, others are combined Operators in Japan use a black /
l Tax / fiscal codes of parental controls rather than with additional features such as white list approach to websites
l Electoral rolls
attempt to verify the age of time or spend controls. when parental controls are
every end user. applied and some operators in
l Face-to-face ID check in-store
With some exceptions, including other markets have Internet
or through e.g. post office operators in France, who have
Parental Controls filtering systems in place, but
l Contract status / existing already allowed for two levels most operators have to yet to
relationship with billpayer Whilst age-verification of access, and a few other introduce Internet filtering as
mechanisms mean that operators operators across the globe who part of their parental controls
Once age-verified at adults, have developed different multi-
are proactively implementing proposition.
users are either given an ‘adult tiered parental control, most
systems to ensure that individual
PIN’ which needs to be entered systems tend to be either ‘on’
customers are above the
whenever the user wishes to or ‘off ’ options, with access
minimum age required to access
access adult-rated content or to a set level of age-sensitive
given items of content, parental
services, or an ‘adult profile’ commercial content or services
controls rely upon parents
is applied to their account and (e.g. 18 or 16-rated) blocked
taking the initiative and applying
any restrictions on content and when switched on.
parental controls as they deem
services are removed.
appropriate for their child.

30 www.itu.int/cop
As an interim measure, a Other options for consideration

number of operators are simply include mobile operators
blocking access to the Internet installing parental controls on
when parental controls are branded handsets as a default
switched on. and, potentially, mobile phone
manufacturers putting software
It is likely, however, that the on their phones which can
growing trend towards using empower parents to control
mobiles to access Internet-based usage and restrict who their
services will speed the roll-out child can contact, and who can
of Internet filtering tools. contact their child.
Naturally, given the onus that
is placed upon parents or
caregivers to apply the controls,
promotion and awareness-
raising of this option is key
to the overall effectiveness
of the proposition in terms
of protecting younger users.
Similarly, operators must ensure
that parents understand that
they can only control content
carried by their own networks

31
Case Study: ATT MEdia™ Case Study: NTT
Net Parental Controls – DoCoMo Parental Controls –
USA Japan
AT&T’s parental controls is shut off. “Off ” has no DoCoMo provides various gambling, violence, dating,
proposition is made available restrictions and all content levels of content filtering (e.g. chat services and discussions
to customers free of charge. It is visible and accessible. The ‘Kids’ i-mode filtering and boards); the “Kids’
enables parents to restrict their default content filter setting is i-mode filtering) plus a ‘time i-menu”, which contains
children’s access via mobile “Off ”. restriction’ option which can sites specifically designed
to mature content as well as be used alone or in parallel for children, becomes the
offering the option to restrict Controlling MEdia™ Net with the other levels of content default menu setting.
the purchase of downloads, Purchases: parents can set filtering. All three options are
such as games and ringtones. Purchase Blocker to “On” or offered to customers free of 2. i-mode filtering: allows
“Off.” When the Purchase charge: access to sites on the
Controlling Content: parents Blocker is “On” children will i-mode menu and also to
can set Content Filters to “On” be prevented from purchasing 1. Kids’ i-mode filtering: independent sites which do
or “Off.” When the content premium content, including allows access to sites on not contain harmful content.
filter is “On”, access to sites ringtones, downloads, games i-mode menu only (content
with mature content (e.g. chat, and graphics. “Off ” allows all providers on the i-mode 3. Time restriction: prevents
dating) on AT&T’s MEdia™ purchases. The default Purchase menu are contractually access to any site (whether
Net portal is restricted and Blocker setting is “Off.” . forbidden from offering i-mode or independent)
access to the broader mobile ‘harmful content’, including between 22.00 and 6.00.
Web via the search function adult and sensitive content,

4.
32 www.itu.int/cop
Customer
Communications
and Education
In order to enable users to Broadcasters
make informed decisions
about the content and Broadcasters who make
services they may choose to programmes that are popular
use, as well as empowering with children and younger
parents and teachers to users are likely to have a
guide children and teenagers correspondingly younger online
towards a safe, responsible and “audience”, and therefore have
appropriate online experience, a particular responsibility for
telecommunications and content promoting messages about
companies are increasingly keeping safe online.
investing in education and
communication programmes.
This section provides a range of

potential approaches taken by
providers of online content and
services.

