[7th February 2017]To mark Safer Internet Day 2017 young people across the UK are joining Government ministers, celebrities, industry figures, schools and police services to inspire people to ‘Be the Change’ and unite for a better internet today. A new study commissioned by official organisers of the day, the UK Safer Internet Centre, explores the power and influence of images and videos in digital youth culture, highlighting the positives and potential risks, as well as identifying the key skills young people need to navigate today’s online world.

Safer Internet Day is celebrated globally in February each year to promote the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people. Over 1,600 organisations are supporting the day, including former Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle, the BBC, BT, Sky, O2, Vodafone, Lloyds Banking Group, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Google, NSPCC, Premier League football clubs and the UK Government, as well as police services, charities and schools across the UK, who are all coming together to deliver a range of inspiring activities. They’ll be joining hundreds of individuals supporting the #SID2017 social media campaign to inspire positive action, which is set to reach over 7.5 million with a mass tweet at 8.30am today.

Power of Image

New research launched to mark Safer Internet Day reveals that images and video play a central role in young people’s digital lives and are powerful tools of communication, self-expression and creativity. The majority (84%) of 8-17-year-olds have shared a photo online, rising from 73% of 8-12-year-olds to 95% of 13-17-year-olds. In the last hour, 1 in 8 young people (12%) surveyed said they had shared a selfie, almost 1 in 3 had used YouTube (31%), 1 in 4 had used Snapchat (25%), and more than 1 in 5 had used Instagram (22%).

Encouragingly, young people are using the power of image to make a difference: 4 in 5 young people (80%) said that in the last year they have felt inspired by an image or video online to do something positive. Furthermore, two thirds (67%) have posted an image or video on the internet for a variety of positive reasons, including to support friends (40%); to share something interesting with others (31%); and to encourage others to do something positive (17%).

However, while many of their experiences were positive, many young people are having negative experiences online:

Magnified pressures

Our image-focused digital culture can mean young people face pressures, including body image concerns. According to the study, on average young people take 12 selfies before they are happy to post one online and 43% said they worry about how attractive they look when they share photos online. Furthermore, 45% have used a filter in the last year to make themselves look better. In particular, the study identified these trends mostly amongst 13-17 year old girls: almost two-thirds (61%) of them worry about how attractive they look when sharing photos online and nearly half (47%) of them have felt sad about their appearance after seeing a particular image or video online.

Risky behaviour

The study also highlighted the need for young people to better understand privacy controls when sharing images and videos. Over half (56%) of young people aged 8-17 years said they have shared images or videos on a public social media profile, with almost a third (31%) saying that most of the photos they share are on a public profile that can be seen by anyone.

Whilst just over half (51%) said they always think about what personal information they could be sharing before they post a photo or video online, nearly a third (30%) of 8-17 year olds have shared a photo they wouldn’t want their parents or carers to see. Almost a quarter (23%) said they don’t know how to control who can see what they post on social media sites.

More worryingly, the majority of young people have shared an image or video with a stranger: 65% of 8-17-year-olds have shared images or videos directly with people they only know online, with more than a quarter (27%) saying they have done so in the last day. Despite this, nearly 2 in 5 (38%) say they worry about losing control of an image they have shared online.

The research also emphasised the importance of developing young people’s critical thinking skills when using the internet. Although the findings revealed nearly three quarters (70%) of young people surveyed agree that images and videos can be misleading and don’t always tell the full story, 48% said they are more likely to trust something has happened if they see an image or video of it.

Safer Internet Day 2017 in action

To explore the power and influence of images in young people’s digital lives the UK Safer Internet Centre has delivered a range of activities including:

Will Gardner, a Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre and CEO of Childnet, said about the day:

“Today’s findings remind us that with an ever-changing landscape, it is more important than ever to equip young people with the skills, knowledge, confidence and resilience to communicate using images and videos responsibly and positively.”

“This Safer Internet Day young people around the UK are uniting to inspire a better internet. We need to harness this enthusiasm and empower them to ‘Be the Change’ and use the power of image to help create a better internet.”

