DAISY SODERBERG-RIVKIN: What we want is a standard for keeping platforms safe, but to still give consumers choice. That’s where transparency comes in, to set the expectations to children of what they might see. Things are still inevitably going to fall through the cracks, right? You can’t protect from everything. It’s not much different to what you experience in the real world. You send your child out into the world, and can protect them as much as possible, but inevitably they are going to see something that might disturb them. They are going to have a friend with a phone without parental controls, for example. People ask me, ‘so how do you protect them from that?’ and I always say it’s not a question of protection. It’s a question of preparation. Are you doing as much offline as you’re doing online? Are you having the conversations with them? Most people simply don’t realise that half the battle is offline. In summary: it’s that idea that when you’re writing regulations and creating polices, that you make sure you are consulting with the people who are actually going to enforce these things – to see if it’s realistic and how it might impact the people that they’re already trying to protect. I’ve often said when answering questions like this that it is a village effort. It’s the parents, the company, the government – society as a whole. FEED: What steps can the public take to protect their children?
DAISY SODERBERG-RIVKIN: You see scary examples, like in India where they are trying to increase censorship for OTTs, stopping them from televising anything that shows disagreement with the government. That’s when things become murky and basic human rights come into play. The position of governments is always up for debate. FEED: How are well are governments handling this?
“THE ONLINEWORLD IS SHAPING A FUTURE GENERATION”
FEED: What are the biggest dangers we are seeing online right now?
DAISY SODERBERG-RIVKIN: There are the obvious ones that we’re always talking about like CSAM and privacy. But what really concern me, which I don’t think is talked about as much, are the risks we see online being translated into offline behaviour and in turn presenting offline risks. The things I’m talking about are recruiting for terrorism, cyberbullying – things that translate into bullying at school, racism. Or misinformation when it comes to targeted advertisement – relating to smoking, drinking, drugs, dieting – the latter having a massive impact on teenage mental health. This problem of online transferring into offline has real consequences – including deaths. You see kids playing first-person shooter games that often have extremely violent material, that tells them it’s okay to pull out a gun and shoot someone if they’re annoying you. There have been studies on serial killers who have been influenced by video games. These are just a slice of the dangers we face online today. What with the metaverse coming, it’s never been more important to remember that the online world is shaping a future generation who will live in our societies, manage our societies and our online and offline presences.
“IT IS AVILLAGE EFFORT:THE PARENTS, THE COMPANY,THE GOVERNMENT”
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