33
Broadcasters are also well- If a child posts a message which Therefore, a tick-box solution
positioned to exploit the suggests that their parents don’t or email verification is not
popularity of their content to know or don’t want them to use sufficient to acknowledge that
deliver simple messages that broadcasters on/line communities, an informed parent / guardian
will help younger users fight usually the webmaster will message / teacher is actually monitoring
issues such as “cyberbullying” or the user making it clear that they the child’s activities and does
invasion of privacy. must have parental/guardian little to help those children who
permission to use the message fall on the wrong side of the
Other approaches that can be boards. digital divide. Some pan-industry
adopted by broadcasters include exploration into more robust
encouraging children to seek Some organisations require parental consent procedures that
parental consent before using parental verification by return are socially inclusive and not
particular services. When email for added security. open to abuse is welcomed in
creating a user account, children However, for instance, the BBC’s this area.
can be advised to ask their own user testing experience
parents’ permission, and make suggests that many children share
sure that their parents are aware their parents’ email addresses
that they will be using services which would undermine the
such as message boards. The efficacy of the system, and that
Terms and Conditions of use a proportion of BBC audience
can also make it clear that only access CBBC through after
children should have a parent school clubs, either because they
or guardian’s permission before don’t get that support at home or
using message boards. because they don’t have access to
the Internet.

35
Internet Service l Education of children on of subscription, how to cancel

safer Internet use; subscriptions, and so on;
Providers
l Definition and communication
These areas are each dealt with
The Internet industry has of clear Acceptable Use
in greater detail below.
a responsibility to review Policies, and Terms and
the role and importance of Clarity - about the nature of Conditions;
communicating with customers content, Terms and Conditions, l Definition and updating of
in terms of: Acceptable Use Policies: policies to comply with any
l Clarity about nature of relevant national code, as
ISP are increasingly regards safer use of Internet by
content, Terms and Conditions
recognising the importance of younger teenagers and children.
(T&Cs) and Acceptable Use
communicating clearly about the
Policies (AUPs);
nature of contents and services, Awareness raising - through
l Awareness raising, through so that all users – including specific web areas dedicated to the
specific web areas dedicated younger users – can make Internet threats and the available
to Internet threats and the informed decisions about their tools for children protection:
available tools for children consumption.
protection; ISPs can facilitate the raising of
Clarity for Internet Industry awareness concerning children’s
l Collaboration, through on-line protection by displaying clearly
means:
reporting forms; visible information about safe
l Information for parents and l Signposting age-sensitive use of the Internet and about
teachers about child online content; tools for children’s protection
safety; l Communication with regard on their website. This specific
to pricing of content, terms web area would be intended to::

36 www.itu.int/cop
l Promote awareness and Collaboration - through on-line Information for parents and districts to provide on line
discussion about Internet report forms: teachers: safety curricula for children
threats and the protection and educational materials for
of children , and the tools In order to combat and prevent Service providers are realizing parents. Where possible, ISPs
available for them to use, such child sexual abuse content and that it is very important to should also promote national
as blocking and privacy settings; protect children, ISPs should: provide parents and teachers support services where parents
l Offer a space available on with the necessary information and carers may report and seek
l Share online security tips for
the web for reporting illegal to understand how their children support in the case of abuse
users;
content encountered by users are using ICT services (e.g. and exploitation.
l Contain educational resources;
while navigating the Internet; including issues such a bullying)
l Describe the national and and be well-positioned to guide Parents and teachers should:
these reports could be made
international regulatory anonymously by filling out a them towards responsible usage. l Educate themselves about the
background; standard form; l Parents and teachers should be Internet and the ways in which
l Provide customer with made aware of all Internet risks their children use it, as well as
l Provide customers with
information about available details of how to report safety in order to better protect their about technology in general;
tools for children’ protections concerns; children. Messages should be l Explore and evaluate the
(parental control, etc.). positive and empower parents effectiveness of available
l Promptly contact the relevant
to take action. technological tools for their
ISPs can also contribute to police / law enforcement
agency, which will investigate l This information should be particular child and their family
customers’ awareness by adopting
the alleged crimes; the ISPs transmitted through multiple context, and adopt those tools
a self-regulatory code that
customer services staff should media channels as many as may be appropriate;
allows minor protection through
be equipped to handle and parents do not use Internet l Be engaged and involved in
specific rules and tools, and also
forward customer reports to services. For example through their children’s Internet use;
by applying a visible brand that
the appropriate authority. collaborating with school
certifies the adhesion to the code. l Be conscious of the common

37
risks youth face to help their web, so it is preferable that they

children understand and are accompanied at all times by
navigate the technologies; an adult (parent and/or teacher),
l Be attentive to at-risk children who can assist and guide them
in their community and in their in the choice of content, as
children’s peer group; well as helping to establish
l Recognize when they need to
appropriate rules of behaviour
seek help from others. for them to follow.
Education of children on safer For adolescents, however, the

Internet use: task is more difficult. They
are more independent and
For “baby navigators” the more informed about the
virtual world is a useful and opportunities offered by the
amusing resource, but it is also web, often knowing much more
a place where they can access than their parents and teachers
material that is not suitable for about software for the Internet,
them. instant messaging, chat-
rooms, and online games, etc.
Children’ use of the Internet Nonetheless, it is a good idea
varies with their age and level for parents to lay down rules for
of development; on their own them, as well and to teach them
the youngest are unable to to be vigilant, well-mannered
understand the advantages and and responsible while they are
dangers of navigating on the navigating.