Minister for Online Safety, Tracey Crouch, said:

“The internet has provided young people with some amazing opportunities, but one of our top priorities is protecting them from risks they might face online. The UK is a world leader in internet safety, and measures in our Digital Economy Bill will be instrumental in better protecting children from harmful content. But there is still more to do, and Safer Internet Day is a fantastic reminder that we all have a part to play in making the online world a safer place for our children to discover, explore and enjoy.”

Minister for Vulnerable Children and Families, Edward Timpson, said:

“The internet is a powerful tool that gives children and young people many fantastic opportunities – but protecting them from the risks they might face online or on their phones remains absolutely vital. That’s why I’m pleased to be able to support Safer Internet Day again this year, and look forward to hearing how schools and pupils take part.”

“At the Department for Education, we’re continuing to work hard to make sure that young people, parents and teachers, are actively involved in promoting safe online practice, and we’ve been providing training and resources to support teachers in delivering the new curriculum, which includes e-safety.”

For more information about the activities taking place to celebrate Safer Internet Day, plus resources and advice for young people, parents, carers and teachers, visit the UK Safer Internet Centre website, www.saferinternet.org.uk.

Media contacts

For media enquiries, please contact Claire Lundie or Nancy Best at Teneo Blue Rubicon: SID@teneobluerubicon.com / 020 7260 2700 / 07912 553 314

About the research:

About Safer Internet Day:

Safer Internet Day 2017 will take place on Tuesday 7th February with the theme ‘Be the change: unite for a better internet’.

Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the celebration sees hundreds of organisations get involved to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

The UK Safer Internet Centre – a partnership of three leading charities; Childnet, the South West Grid for Learning and the Internet Watch Foundation – provide resources for children, schools and families, and tools for getting involved at www.saferinternet.org.uk.

Globally, Safer Internet Day is celebrated in over a hundred countries, coordinated by the joint Insafe/INHOPE network, with the support of the European Commission, and national Safer Internet Centres across Europe.

The day offers the opportunity to highlight positive uses of technology and to explore the role we all play in helping to create a better and safer online community. It calls upon young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers, and wider, to join together in helping to create a better internet.

About the UK Safer Internet Centre:

The UK Safer Internet Centre is a partnership of three leading charities; Childnet, the South West Grid for Learning and the Internet Watch Foundation. The partnership was appointed by the European Commission as the Safer Internet Centre for the UK in January 2011 and is one of the 31 Safer Internet Centres of the Insafe network.

In addition to coordinating Safer Internet Day, the UK Safer Internet Centre has three main functions to promote the safe and responsible use of technology:

Find out more at www.saferinternet.org.uk.

How can young people ‘Be the Change’?

How can parents and carers ‘Be the Change’?

What else is available?

Former Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle:

“I’m delighted to be supporting Safer Internet Day for a fourth year. After my own experience of online abuse, I felt it was my responsibility to turn my experience into something positive and there’s so much to celebrate in today’s report. Images and videos have the power to inspire young people and it is encouraging to hear that so many young people are sharing images and videos online to make a positive difference. We all need to ‘Be the Change’ as responsible digital citizens – that means knowing how to report anything you see online, including images and videos, which are offensive, upsetting or inappropriate. Together we can unite for a better internet.”

Minister for Online Safety, Tracey Crouch:

“The internet has provided young people with some amazing opportunities, but one of our top priorities is protecting them from risks they might face online. The UK is a world leader in internet safety, and measures in our Digital Economy Bill will be instrumental in better protecting children from harmful content. But there is still more to do, and Safer Internet Day is a fantastic reminder that we all have a part to play in making the online world a safer place for our children to discover, explore and enjoy.”

Minister for Vulnerable Children and Families, Edward Timpson:

“The internet is a powerful tool that gives children and young people many fantastic opportunities – but protecting them from the risks they might face online or on their phones remains absolutely vital. That’s why I’m pleased to be able to support Safer Internet Day again this year, and look forward to hearing how schools and pupils take part.”

“At the Department for Education, we’re continuing to work hard to make sure that young people, parents and teachers, are actively involved in promoting safe online practice, and we’ve been providing training and resources to support teachers in delivering the new curriculum, which includes e-safety.”

