Internet Safety Report Released

Internet safety for minors was the focus of a report released by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society last week.

This was the final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a group commissioned by MySpace and about 50 state attorney generals in February of last year, and which included 29 Internet companies, non-profit organizations and academics.

“Its purpose was to consider those technologies that industry and end users—including parents—can use to help keep minors safer on the Internet,” wrote Dena Sacco, a clinical fellow at the Berkman Center and co-director of the Task Force, in an e-mailed statement.

The task force looked at both dangers associated with the Internet—such as sexual solicitation and bullying—as well as various technologies used to prevent these problems, such as age and identity verification.

By conducting a literature review of past research, the report found that a lot of risks encountered by youth online are similar to those encountered offline. The task force said that it is often the social circumstances of these minors and not the social networks themselves that facilitate these issues.

“Those who are most at risk often engage in risky behaviors and have difficulties in other parts of their lives,” the report said, which also noted that some dangers for minors may not be as severe as normally perceived.

“I think some people were surprised that the data from existing studies show that while sexual predation on minors by adults remains a serious concern, cases typically involve post-pubescent minors who were aware they were meeting an adult male for purposes of sexual activity,” Sacco wrote. “Somewhat different than the more common image of an older male deceiving and preying on young child.”

Some attorney generals were troubled by the report’s conclusions about the risks posed to youth. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who last fall initiated “The Massachusetts Strategic Plan for Cyber Crime,” said in a press release that while she didn’t want to downplay the degree of risk posed by sexual predators, “we must remember that the Internet is an ever-changing and dynamic space.”

The effectiveness of 40 different technologies used to protect minors online, including filtering and auditing and text analysis, were also assessed by the task force. And while hopeful about future innovations, the task force emphasized not relying on technology alone to prevent these risks. They found that many of the technologies were “point solutions rather than broad attempts” to preventing these dangers.

The report concluded in recommending a combination of initiatives to address online dangers for youth, including technologies, parental oversight, social services, and law enforcement. Both Coakley and the Berkman Center emphasized the need for more research into how to combat online risks.

“Too little is known about the interplay among risks and the role that minors themselves play in contributing to unsafe environments,” the report said.

—Staff writer Rachel A. Stark can be reached at rstark@fas.harvard.edu.