39
It is also very important that uncomfortable or upset about note that the customer must not from anyone under 18,
ISPs provide information something or someone”; use the website or the service to: including, but not limited to:
directly to children on safer l “Never give away your account
name, e-mail address, home
Internet use. Children should password or username; and be l Upload, post, transmit, address, phone number, or the
be educated on how to detect aware that other players may share, store or make available name of their school;
and respond to inappropriate give false information about any content that could be l Upload, transmit, share any
behaviour. The following is a real-world characteristics.” harmful, unlawful, defamatory, materials that contains viruses;
suggested check-list of advice Where possible, ISPs should also infringing, abusive, vulgar,
for ISPs to provide to their l Upload, post, transmit, share
promote national support services obscene, invasive of privacy or
younger users: or make available content
where children may report and public rights, hateful or racist;
that would constitute, provide
l “Never give away your physical seek support in the case of abuse l Impersonate any person or instruction for a criminal
contact details”; and exploitation. entity, or falsely the age, the offence, violate the rights of
l “Never agree to meet anyone affiliation with any person or any party or any local, state,
you have met online in person, Using terms and conditions entity; national or international law;
especially without consulting an
adult first”; It is very important that ISPs l Upload, post, transmit, l Harm or exploit children in any
and the Internet industry in share, store, make available way;
l “Do not respond to
general highlight the “Terms on the websites any private
inappropriate (bullying, l Stalk, defame, defraud,
and Conditions” (T&Cs) pages information relating to any
obscene, or offensive) messages intimate, degrade an individual
of the Internet services they third party, including addresses,
and save the evidence, don’t or group of individuals for
provide, with a clear policy phone numbers, email
delete it”; any reason, including on the
for any breach of T&Cs. For addresses, credit card numbers;
basis of age, gender, disability,
• “Tell an adult if you are example, typical messages of
l Solicit personal information ethnicity, race, religion or sexual
“Terms and Conditions” pages
orientation;

40 www.itu.int/cop
Case Study: Wireless Application

Service Providers’ Association
(WASPA) Code of Conduct Relating
to Premium SMS – South Africa
Terms and Conditions should be ISPs should echo key messages
supported by a clear statement from their Terms and Conditions The WASPA Code contains a) The cost of the subscription
of the company’s policy with in user-friendly language in a number of commitments service and the frequency of
regard to any infringement – community guidelines and specifically providing for clear the charges;
typically, including messages ‘reminders’ that sit within the communication with customers. b) Clear and concise
such as the following: service itself – for example, by Examples of these commitments instructions for
reminding users of the types of include the following: unsubscribing from the
l [Company X] has adopted a
content which are considered • Promotional material for service;
policy of terminating accounts
inappropriate at the point of all subscription services c) The member’s contact
of those customers who are
uploading content. must prominently and information.
deemed to be repeat infringers.
It reserves the right to review explicitly identify the
• Subscription customers
and remove user-created Mobile Operators services as “subscription
must be sent a monthly
services and content at will services”
Education and customer reminder message
and without notice and delete • Once a customer has containing the same
communication play a key role subscribed to subscription
content and accounts; in ensuring that children and information listed in (a, b,
service, a notification and c above)
l [Company X] may also, at its younger users can enjoy an age- message must be sent to
sole discretion, limit access appropriate and safer mobile the customer containing The full Code of Conduct can be
to the sites or terminate the experience. the following information: found on the WASPA website:
membership of any users who http://www.waspa.org.za
infringe the rules. Operators are increasingly
recognising the importance of
communicating clearly about the including younger users – can signposting age-sensitive
nature of content and services make informed decisions about content, but also requires
on offer, so that all users – their consumption. This includes clarity of communication with

