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REPORT: Internet-Related Risks For Minors

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 11:05 CST

When it comes to child safety online, technology doesn’t have the means to provide the proper amount of protection, according to a report issued by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force on Wednesday.

"Parents, teachers, mentors, social services, law enforcement and minors themselves all have crucial roles to play in ensuring online safety for all minors," the report said.

The panel, formed in Feb. 2008, was charged with determining the risk factors involved primarily with social networks.

According to the report, the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, which is made up of 50 state Attorneys General, asked the Harvard-led panel to “determine the extent to which today’s technologies could help to address these online safety risks, with a primary focus on social network sites in the United States.”

The study, released by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, combined the efforts of key Internet industry players, including service providers, social network sites, academia, education, child safety experts and technology developers.

The Task Force includes executives from social networking services like Facebook and News Corp's MySpace, as well as other technology and media companies including Yahoo Inc, Verizon and Time Warner Inc's AOL.

The study found the common notion that the Internet results in an increased threat to minors is exaggerated, because many adolescents also face similar risks offline.

“Many youth in the United States have fully integrated the Internet into their daily lives,” said the report. “For them, the Internet is a positive and powerful space for socializing, learning, and engaging in public life.”

However, it added that there are certain risks involved with Internet use, including sexual solicitation, online harassment, bullying, and exposure to problematic and illegal content.

But the risks that minors face on the Web “in most cases not significantly different than those they face offline,” the report reads. “As they get older, minors themselves contribute to some of the problems.”

The task force noted that online bullying and harassment are the most frequently observed threats minors face, both online and offline.

Also, sexual predation on minors by adults, both online and offline, remains a concern.

"Youth report sexual solicitation of minors by minors more frequently, but these incidents, too, are understudied, underreported to law enforcement, and not part of most conversations about online safety," the task force said.

The task force recommended that more research needed to be done on the activities of sex offenders in social network sites.

Additionally, the Internet increases the risk of being exposed to illegal, “problematic” material, but does not always increase minors’ exposure.

Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer at News Corp.'s MySpace, welcomed the task force's findings and said it "identifies key areas on which industry can focus efforts to increase online safety."

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On the Net:

• Internet Safety Technical Task Force
• Berkman Center For Internet & Society

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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