Australian Communications and Media Authority – Safer Internet Day
Radio 5 February 2013 – Interview with Stephen Balkam, CEO Family
Online Safety Institute
Australian Communications and Media Authority – Cybersmart
FOSI Stephen Balkam
ROSALIE
Good afternoon, Stephen. It’s great to be talking
to you again...
STEPHEN
Mm-hm.
ROSALIE
...across there in Washington. You’re with the-the Family Online Safety Institute. Um, could you
tell us a little bit about it, and some of the
great things you’ve been working on over the
years?
STEPHEN
Sure. So the Family Online Safety Institute, or
FOSI for short, uh, is an international nonprofit organization, , based here in Washington
DC. And we have a European office in London. Uh,
our mission, simply, is to make the online world
safer for kids and their families. We are a
membership organization. We have thirty of the
top companies in the internet space as members,
from AOL to Yahoo! on the alphabet, uh, as well,
as Microsoft and Google and Facebook. And most
recently Telstra, had joined as well. So, we
bring them together, we convene them, we, work
also with legislators and lawmakers, in the US
and Europe and increasingly in your part of the
world. Uh, and we convene and encourage
collaboration and innovation in the space of
online safety. So that’s pretty much us in a
nutshell.
ROSALIE
Mm-hm. That’s really interesting, because you
would have been at the coalface of cyber safety
education over the years and you would have seen
the shifts and changes in the way that we
approach, educating families about staying safe
online. What kind of trends are you seeing in
education now?
STEPHEN
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Australian Communications and Media Authority – Safer Internet Day
Radio 5 February 2013 – Interview with Stephen Balkam, CEO Family
Online Safety Institute
Well, yeah, I mean, I-- I’ve actually been
involved in this space since the mid ‘90s, first
with RSAC, the Recreational Software Advisory
Council, which was the first ever labelling
system for websites, uh, which allowed parents to
block and filter material they didn’t want their
kids to see. And, uh, in those days. In the midto late ‘90s, we worked with the Australian
Broadcasting Authority, as it was then, to create
an international standard called ICRA, the
Internet Content Rating Association. Um, and, you
know, in those days, late ‘90s, early 2000s,
there was a lot of fear around, uh, predators,
and, obviously a lot of concern around
pornography, and, this shifted, I think, in the
mid-2000s, when Web 2.0 showed up, and, uh, kids
started to create the kind of content we used to
try and keep them away from. Particularly with,
you know, with MySpace and Facebook, and YouTube.
Kids were uploading stuff, not just downloading
stuff. So the emphasis shifted, I think, towards
more of an attempt to educate kids about, well,
around digital media, um, digital literacy, media
literacy, and also to a certain extent, we had to
shift our focus to parents as well - parents who
were desperately trying to catch up with their
“digital native” children on all of these, wild
and wacky sites that kids were going to. And
increasingly, the smarter and smarter devices
that kids were walking around with in their
pockets. So, you know, that sort of brought us up
to date, really, in terms of thinking, and I
think that there’s much more of a shift and a
focus towards empowerment of kids, as well as
equipping parents with the tools they need to
guide their kids through this new digital space.
ROSALIE
That’s very much what we’ve been seeing here in
Australia as well. Just recently FOSI launched
the Platform for Good, which I’d like to hear a
little bit more about. Because that aims to help
parents, teachers and teens connect and share and
do good online, which is such a good change from
the dark and scary side we tend to see in the
media. Um, could you tell us a little bit more
about the Platform for Good and about the kind of
stories and initiatives that you’re seeing there?
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Australian Communications and Media Authority – Safer Internet Day
Radio 5 February 2013 – Interview with Stephen Balkam, CEO Family
Online Safety Institute
STEPHEN
Yeah, uh, well, so Facebook came to us, um, about
a year and a half ago and said, look, we’d really
like to collaborate with you guys on something
around digital citizenship, and we said, well,
what do you have in mind? And they said, well,
what do you have in mind? So-[laughs]
And-- And they really gave us a blank slate to
work with, to try and figure out the creation of
a space where, you know, for some years, we’ve
been trying to keep adults and kids away from
each other, particularly with all of the predator
panic that we had seen, and we were actually
saying no, it’s-- It’s a good thing, um, adults
and kids together, because, you know, kids are
desperate to learn and to, uh, you know, to-And-- And in some cases, to build their
reputations online, uh, when it comes to things
like college applications or job applications and
so on. But also, you know, we just find that
there’s a general generosity of spirit amongst,
kids and teens that maybe the press and the media
haven’t really, checked in on, because there’s
been so much concern about cyber bullying, and
sexting, and addiction and, you know, all the
negatives.
ROSALIE
Hm.
STEPHEN
So we thought it would be good, not only just to
work with Facebook, but we talked to Google and
Microsoft and a number of others, and even the
MacArthur Foundation, a very big foundation here
in the U.S., to create this place, and as you go
to a Platform for Good dot org, you will see that
you are quickly branched to the parent section,
the teacher section, the teen section, uh,
although they also share a lot of, um, similar
resources and blogs and various other activities.