41
Case Study: Vodafone “Top Tips”

for Parents – United Kingdom
regard to pricing of content,
As part of its child safety • Find out whether they share • You can reapply the content
subscription terms and how
customer education initiatives, any downloaded content control bar by calling
to cancel subscriptions, and
Vodafone devised a high level with friends. Vodafone Customer Care
so on – not least because lack
“top tips” pocket guide for on 191, visiting a Vodafone
of absolute clarity in this area • Discuss with your child the
parents. The guide provides retail store or on-line at
risks younger users in particular types of content you would
recommendations on a number www.vodafone.co.uk
inadvertently signing up for a be unhappy for them to
of areas including chat, games,
subscription, for example, when download, receive or share
premium rate services and The “Staying in Touch: A Parent’s
they originally intended to buy a with others.
bullying. Guide to Mobile Phones” top tips
single ringtone. • Stress the importance of not can be downloaded at: http://
The following “top tips” relate responding to any messages online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/
As with other media, mobile to downloading content on from strangers, or messages
operators cannot take full Portal/SimpleGetFileServlet?dD
mobiles: that are funny, or offer to ocName=VD007645&revisionSe
responsibility for ensuring that sell products cheaply. These
• Discuss with your child lectionMethod=latestReleased&i
children and teenagers use their are invariably, ‘too good to
what services they use on nline=0
mobile devices appropriately be true’.
their mobile, for example
– parents, caregivers, and
they might download • Make sure any phones
educators all have a role to play
ringtones, wallpaper or which have had the Content
as well. The challenge is that
games directly from their Control bar lifted are kept
parents are often less aware
mobile. away from children
of the capabilities of new
mobile devices than children
themselves, so educating this To this end, a number of guidelines targeting parents and • Content and services:
demographic is key. operators have invested in covering a full range of relevant explaining to parents the
education programmes and issues, such as: types of service now available

43
(e.g. explain what are social By educating parents, operators on websites, in-store, through about the nature of a given
networking sites? What are are empowering them to guide bill inserts and by offering service they are using and how to
Location Based Services? How their children towards safe and parental controls at point of sale enjoy it safely. For example, many
is the Internet accessed via responsible usage of mobile as part of the sales process. operators also build community
mobile?) and, where relevant, services themselves. Some guidelines into their interactive
the options available to parents operators have joined together Operators are also engaging with services (e.g. chat rooms)
to apply controls; with other players in their younger users directly through reminding users of appropriate
markets to produce and promote online education programmes and safe behaviour – for example,
• Inappropriate contact: how
shared parents guides (e.g. and partnerships with NGOs by reminding users not to give
to avoid “stranger danger”;
France9, Ireland10) whilst others in their local markets, as well as out their contact details, and so
what to do if their child is
promote their own company indirectly by providing teachers on (see “Education of Children ”
being bullied through so-called
guides to their customers with resources to educate and in the Internet Providers section
‘cyber-bullying’ or SMS;
specifically. inform pupils about appropriate above for further examples).
• Steps to take if a phone is usage - see, for example, the Similarly, as a matter of best
stolen or if your child is Equally, raising awareness of Teach Today (www.teachtoday. practice, many operators will now
receiving spam; the availability of parental eu) website which was created send out regular reminders to
• Managing privacy – not sharing control tools is vital, particularly by a consortium of mobile and users of Location Based Services
information online, keeping in markets where they are Internet providers in Europe. (LBS) which post their location,
profiles on SNS private, etc. not applied by default. In letting them know that the service
recognition of this, operators As content and services grow ever
is on and reminding them how to
are increasingly communicating richer, all users will continue to
change their profile or turn the
about parental controls options benefit from advice and reminders
service off.
9
http://www.sfr.fr/media/pdf/offre-sfr/maj-240107/att00013578/701.09Guideparents2007.pdf
10
http://www.vodafone.ie/download?id=ICIA_PARENTS_GUIDE.PDF

44 www.itu.int/cop

45
Case Study: CBBC Media Case Study: Once Upon a
Literacy Skills Cyberspace Series, MDA and
United Kingdom Okto, Singapore
Singapore’s Media Development Riding Hood, Little Red Riding
CBBC (Children’s BBC) has character. The section includes Authority (http://www.mda.gov. Hood comes online to find a
a media literacy section called an interactive quiz, a ‘pop video’, sg/) supported the creation of a message from an unfamiliar girl
Stay Safe, presented by an and links to other resources such series of six animations, telecast living in another part of the
animated cartoon rabbit called as ‘thinkuknow’. The material by MediaCorp’s Okto channel woods. Little Red Riding Hood
Dongle. Research has shown covers online and mobile safety, over six weeks, which were starts chatting with the girl, and
that children of primary school and the content is built around designed to promote the benefits ends up saying that she’s going
age respond very well to the the Stay Safe smart rules: of the Internet and new media, to visit Grandma, and even
whilst highlighting the need to reveals Grandma’s address. The
S = Keep Safe be cautious online. The initiative animation goes on to reveal that
was created in line with the the ‘girl’ is in fact the Big Bad
M = Don’t Meet Up
Singapore government’s focus Wolf in disguise.
A = Accepting emails can be dangerous
to step up Cyber Wellness and
R = Reliable? People may not be who they say they are. Cyber Safety public education. Outlines of the five other
T = Tell an adult if you feel scared or uncomfortable episodes – Snow White and
The animations target 10 – 14 Online Gaming, Pinocchio goes
year olds, and feature characters on a Blind Date, The Three
The Stay Safe section is linked important to note that although from well-known fairytales, but Little Pigs and the Attack of the
to from all the community the SMART rules are widely used in a modern day setting and with Internet Virus, Sleeping Beauty
pages and these messages are and recognised, several different storylines which revolve around and her Mobile Phone, and The
reinforced by the hosts as they versions of it are being used new media and the Internet. Big Bad Internet Bully – can
encourage the right sort of across the industry, which may be found on the MDA website:
behaviour from users. But it is confuse some children. For example, in the first episode,
http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.
Instant Messaging Little Red
file/mobj/mobj.1334.Annex.pdf

