Under the Singaporean regulatory regime for on-line services, localized service providers and parents are encouraged to use filter software products such as Net Nanny, SurfWatch, Cyber Patrol and Net Shepherd . The ABA notes that some of these filter products are compatible with the PICS standards.
As an additional measure to protect young Internet users the SBA also requires schools, libraries and Internet service providers which provide access to children to institute tighter levels of controls. The SBA has announced that it is presently working with the Minister of Education and National Library Board to identify options for implementing an acceptable level of control .
Programs for Community Educational
The potential benefits of the on-line environment for enhancing the way we communicate, educate, inform and entertain ourselves has been widely recognised. However, it is also recognised that community understanding of the nature of on-line services, including the opportunities which they present and the options available for managing children’s access to those services will be critical if the Internet is to be used in the most productive manner.
Many countries have adopted or proposed strategies for enhance community understanding of the Internet and the opportunities which it offers. A priority for many of these programs is parental education, as many parents feel that they do not have as much experience in relation to on-line services as their children and therefore are unable to effectively utilise some of the technical options available to them for limiting children’s access to unsuitable Internet content.
A number of programs have also been proposed or introduced to enhance the knowledge and technical ability of teachers who will play an important role in ensuring that children are able to maximise the benefits of on-line services.
The pilot study is examining proposals in the four countries to enhance community understanding of on-line services, including proposals for the educational sector. To date we have identified a number of proposals and programs.
In Australia the importance of community education in terms of promoting the most beneficial use of the Internet and ensuring that users, particularly parents, were aware of the options available for managing children’s access was recognised in the ABA’s Report on its Investigation into On-line Services. The report recommended, inter alia, that a community education strategy be developed to provide information about on-line services and that the strategy target parents and guardians. It was proposed that information might be distributed via school and parent networks, at the point of sale for computer hardware and software, as well as on relevant web sites.
The report also recommended that research be undertaken by the ABA and other relevant bodies to assist in determining the requirements of parents and guardians in relation to managing children’s access to Internet content.
There have also been a number of initiatives developed in the school environment. These include the Education Network Australia (EdNA) project which obtained in principle agreement form all Australian, State and Territory Governments at a meeting of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs in May 1995. The project aims to provide Australia wide access to educational products and services relevant to Australian educators .
Another project which has been developed is oz-TeacherNet.This is a service which has been developed to meet the needs of teachers to make greater use of the resources, professional development and curriculum opportunities which the Internet offers. In terms of student usage, a number of different approaches have been adopted by schools to manage access to unsuitable material, including the development of acceptable use policies, student contracts, and restricting access to particular sites or Internet functions such as newsgroups at the school or service provider level .
In Malaysia, as part of the drive to ensure the success of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), a number of major initiatives are being undertaken. One of these is the connection of all schools within the MSC to the Internet by 1998. In a speech for the opening of Multimedia Asia on 1 August 1996, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Yab Dato Seri Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad announced that the Malaysian Government is working to increase the role of multimedia in education:
Teachers will need to change their role in the electronic classroom from being information providers to counsellors in order to help the students know how to select information sources, to make judgements about what they are downloading … The measure of our success in 2020 will be the number and quality of our people who can add value to information. To that end, we will be creating a Multimedia University and technology schools within the MSC.
In Singapore the SBA has expressed an intention to complement its regulatory regime with public education initiatives which alert parents to the ways in which they may protect their children from ‘objectionable material and cyberspace abuses’. As part of its strategy the SBA has also set up a web site called ‘Tips for Parents’ page.
In the UK there have been a number of initiatives undertaken by various organisations which seek, amongst other things, to enhance community understanding of the Internet and provide some guidance for parents on how they might manage their children’s use of the Internet. NCH Action for Children, Britain’s largest child care charity, provides an example of a non-government organisation (NGO) on-line initiative aimed at educating parents about the Internet . The organisation’s web site includes a ‘Parent’s Guide to the Internet’ and advice on getting the best from the Internet. It also attempts to explain some commonly used Internet jargon, as well as provides some useful contacts.
These contacts include the NETCOM parent’s advice line, a 24 hour telephone advice line, and the parents information network. The network is a national information technology organisation offering help to parents who want to use computers with their children. The ‘Useful Contacts’ page also includes hyperlinks to the PICS and RSACi web sites.
