Latest News

On line safety (all UK)

The new UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) will unite over 100 organisations from the public and private sector working with Government to deliver recommendations from Dr Tanya Byron's report 'Safer Children in a Digital World'.

Reporting directly to the Prime Minister, the Council will help to improve the regulation and education around internet use, tackling problems around online bullying, safer search features, and violent video games. This coalition of experts and organisations will ensure that parents and young people have a voice in the development of a Child Internet Safety Strategy, to be delivered early next year.

The strategy will:

- establish a comprehensive public information and awareness and child internet safety campaign across Government and industry including a 'one-stop shop' on child internet safety;

- provide specific measures to support vulnerable children and young people, such as taking down illegal internet sites that promote harmful behaviour;

- promote responsible advertising to children online; and

- establish voluntary codes of practice for user-generated content sites, making such sites commit to take down inappropriate content within a given time.

The Government also announced today the successful appointees to the Council's Executive Board. Chaired by DCSF and HO Ministers, the Board includes senior representation from across Government, industry, the third sector, law enforcement and the devolved administrations. UKCCIS will report annually to the Prime Minister at the Child Internet Safety Summit.

Background...

In September 2007, the Prime Minister asked Dr Tanya Byron to lead an independent review to help parents and their children get the most from new technologies while protecting children from inappropriate or harmful material. The focus was on the internet and video games.

Her report, 'Safer Children in a Digital World', was published in March 2008: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/

The Government accepted all of Dr Byron's recommendations and published The Byron Review Action Plan in June 2008 to set out how the Government intends to implement the recommendations. The Action Plan can be found at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/actionplan

The establishment of a UK Council for Child Internet Safety was a key recommendation in Dr Tanya Byron's Report. The Council is a multi stakeholder forum within which all those with an interest in Child Internet Safety are able to come together to develop a strategy for improving child internet safety based on two core elements: better regulation - in the form of voluntary codes of practice that industry can sign up to - and better information and education for children, young people, parents and carers. The Council will be chaired by DCSF and Home Office and be supported by a cross Government secretariat.

The Council will be the largest ever coalition of internet safety experts, bringing together some of the biggest names in industry, children's charities, law enforcement, Government as well as children, young people and parents. The current membership of the Council is at Annex B.

The Executive Board to the Council will be chaired by Home Office and DCSF Ministers and is expected to meet on a quarterly basis. Its role will be to provide strategic support and direction to Council activity, hold the Chairs of the working and sub groups to account and ensure progress against the strategy is secured. The membership of the Board is at Annex A.