46 www.itu.int/cop
Case Study: Using Customer Communications to

Support Efforts to Combat Spam and Scam SMS
Customers, including younger may receive a text message or maintained by the Australian where the impression is a
teenagers and children, may voicemail which is ostensibly Competition and Consumer one off charge but the reality
encounter two forms of from the tax collector saying the Commission, aims to “help you is of a subscription service.
potential SMS scam which, with individual is owed a rebate – and recognise, report and protect Customers should cancel
the correct information, can be when the customer calls they are yourself from scams” and has a further payments to the service
readily managed. persuaded to divulge their bank section specifically on “mobile
details. phone scams”. Where customers encounter
SMS can be used to send scam SMS they should be
a message inviting a call or In such cases, operators should The other key form of abuse able to complain to their
message back to a premium rate use education campaigns to help is based on premium SMS used network operator and /or to
service. A typically message customers understand how to to offer subscription services. the national communications
might be: “Congratulations you recognize, and therefore avoid Subscription services are or premium rate regulator -
have won a prize. Call XXX being duped by, such scams legimately offered for repeated for example by being able to
XXX XXX [a premium rate (e.g. by knowing the national transactions such as purchasing forward SMS to a specific,
number] to receive more details”. premium rate code and not the same information service published mobile number.
This type of scam or “micro- calling numbers beginning each week. Subscription SMS Repeated complaints help
fraud” is designed to remove with that code in response to abuse is where an information industry to identify the
money from a phone user’s pre- an unknown source). Where service provider gives a unscrupulous providers
pay balance or account. available, operators should customer the impression a and take appropriate
promote resources which keep charge is on a one-off or action, ultimately making it
In a variation on phishing, an up to date view on current single payment basis, but it is unprofitable to engage in such
customers may also be targeted scams - see, for example, for a repeat or subscription practices.
via their mobile in identity theft SCAMwatch (http://www. service. An example might be
scams. For example, a customer scamwatch.gov.au/) which is an advertisement in a magazine By emphasizing the following

47
types of messages to their • If you purchase a ring tone

customers, operators can help or other service and find that
to protect their customers from you are being sent repeated
SMS spam and scams: tones you may have agreed
to a subscription SMS scam.
• Do not reply to invitations to Cancel future payments
call high-priced premium rate (by referring to the original
numbers - people who SMS advertisement) and complain
you to call them use normal to your operator and to the
mobile numbers. Even if you relevant national regulator.
do not recognize a calling
mobile number you can avoid • Similarly, where operators
these scams by identifying have introduced additional
and remembering the national mechanisms for reporting
premium rate codes in your spam, these should be widely
country (they often begin with communicated to customers.
09). Mobile operators in France,
for example, have supported
• Competition organizers the launch of their SMS
do not send out winning shortcode for consumers
notifications at random – to report spam SMS with a
if you do not recognize a dedicated website: http://
competition notification it is www.33700-spam-sms.fr/
probably a scam.

48
5.
www.itu.int/cop
Illegal Content
With the same priorities in inappropriate content or contact
mind, the mobile operators on a mobile service, the theft
from over 70 countries, and of a mobile device, the receipt
representing over 900 million of spam or a request to apply /
customers, who have signed up remove parental controls, with
to the GSMA Code of Practice staff being trained to respond
on Spam have all committed effectively.
to ensuring “that the processes
they use to obtain consent [to As will be discussed below,
receive a marketing message] correctly managing customer
are clear and transparent” and reports of potentially illegal
to providing customers with content is a key part of
“obvious, clear and efficient combating the presence of
means to opt-out of receiving illegal content, including child
further operator mobile sexual abuse content, in the
marketing communications sent mobile environment.
via SMS or MMS”.
Communication is, of course,

a two-way process, and many
operators now provide options
for customers to contact them
to report issues or discuss
concerns – whether these
relate to the discovery of

