04.02.2010

Safer Internet Day roams the internet promoting good netiquette

The Safer Internet Day project is organising a two-week online discussion campaign in February. During the campaign, between 4-17 February 2010, various experts participating in the Safer Internet Day project will help disseminate information on the guidelines for good network etiquette, through online discussions in various digital forums. They will also comment on news, related to Safer Internet Week topics, in the digital media.

In particular, the campaign aims to provide young people and their parents and teachers with information, insights, expert advice, and peer support. Discussion topics include Internet use by children and young people, Internet safety education, posting photos online, and online bullying. ‘Online discussion campaigns are a good way to take part in the everyday lives of people through the forums they already belong to - on a national level’, says Anna Lauttamus-Kauppila, the project manager for Safer Internet Day in Finland. During the campaign, the Safer Internet Day project will also offer its own discussion topics, on various online forums.

The Safer Internet Week also includes additional online discussion campaigns. During the week, experts will be answering questions on children's Internet use and the possible risks it involves, on the family-oriented website Perhe.fi. On Safer Internet Day on 9 February 2010, online police officer Mane will answer questions in Habbo Hotel and IRC-Galleria communities. The chat sessions with the police are open between 5 p.m. and 5.45 p.m. in Habbo, and between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Safer Internet Day community in the IRC-Galleria.

The online discussion campaign is part of the Safer Internet Week between 8-13 February 2010, and the Safer Internet Day celebrated in Finland and around the world on Tuesday, 9 February 2010. The Safer Internet Day and the Safer Internet Week events are organised through the cooperation of over 30 administrative authorities, organisations and corporations, and the project is coordinated by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA).

Safer Internet Week - event schedule

Monday, 8 February The opening event of the Safer Internet Week in restaurant Pörssi in Helsinki starting at 5 p.m. Invitation only. Opening speeches by Minister of Communications Suvi Lindén and the Ombudsman for Children in Finland, Maria Kaisa Aula. Additional topics include:

• Presentation of the results of the research on Online photo sharing by research team leader Lotta Nivari, InterQuest. Additional information on the research results will be available in the press release scheduled for publication on Monday, 8 February.

• Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU - what's included, and what happened after the agreement’s signature? presented by Juhani Lassila, Director of Communication for the Finnish online entertainment company Sulake.

• Police Chief Inspector Robin Lardot introduces the online tip-off service launched on the police website in March. In the future, as part of the police website, this service will enable people to give tip-offs on the availability of suspected illegal content on the Internet. The aim of the service is to increase the frequency of reports on crime by providing a focused system through which citizens, corporations, and communities alike can easily report suspected or verified digital crimes, or other suspicious content, to the police.

Members of the press are welcome to attend the event, and reporters will have a chance to interview Lotta Nivari on the Online photo sharing survey, and Juhani Lassila on the practical implementation of the Safer Social Networking Principles in Finland at restaurant Pörssi from 4 p.m.

Safer Internet Day, 9 February The Safer Internet Day will organise an Internet safety event in cooperation with its partner school, Hakalan koulu, in the city of Hyvinkää. During Safer Internet Day, pupils will take part in media workshops, and at the end of the day, all pupils will attend Paukkumaissi’s concert.

The family-oriented magazine Meidän Perhe and Microsoft Corporation will present the results of their joined research on virtual parenting.

Volunteer Internet safety partners provided by Microsoft will visit primary schools and upper secondary schools in Tampere to talk to pupils about how to use the Internet safely and in accordance with good netiquette. These visits form part of the Kummipankki partnership service included in the Safer Internet Day project to provide primary schools with free expert lectures in support of online safety education.

Wednesday, 10 February The online safety work included in the Safer Internet Day project will be presented at the University of Tampere Department of Teacher Education located in Hämeenlinna.

The Youth and the Internet Seminar will be organised through the cooperation of the Finnish Internet Association, the Finnish Information Processing Association, the Association for Local and Regional Authorities, and the Safer Internet Day project. This free-of-charge seminar starts at 4:30 p.m. and is targeted at parents. For more information, visit: http//www.ttlry.fi/koulutus/nuoret_ja_internet/.

Thursday, 11 February Information Security Seminar at the Helsinki Fair Centre. Organised in cooperation with Cisco, F-Secure and TeliaSonera Finland, this seminar is part of the Safer Internet Week and is targeted at experts and executives in the information security field. The seminar will be opened by Anna Lauttamus-Kauppila, project manager for Safer Internet Day in Finland. For more information, visit: www.tietoturvatapahtuma.fi.

Saturday, 13 February public event in Koskikeskus shopping centre in Tampere between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Feel free to come and ask about how to use the Internet safely and in accordance with good netiquette, to receive tips on media education, and to explore a variety of materials. The event is targeted at families and teachers in particular, and hosted by Ville from the TV-show Galaxi.

Additional information provided by:

Director of Communication Anna Lauttamus-Kauppila, Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority, tel. +358 50 563 5724, anna.lauttamus-kauppila@ficora.fi
Project coordinator Heli Alanko, Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority, tel. +358 40 581 1188, heli.alanko@ficora.fi


Project partners: D-Fence Ltd, DNA Ltd, Elisa Corporation, Enter, FiCom, fiMUG, Finnet Association, F-Secure Corporation, National Emergency Supply Agency, University of Jyväskylä, Central Chamber of Commerce, Consumer Agency, Office of the Ombudsman for Children in Finland, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, Finnish Society on Media Education, Meidän Perhe -magazine, Microsoft Corporation, Finnish National Board of Education, Ministry of Education, Save the Children Finland, Finnish Police, Sulake Corporation, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, Finnish Parents’ Association, Federation of Finnish Enterprises, Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre in Finland, TeliaSonera Finland, Finnish Information Society Development Centre, Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman in Finland, Finnish Information Security Association, Technical Research Centre of Finland, Väestöliitto - Family Federation, and Population Register Centre of Finland.