In July 1996 the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology published a report titled Information Society: Agenda for Action in the UK on 23 July 1996. The report contained 40 recommendations for action to promote the development of the Information Society. A number dealt with information technology in schools and the Government has responded to the Report with a number of strategies to improve teacher competence in this area and increase the number of schools connected to the Internet.
Some International Responses
There has been an increasingly amount of discussion regarding the importance of international cooperation in maximising the opportunities and meeting some of the challenges presented by the Internet. Two international bodies who have recently focussed on these issues are the European Commission (EC) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is interesting to note that the areas which have been identified for action are consistent with some of the regulatory responses taken in the countries in the pilot study.
The European Commission (EC), in its Green Paper on the Protection of Minors and Human Dignity in Audiovisual and Information Services, considered that the main tasks which the on-line industry should address are:
+ drawing up a code of conduct and concrete measures within a framework defined by cooperation between national government departments;
+ identifying areas where there may be a need for common standards on the labelling of material; and
+ promoting the PICS standard or equivalent systems with a view to reaching, as quickly as possible, a critical mass of labelled material, navigation systems and/or parental control devices which are mutually compatible.
The Report of the European Commission’s Working Party on Illegal and Harmful Content on the Internet has also proposed, inter alia, that a self-regulatory scheme be developed for the on-line environment comprising:
+ a code of conduct for Internet service providers, including access providers, host service providers and anonymous re-mailers;
+ a hot-line for complaints from the public, with appropriate safeguards against misuse; and
+ an independent self-regulatory body, including representatives of industry and users, to advise on whether or not a breach of the code of conduct has occurred (without prejudice to the due process of law).
The Organisation for Economic and Cultural Development (OECD) has recently been asked to consider two proposals concerning the regulation of the Internet. The first of these is a proposal of the French Government for a general agreement on international cooperation for regulation of the Internet with a view to enhancing the economic and cultural potential of the Internet and to combat illegal activities. The proposal points to three priority areas for cooperation:
+ the definition of a typology of players and the methodological rules to be applied;
+ a list of guidelines aimed at guaranteeing the respect of basic ethical rules and improving consumer protection; and
+ principles for judicial and police cooperation.
It is also proposed that signatories to the agreement will promote the establishment by economic players of a voluntary code of conduct. The codes are to safeguard various principles, including the principle of respect for human dignity and of public order (in particular through use of filtering software), the principle of protection of privacy, and the principle of consumer protection.
The Belgian government has also recently put forward a proposal to the OECD for a convention aimed at prohibiting the transmission on the Internet of content that encourages the exploitation of and sexual violence to children. The ABA understands that this matter is presently being considered by the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP).
5. Conclusion
The unique features of the Internet give rise to an environment which provides enormous opportunities for enhanced communication and civic participation, education and entertainment for individuals and organisations around the world. The Internet has the potential to reflect a diverse range of cultural, political, religious and linguistic perspectives and enhance our understanding of across different cultures.
But along with these immense opportunities, the Internet also presents a number of particular challenges. The Pilot Study being carried out by the ABA for UNESCO will examine some of the legal, cultural and ethical issues which have emerged from the growth of the Internet. The study also aims to provide a valuable body of comparative data on the regulatory frameworks developed or proposed in four countries in response to these challenges. When completed the pilot study will be provided on-line so that it can be accessed by users around the world.
This comparative ’stocktake’ of developments in a range of countries may provide a useful reference point for considering international trends. It might also assist in the process of identifying potential areas of international cooperation and enable the Internet to maximise the benefits and opportunities which it can offer the individuals and communities around the world.
References
+ Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) Home Page: http://www.dca.gov.au/aba/hpcov.htm
+ ABA Report – Investigation into the Content of On-line Services: http://www.dca.gov.au/aba/olsrprt.htm; or to save to disk at: ftp://www.dca.gov.au/on_line/on_cont.html
+ American Civil Liberties Union et al v Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States, American Library Association Inc et al v United States Department of Justice et al, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 11 June 1996 http://www.access.digex.net/ epic/cda/cda_opinion.ht