49
All Internet providers (both Terms and Conditions, and Conditions in easy to Notice and Take Down
fixed and mobile) must work understand, customer-friendly
with law enforcement authorities
User Guidelines language within a set of “user
processes
to execute their legislative Internet providers who offer guidelines” which outline the Whether as a voluntary measure
obligations with regard to interactive services which kinds of behaviour expected or as a legal requirement,
illegal content. However, many enable users to store and share by users of their service. Such “Notice and Take Down”
Internet service providers content (e.g. photo albums, user guidelines can typically (NTD) or “cease-and-desist”
take advantage of additional social networking sites), can be accessed directly from the type processes are a key defence
approaches to help combat use the Terms and Conditions relevant service or at the point for operators and service
the misuse of their services of their customer contracts to of creating a service account. providers seeking to keep their
for the illegal hosting and / or make explicit their position on services free of illegal content:
distributing of illegal content, Service providers can also
the misuse of their services for as soon as providers are alerted
including child sexual abuse actively assess commercial
hosting or distributing illegal to their services being used to
content (child pornography). content hosted on their own
content, in order to underline host illegal content, they then
Common additional measures servers (either branded content
their commitment to working take steps to have it removed.
include: or content from contracted
with law enforcement and to
third party content providers) For NTD measures to work
• Term and Conditions and reserve all appropriate rights,
on a regular basis, in order to effectively there needs to be
“User Guidelines” which including the right to remove
ensure that illegal or potentially legal clarity on the nature of
explicitly forbid illegal activity; illegal content and freeze user
harmful content is not accessible content which is illegal and law
accounts.
• Notice and Take Down (NTD) through their network. enforcement authorities (or
or “cease-and-desist” processes; Many Internet providers delegated organizations) should be
• Working with and supporting also echo and re-emphasise able to confirm where individual
national hotlines the content of their Terms items of content are illegal.

50
Case Study: Abuse Desk Services
and Notice and Take-Down
Approach – Telecom Italia
In compliance with the such as the presence of child
Operators and service providers Hotline Organisations
can adopt or support an
applicable local and EU laws sexual abuse content on the Internet Abuse Desk, help By 1995, as the Internet began
concerning child protection, Group’s networks or sites.
prevention of cybercrime, and lines or specialized websites, to grow in popularity, it became
fight against child sexual abuse Two very important prevention in order to manage, reduce apparent to the industry, as
content (child pornography), schemes are in place: first, a or eliminate cybercrimes and well as to governments and
Telecom Italia has created NTD (notice and take-down) illegal material on its web law enforcement agencies,
operational centres for handling mechanism, where either sites or infrastructures. In this that the Internet was being
abuses, known as Abuse Desks customers or police notify to manner, they can be notified used to publish and exchange
(specialized for different types Abuse Desk Operators the of illegal content by customers, illegal content, in particular
of customer: retail, business illegal content or sites to be members of the public, child sexual abuse content.
and top client). These centres obscured, second, a web filtering law enforcement or hotline Discussions began as to the
are the interface between users system, used for all Telecom organisations (see below). various means of combating this
of services (and in general an Italia networks, based on DNS If the report comes from a problem, including the creation
Internet user) and the Company and IP filtering methods, able member of the public (e.g. via of dedicated hotlines for people
for the managing of abuses and to provide denial of access to a customer care), operators / to report illegal online content.
the improper use of services. certain domain sites or to a list ISPs pass information on to
of different IP addresses; the law enforcement or the national The first hotline for reporting
With the specialized work done DNS or IP lists to be blocked child sexual abuse content was
hotline as appropriate – for
by the Abuse Desk’s operators, are provided in Italy by the set up in the Netherlands in
example, to confirm whether the
Telecom Italia is able to manage public organization CNCPO June 1996 as a joint initiative
different types of cyber-crimes, content is illegal or to take any
(Centre National for combating further legal action. between industry, government
reporting all relevant facts Child Pornography On Line) and law enforcement. This was
or significant events to the and the lists are downloaded followed by similar initiatives in
competent local authorities, automatically each day. Norway, Belgium and the UK.

51
Since then, many countries have Industry Collaboration

created hotlines and INHOPE
(the International Association There are also a number of
of Internet Hotlines), an collaborative industry initiatives
umbrella organisation for – such as the Technology
Hotlines, now has around 30 full Coalition, the Financial
member Hotlines from across Coalition Against Child
the globe. Pornography and the Mobile
Alliance against Child Sexual
Beyond standard NTD Abuse Content – underway.
approaches for managing illegal These initiatives bring together
content hosted on operators’ a number of leading players
own services, supporting within each industry with the
and promoting local hotlines aim of sharing knowledge and
provides customers and developing technical expertise
members of the public with on new ways of combating the
means of reporting illegal presence of online child sexual
content should they discover it, abuse content on behalf of the
and is an important step towards wider industry, including, for
helping to combat illegal example, by blocking access to
content, including child sexual URLs known to contain child
abuse content. sexual abuse content.

