Tomi Dolenc Arnes, p.p. 7, SI Ljubljana TF-CPR Meeting, Ljubljana SAFE NRENs The role of NRENs in national campaigns for safer internet for children

Contents History of embracing the role Our contribution Why?

History Arnes connects schools since 1993 Introducing ICT to schools together with MoE and National Institute of Education A part of our job is knowledge transfer Educating teacher training experts We warn about annoyances/dangers of the net Spam, viruses, frauds Young hackers Changed communication (anonymity, hatespeech)

More history Raise of the moral majority: Late 90s: media discover Paedophile hysteria EC throws big into saving children – Safer Internet Action Plan 1999 MoE asks us to join Safer Internet through European Schoolnet We participated in DOT.SAFE (lurking)

Present: National Safer Internet Centre (SAFE.SI) National Awareness Node since 2005 Faculty of Social Science (Univ. of Ljubljana) and Arnes Later joined by Consumer Protection Association Project merged with Internet Hotline (fighting illegal content) and Helpline

What do we do? Help coordinate activities with Govt, ISPs and the police Raise general awareness (also part of CERT activities) Help understand what the technology can or cannot do Educate experts for teacher training Lecture to teachers and parents at schools (limited scale) Participate in events Help produce and distribute materials Appear on TV and maintain our image of security&safety experts

Why join? We believed educating about internet was a part of our work Its good for our image We want a seat by the steering wheel

Missionaries of The Net We were introducing new technology Feel competent and obliged to talk about safety aspects too We know how it works Experience gathered through direct contact with users (psychologists and sociologists slow on the uptake; how come?)

NREN image NRENs have a reputation of independent experts... particularly so in the area of network security (CERT) Comment: we use the same word for both safety and security in Slovenian Important position among ISPs

Image improved Educating, raising awareness, caring about security, safety (especially in the interest of children) … is Good! One of the easiest ways to get media attention (sometimes fighting it) Whenever needed, the funding Ministry can say theyre doing something

An active partner Use our influence to shape opinions, goals and strategies of the project (sick and tired of the internet porn hype) Dont want to reduce our role to centralized content filtering (of bare skin) while other important aspects are neglected Use the opportunity to pass our messages

Our own priorities: Raising basic awareness: Fighting spam Fraud, hoax, chainletters.. Personal data protection Learning from good practices Surfnet: the billboard campaign Simple messages, basic issues – great effect, positive feedback

Filtering? A natural role for NREN (ISP)? Definitely wins with politicians Mixed public reaction We dont believe in it Awareness is Good. Filtering requires understanding. Technology not the solution. Not even the problem.

A peculiar position Techies explain about Social aspects Psychology Raising children General awareness is changing The scale of SI activities too big for us NREN retreats? (what about the image?)