Youth Safety on a Living Internet (PDF), the final report by the Online Safety Technology Working Group (OSTWG), found that the best way to assure youth safety on the Internet “points to the growing importance of online citizenship and media-literacy education, in addition to what has come to be seen as online safety education, as solutions to youth risk online.”

Before I go on, I have to say that I was a member of the Task Force and Chair of the Education Subcommittee and Anne Collier, my co-director at ConnectSafely.org, was co-chair of the Task Force itself along with former MySpace chief security officer Hemanshu Nigam.

Our goal in putting together the report was to look not only at the history of online safety efforts over the past nearly 20 years but also the emerging research that shows how young people use social media.

What we concluded is that we need to go beyond worrying about predators and pornography and start thinking about young people as active participants – true citizens – in an increasingly interactive online environment where young people are just as likely to create content as they are to consume it.

The title of the report, “Youth Safety on a Living Internet” says a lot about the thinking of its authors, “The Internet is a living thing reflecting all of life and, where children are concerned, that includes a spectrum of issues – from learning, child development, sociality, and entertainment at one end to crime and victimization at the other.” We urge Congress and other policy makers to “Please recognize this reality and draw upon diverse expertise in all policy making.”  For more on the thoughtful choice of this title, please see Anne Collier’s post on “why a ‘living Internet.’”

The report finds that “civil, respectful behavior online” is less conducive to risk” and recommends “digital media literacy” as a powerful force towards reducing risk online and off. We recommend avoidance of scare tactics and we promote the social norms approach to risk prevention.

The report calls for solutions that are “fact-based, not fear-based” and recognizes that minors themselves “have a role to play in improving their own safety online and that of their peers.”

The Online Safety and Technology Working Group was mandated by Congress in 2008 when it passed the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. The unfunded group, which has been convening since June, 2009, worked out of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Recommendations include:

• Provide targeted online-safety messaging and treatment.

• Avoid scare tactics and promote the social-norms approach to risk prevention.

• Promote digital citizenship in pre-K-12 education as a national priority.

• Promote instruction in digital media literacy and computer security in pre-K-12 education nationwide.

More resources

CNET’s Elinor Mills summary on CNET

Blog post by OSTWG member Adam Thierer of Progress & Freedom Foundation

The Report

Online Safety and Technology Working Group Final Report

WASHINGTON — Last year, Congress passed the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act,which called for yet another committee to study Internet safety. By statute, the Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG) is made up of representatives of the business community, public interest groups and federal agencies. I’m on the committee as co-director of the nonprofit ConnectSafely.org.  ConnectSafely co-director and NetFamilyNews editor Anne Collier serves as co-chairman along with MySpace cheif security officer, Hemanshu Nigam.

The group, which reports to the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is totally unfunded. The government wasn’t even able to buy us lunch, let alone plane tickets to Washington. But I’m not complaining. It’s an honor to have even a small role in helping to shape national Internet safety policy.

To be honest, I was a bit skeptical when I first heard about the working group, wondering why we needed yet another committee to look at this topic. In 2000, the “COPA Commission,” created by the Children’s Online Protection Act of 1998, issued a very comprehensive report, and last year I was privileged to serve on the Internet Safety Technical Task Force — created by attorneys general of nearly every state.

The task force issued a report debunking myths about Internet safety, concluding that kids are more at risk from other kids than from so-called Internet predators. That finding was rejected by several of the state attorneys general who received it. South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said the report’s findings were “as disturbing as they are wrong,” adding that “the conclusions in this report create a troubling false sense of security on the issue of child Internet safety.”

But I think the report was both accurate and insightful. It recognized that Internet safety is too complicated to be reduced to sound bites and sensationalist TV shows, and that most of the kids who get in trouble online also get in trouble offline. The Internet may amplify dangers, but it doesn’t create them.

I’m not aware of any federal Internet safety commissions that met during the Bush administration. From what I can tell, that administration paid very little attention to Internet safety other than to add to the exaggerations and fear-mongering about so-called Internet predators.

So is there any point in taking yet another look at Internet safety? Yes, if only because things have changed dramatically over the past few months. To begin with, we have a new administration led by a president who actually understands the Internet as well as the constitutional issues that arise whenever government tries to control online speech, access or even safety.

When the new working group convened Thursday, our first speaker was Susan Crawford, who works at the White House as special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy. A law professor and founder of OneWebDay, Crawford brings a refreshing understanding of the government’s need to balance safety and security with civil liberties, privacy and even the First Amendment rights of minors.

Her opening remarks helped set the tone for the group by admonishing us to “avoid overheated rhetoric about risks to kids online,” pointing out that “risks kids face online may not be significantly different than the risks they face offline.”

She also reminded us that “the risks are more subtle than the press would have us believe,” and that we need to avoid trying to find “silver bullets” and recommending policy based on “anecdotes.” Finally she pointed out that we need to be careful to avoid “tech mandates.” While the working group will research the efficacy of technology tools to help protect kids, Crawford repeated something that I have been saying for 12 years: “The best software (to protect kids) is between the ears,” not on a device.

The working group will be divided into four subcommittees: child pornography reporting, data retention, protection technology and education. I will chair the education subcommittee and look forward to hearing from companies, educators, nonprofits and anyone else who has ideas about how to educate America’s youth to keep on using the Internet productively and safely. If you have ideas, please feel free to share them.