53
6.
Other Issues
User Generated racist or homophobic language.
Non in-house URLs can also
Content (UGC): The be blocked, along with email
Broadcaster Approach addresses.
This section outlines the b) Pre-moderation – for instance,
approaches that Broadcasters all message boards can be
can take in order to deal with pre-moderated by a team of
User Generated Content (UGC) specialised children’s moderators
on their services. who screen for content that is in
contradiction to the published
To ensure that inappropriate House Rules. Each message
content is not published can be checked before it is
on message boards, it is published, and moderators will
recommended that broadcasters also spot and flag suspicious
put in place a number of users, as well as users in distress.
procedures to protect online
c) Hosting – in addition to the
users against inappropriate User
moderation team, there can be
Generated Content. These are:
a team of community hosts.
a) Automatic filters – The community hosts manage
inappropriate words can be message boards from the
blocked from user names public perspective, and they can
and messages at the point of be the first point of contact for
posting. This filter includes the moderators when they have
swearing, sexual terms and concerns about a user.

54 www.itu.int/cop
All moderation should be • Moderators should have set Those who are key and central users to send photos and videos
performed by an office-based hours and message boards to the community would as well as text. All these should
team who have undergone should only be open within be rewarded for their good be pre-checked in order to make
advanced checks to determine those hours. Therefore, behaviour and disruptive sure that the material is suitable
if they have existing criminal when the boards are open members would have privileges for publication on broadcasters’
records from a single external for posting, there is always a removed. All submitted user websites and to check that
agency. In addition, moderation moderator on duty. generated content should be pre- children do not publish sensitive
teams can adopt the following moderated before it can go live. personal information about
rules: However, this is a very labour- themselves or others eg. school
intensive process and the more Exclusive pre-moderated signs, road names, door numbers
• Working from home should popular and successful the public chat sessions with, for which could put them at risk,
not be permitted in order to community, the more resources example, children’s favourite for example through ‘jigsaw id’.
ensure that no one has access it takes to moderate it. authors and presenters, are
to children’s information. an incentive already in use In particular, when videos
• Moderation should be team- The ultimate sanction is to for the target age group to are submitted by children,
based so that moderators can block those who persistently participate in broadcasters broadcasters should require the
share concerns about posts or disregard the published House online communities. Offering telephone number of a guardian
users, and can build up their Rules. However, in the future these exclusive events and other or parent, to get formal adult
knowledge of users’ behaviour broadcasters may want to move premium content discourages consent before publication.
as a group. towards a more “trust and users from lying about their (This is in line with TV policies
reputation” based system so age and registering for services and protects children, for
• Moderation should be as to harness good behaviour aimed at older users. example, against being traced by
performed according to strict and enable peers to teach estranged parents who may have
moderation guidelines, built up best practice to each other by Increasingly, broadcasters’ court orders against them).
over time. example. online services are encouraging

55
Case Study: How Broadcasters Can Protect Children Against
Inappropriate, Non-in House Material: the Example of BBC
All external content linked to • Carry, link to or advertise • Exist solely to sell products site is flagged to a researcher,
via Cbeebies and CBBC is pre- pornographic material or services who checks the site again for
approved by an editorial expert or other sexually explicit • Promote gambling suitability, and removes it from
and put on a “green” list which material (unless it forms the database if necessary.
can then be searched via BBC • Restrict features to paying
part of tailored sexual subscribers
Search services. Similarly, PSB Switch operates
education for this audience
BBC do not allow linking to a rigorous policy when it comes
Cbeebies specifically searches group)
any social networking sites from to protecting the users from
out content on the Cbeebies site • Carry, link to or advertise inappropriate content online.
and approved sub sites created CBBC. If any external sites
explicit violence or content Whilst Switch’s presence on
by Independent producers include message boards, they
inciting violent behaviour third party sites is a key part of
supporting their own Cbeebies must be pre-moderated at all
(including online games and the offer to teenagers, allowing
programming. times. Is not possible to link
game reviews with fighting, to live chat rooms from BBC Switch to reach out to an
shoot ‘em ups or other use children’s sites. audience that may not always be
The CBBC Search tool is a
of weaponry) very familiar with the PSB offer,
more complex resource to
• Incite anything illegal The CBBC search database all ventures in this space are
help users find the best CBBC
is constantly checked with an fully moderated and carefully
and Newsround content, as • Include discrimination of
automated tool which ‘sweeps’ monitored. BBC include
well as carefully selected sites any kind all the sites in the database, prominent links to features
from around the BBC and the
• Promote poor health / poor looking for changes according about online safety wherever
wider web. All the sites must
eating to key words e.g. ‘message possible and never link to live
be editorially valuable and
• Use unsuitable language boards’ or ‘chat room’. If chat rooms from Switch.
relevant to the 7-12 year old UK
audience and must not: such changes are detected, the