Now just to give you one example, um, on the, on
the parents side, there’s some very cute videos
called Teach Parents Tech. And it’s a bunch of-It’s two, um, teenage kids that we came across,
who we thought would be ideal for this. They walk
parents through the, uh, basics of social media,
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Australian Communications and Media Authority – Safer Internet Day
Radio 5 February 2013 – Interview with Stephen Balkam, CEO Family
Online Safety Institute
or apps, or privacy settings, in two-minute
videos, which also allow parents to go on and do
something after they’ve watched the video, and
even earn a badge for doing so, which then shows
up on their Facebook timeline. It’s just a cute
thing that, uh, also is quite educational, while
being a little bit of fun. Also, over the
Christmas, uh, period, we launched these kids
coupons, which allows kids to download these,
coupons that they could then gift to their
parents, uh, for, you know, I offer you two hours
of time to help you set up your laptop. Or, uh, I
will give you one hour to show you how to
configure your new smartphone. And similarly, we
gave parents, uh, little contracts that they
could slip into their presents, that they gave
their kids saying, here is your new iPhone, now
here are some of the rules of the road. Uh, do’s
and don’ts, if you will. Although, there’s also a
contract on the reverse that the parent has to
sign that says, I promise not to overreact, for
instance...
ROSALIE
[laughs]
STEPHEN
...if you come to me with a problem or an issue,
so you know, we-- we’re trying to make-- say
right up front that it is a joint responsibility:
safety, security, privacy. It’s all of our
responsibilities, not just, uh, for parents, not
just for teachers, not just for the kids.
ROSALIE
We talk about digital citizenship, it’s a term
that we use quite a lot in our education
programs. And I know that FOSI also, you know,
thinks a great deal about this concept. Can you
just tell us, um, how do you read it? It’s a-Quite a difficult one.
STEPHEN
Yeah, I-- it’s, well, it’s the best phrase we
have so far, I think, for capturing this notion
that we-- and what I mean by we, I mean parents,
teachers, and kids, have certain rights online:
rights of free expression, rights of assembly, in
terms of using social networks. Uh, rights to
express ourselves in various different ways. And
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Australian Communications and Media Authority – Safer Internet Day
Radio 5 February 2013 – Interview with Stephen Balkam, CEO Family
Online Safety Institute
with those rights go responsibilities. So let me
give you a “for instance.” Um, if you or I saw a
car accident right outside of our offices, the
first instinct would be to run out to see if
there-- You could be of any assistance, see if
there’s anybody injured, call the police, maybe
even offer yourself as a witness, if you saw what
happened. And you might end up in court, two or
three months down the road. That’s just being a
citizen. A simple, you know, gesture of your-- of
being a good citizen. So, what’s the equivalent
online? I mean, God knows, there’s enough train
wrecks online. Um, so, you know, are you
upstander or bystander when you see someone
abusing someone. Do you use the Report buttons on
Facebook or YouTube or some of the other social
networking sites? Are you there to improve the
community, or to bring it down? And I think,
those are just some examples of what we think of
as digital citizenship.
ROSALIE
Now I suppose to the years ahead, I mean,
technology’s evolving, the whole landscape, um,
is such a dynamic and, you know, in a sense,
volatile environment that we’re in. What plans
does FOSI have to meet the challenges ahead,
particularly over the next twelve months or so?
STEPHEN
Well, I-- I would put them into a number of
different buckets. So the first bucket is, uh,
events. We have events, all over the world, to
bring folks together, to particularly highlight
research or new initiatives, new developments. In
fact we’re having a-- our European forum, this
year, in Dublin, in May, as the Irish have the EU
presidency, the first six months of this year.
Um, also, we’ve been talking with Telstra about
coming down to Melbourne for an event in June, so
that’s, very much on the cards and we hope to be
announcing dates for that, uh, fairly soon. Um,
we have our annual conference in Washington D.C.
every year, in November, which, has grown to
nearly four hundred folks coming for two days of
discussions and debates and exhibits and awards,
and announcements. It’s, uh, quite the gathering.
Now, in the midst of that, we also are intending
to conduct more original research, particularly
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Australian Communications and Media Authority – Safer Internet Day
Radio 5 February 2013 – Interview with Stephen Balkam, CEO Family
Online Safety Institute
as the field is moving so quickly. It’s very very
important that we’re grounded in the realities of
what’s going on, rather than just responding to
the latest news headline, or, uh, panic or, media
concern. We’re also going to be building on a
Platform for Good in new and innovative ways.
We’re looking for partners, both in Europe, as
well as in the, uh, Australasia area to, both,
bring content onto the Platform, but also looking
for partners to promote a Platform for Good.
There’ll be more news on that, actually, we’re
announcing on, Safer Internet Day, a new
initiative around that. So, a pretty busy year to
say the least.
ROSALIE
It certainly sounds like you’ve got your work cut
out for you. Anyway, thank you so much for your
time this afternoon, and, um, I hope you have...
STEPHEN
You’re very welcome, um-ROSALIE
... a very enjoyable Safer Internet Day.
STEPHEN
Uh, likewise. And good luck with all your efforts
there. And see you soon.
ROSALIE
Okay, thanks, Stephen.
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