Peter Weir, Education Minister, Northern Ireland Government:

“Events such as Safer Internet Day are an effective and important way to increase awareness of online safety. With the increasing use of digital technology, it is vital that our young people are aware of the potential dangers online and understand how to keep themselves safe. Safeguarding children is of paramount importance and C2k’s Education Network service, available to all pupils, has been designed with a clear focus on Online Safety with built in controls to protect users as well as operating a rigorous internet filtering policy, however, we all have a role to play in continuing to highlight possible dangers.”

Mark McDonald MSP, Minister for Childcare and Early Years, Scottish Government:

“We want all of our children and young people to benefit from the great opportunities the internet has to offer in a safe and secure environment. Safer Internet Day is an excellent opportunity to encourage young people to think carefully about how they behave online, and this year’s focus is on the power of images and videos. By educating young people about online safety we can ensure the internet remains a safe place and a fantastic resource.”

Kirsty Williams, Cabinet Secretary for Education, Welsh Government:

“There is nothing more important than the safety of our young people, and knowing how to keep them safe online is a key priority for me. It is essential we teach our children and young people how to use the internet safely and responsibly as well as equip them with the skills to be able to think critically and navigate the digital world in a safe and responsible way. Safer Internet Day provides us with another valuable opportunity to raise vital awareness of these important issues.”

Chief Constable Simon Bailey, National Policing Lead for Violence and Public Protection, Child Protection and Abuse Investigation:

“The National Police Chiefs Council have a strong relationships with Childnet, the Safer Internet Centre and NCA-CEOP, having worked together for a number of years to make the internet a safer place. SID not only provides a great opportunity to engage with industry, education and Police Partners, who are working together to help keep children safe online but provides a direct engagement with the public on key messages and available support services. The reach of the event last year was testament to all the agencies working together to positively challenge and promote online safety.”

Alice Webb, Director BBC Children’s:

“The internet wasn’t built with children in mind, yet they are the most enthusiastic and immersed users of it.  It brings them joy, opportunity, education and much more.  But with it so comes risk, upset and danger if we let it.  Safer Internet Day brings collective focus on the core principles that allow children to thrive online, not just survive – the BBC is proud to participate and support a safer internet, not just today, but every other day too.”

Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield:

“I am pleased to support Safer Internet Day as I want all children and young people to feel better prepared to take on the incredible opportunities that the internet offers while confidently navigating the challenges it can present. In the lead up to Safer Internet Day, I recommended a number of changes in order to improve the experiences of children online. I called for a mandatory digital citizenship programme for all children to build their understanding and resilience and to learn about their digital rights and responsibilities. I also urged social media companies to be more transparent by rewriting their terms and conditions so that children can actually understand them. I want to see a rebalancing of power between children and social media platforms by appointing a Children’s Digital Ombudsman to mediate on behalf of children over complaints and the removal of content. Giving children the resilience, information and power to navigate the internet is a critical step towards ensuring that they have the tools to be the change and unite for a better internet.”

Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland:

“The right to information and to freedom of expression are rights within the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child that children can enjoy online. However, they also have rights to privacy and to protection from harm that are often challenged in the digital world. Our job as a society is to empower children to become digital citizens who lead safe, happy and healthy lives, both online and offline. Safer Internet Day makes a valuable contribution to this.”

Sonia Livingstone, LSE Professor, UKCCIS Evidence Champion and principal investigator of Global Kids Online:

“It’s great that the Safer Internet Centre commissions new research for each Safer Internet Day, as it’s vital that policy and practice are grounded in a representative survey of children’s online experiences. This year’s survey captures the huge importance of images for young people growing up in the digital age. These pose a host of risky opportunities – often creative and pleasurable, yet too often also pressurising and harassing. Each statistic revealing how many children struggle – to check if images are truthful, to control who sees an image, to deal with an upsetting image – should focus the minds of industry, schools and parents in supporting children.”

Martha Evans, Coordinator of the Anti-Bullying Alliance:

“Whilst images have potential to be negative they also have the power to change our lives, to teach us thing we didn’t know, to be creative and to share our experiences. We must show children and young people how they can use digital media to be a force for good and guide them to understand how to keep safe, have fun and be connected online. That is why we are proud to be one of the many organisations supporting Safer Internet Day and why we stand in solidarity with all children, young people and adults that lead by example and take active steps to #giveasmile and make the internet a positive and safe space.”