56
7.
www.itu.int/cop
Conclusions
Unfortunately, as several studies
For ISPs and other online
have shown, many countries
providers to engage effectively
have insufficient or inadequate
in the Child Ondine Protection
legislation to deal with the issue
Initiative, it is crucial that they
of online child protection.
have a clear understanding of
how content and services are Additionally different
classified in the jurisdictions jurisdictions hold differing
within which they operate. views. These differences can
be abused or exploited to
Collaborating with local
the detriment of children.
broadcasters should be very
Criminals and child abusers
helpful in terms of developing
will know which countries
such an understanding. It is also
have the weakest laws or the
important to understand how
least developed mechanisms
the local legislation perceives
for dealing with these sorts of
the ‘location’ of content and
issues and they will naturally
determines the ‘place’ at which a
gravitate towards them unless
service is delivered or received.
counter-vailing measures are
Each country has a taken.
responsibility to develop their
Given this inconsistency
own legislation that they can
in the legislative and policy
apply to Internet content and
frameworks across different
services within their jurisdiction.
countries, it is imperative that

58 www.itu.int/cop
the Internet industry at large Without that confidence and

embrace best practice guidelines trust, the technology will never
and adopt global standards and deliver or fulfill its enormous
codes of practice that allow potential both to enrich and
them to exercise a socially empower individuals but also to
responsible effort towards add to the economic prosperity
dealing with the issue of child and well being of each country.
online protection.
In many countries around the

world, industry is taking a lead
and adopting voluntary and
self-regulatory approaches that
demonstrate commitment to
developing a responsible approach
to children’s use of online ICT
and communications. It is very
much in the industry’s interests to
take action, to get ahead of the
curve, not only because it is the
right thing to do from a moral
perspective, but also because, in
the longer run it will help develop
public confidence in the Internet
as a medium.

59
8.
Further Information
and Reading
Collaborating as an industry
European Framework for Safer Mobile Use by Younger Teenagers
and Children: http://www.gsmeurope.org/documents/safer_
children.pdf
Links to national Codes of Practice for safer mobile use by
European mobile operators (in English and their original language):
http://www.gsmeurope.org/safer_mobile/national.shtml
GSMA, Code of Practice on Spam: http://www.gsmworld.com/
our-work/public-policy/protecting-consumers/mobile_spam.htm
Safer Internet Programme: Empowering and Protecting Children
Online, http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/
index_en.htm
Telecom Italia on child protection: www.telecomitalia.com,
Sustainability->Hot Topics-> Protection of Children and Abuse
Study on Safer Internet Program Benchmarking of Filtering
software and services:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/projects/
targeted/filtering/sip_bench/index_en.htm
Home Office: Internet Taskforce for Child Protection (UK) –

industry good practice documents: http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/
operational-policing/crime-disorder/child-protection-taskforce
60 www.itu.int/cop
Content Classification The Financial Coalition Against Child

UK’s industry funded Independent Mobile Classification Body: Pornography
http://www.imcb.org.uk/ http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/
EU Kids Online project: http://www.eukidsonline.net/ PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=3703
Safer Children in a Digital World: the report of the Byron Review:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/ Self Regulation of the Media
All BBC online services are subject to the BBC Editorial Guidelines
Education and Customer Communications (http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/edguide)
Industry funded resource for teachers to help them understand and the BBC Online Services Guidelines (http://www.bbc.co.uk/
younger people’s use of technology: http://www.teachtoday.eu/ guidelines/editorialguidelines/onguide )
Illegal Content National Reports

International Association of Internet Hotlines: https://www. UK: Safer Children in a Digital World: the report of the Byron
inhope.org/ Review, (http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/
Mobile Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse

Content
http://www.gsmworld.com/mobilealliance

International Telecommunication Union
Place des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
www.itu.int/cop
Printed in Switzerland
Geneva, 2009
With the support of:
African Internet Service

CHIS
Provider's Association

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Guidelines

2. Classifying Content and Services 8

Guidelines for Industry

3. Content Control Mechanisms 21

4.Customer Communications and Education 32

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Child Online Protection – in the era of the massively-available

Industry players – whether broadcasters, ISPs, or mobile operators –

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Key areas for consideration

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Key areas for consideration

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

GSMA, Telecom Italia, European repository because of the hosting,

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Case Study: British Broadcasting Company (BBC) –

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

• Image and Video • Meaningful Efforts to • Cooperation with Law

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Note 1: mechanisms to combat the presence of illegal online content, in particular

Guidelines for Industry

Parental Consent via email

- For example, the BBC is

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Case Study: Telecom Italia and the

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

As an interim measure, a Other options for consideration

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

This section provides a range of

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Internet Service l Education of children on of subscription, how to cancel

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

risks youth face to help their web, so it is preferable that they

Education of children on safer For adolescents, however, the

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Case Study: Wireless Application

Guidelines for Industry

Case Study: Vodafone “Top Tips”

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry

Guidelines for Industry