David Austin, Chief Executive, BBFC:

“Children are increasingly enjoying and exploring content online, be it films, TV programmes or music videos. Ensuring children are protected online and providing them with the tools they need to make informed, age appropriate decisions about what they watch, is at the heart of the BBFC’s work. We also work with Mobile Network Operators to ensure their filters keep children protected from online content accessed on mobile devices that we would age rate as only suitable for adults. It is very encouraging to see children working together to help make the internet a positive and safe place for them to watch, share, enjoy and create content. Supporting Safer Internet Day is a fantastic way to highlight the work being done by organisations, and by children, to ensure the internet is a positive and safe environment for children. We will be encouraging children and their parents to access our CBBFC website to see child-friendly BBFC insight, and reminding parents to download our free BBFC app, to ensure they have access to age ratings and BBFCinsight guidance for the films and VOD content they want to watch online.”

Lorin LaFave, Founder, The Breck Foundation:

“The Breck Foundation strives to Educate the Digital Generation of the dangers young people face online every day by relaying the tragic story of my 14 year old son, Breck Bednar, who was sadly lured to his death by someone he met on-line through friends from school.  We whole heartedly support Safer Internet Day as we unite together to help young people recognise the warning signs of grooming, bullying and CSE so that they may choose the best decisions online for themselves and others, helping to make the internet a safer place for all.  Only through education and empowerment can we achieve our mission to #PlayVIrtualLiveReal.”

Pete Oliver, MD Consumer Commercial Marketing and Digital, BT: 

“At BT we’re committed to keeping families safe online in a number of ways throughout the year. Safer Internet Day is a really important calendar event because of the number of organisations, charities and schools taking part and working together.  We’re really pleased to be hosting and supporting Safer Internet Day 2017 and hope parents take the opportunity to talk about internet safety with their children.”

Tessy Ojo, Chief Executive, Diana Award:

“The Diana Award’s Antibullying Campaign champions against bullying by engaging young people to change attitudes, behaviours and culture of bullying across society. We are proud to support Safer Internet Day 2017 because we believe that young people deserve to be safe both on and offline and that young people also need to be involved in the conversation about the positive use of technology.”

Boel Ferguson, Vice President and General Manager Disney Interactive EMEA & UK:

“With so many children turning to digital and online experiences for entertainment we are fully behind the unending support that Childnet and the Safer Internet Centre give to children and families.  We are pleased to support Safer Internet Day, to take the time to focus on how we can continue to help our audiences get the most enjoyment from the Internet.”

Caroline Millin, Facebook, ‎Safety Policy Programmes Manager EMEA:

“Safety has been at the heart of our 13-year journey to help people of all ages connect with friends and family in a safe environment. Safer Internet Day is a great example of how we can all come together to empower and educate people on navigating the internet safely. Many of our tools and resources have been created over time with the help of our Safer Internet Day partner organisations, all built with safety at the forefront. As part of this, we’ve recently launched a brand new Parents Portal, which provides parents with all of the practical tips and resources they may need to help navigate safety tools on Facebook – whether that’s for their personal account or for their teen’s – and ways to connect with online safety organisations for additional resources.”

 Katie O’Donovan, Public Policy Manager, Google UK:

“The internet provides young people with a great way to learn, create and entertain but at the same time it’s important to make sure everyone has the skills to stay safe and act responsibly online. Google has a long-standing commitment to online safety and is a proud supporter of Safer Internet Day. We will once again mark the day on Google’s homepage to raise awareness about the importance of privacy and security. We’re also hosting a special Internet Legends assembly for over 100 primary schools in London on the day.”

Michelle Napchan, Instagram Head of Policy, EMEA:

“Every day, teens use Instagram and the power of imagery to connect, evoke empathy and inspire action. We are proud to support Safer Internet Day and work to equip young people with the knowledge and tools to keep Instagram a positive and safe place for self expression.”

Carolyn Bunting, General Manager of Internet Matters:

“Child internet safety remains a top concern for parents across the UK, which is why it’s so important to support events like Safer Internet Day which brings together organisations like ours for a common purpose.