FINAL PUBLIC REPORT

Transcript

1 FINAL www. s a f eli n e. g r

2 Greek combined node for creating public awareness and offering knowledge about how to use the Internet and other online technologies more safely, and for continuing and expanding the operation of the Greek Internet Hotline towards Peer-to-Peer and Mobile Technologies Final Public Report January 2009 December 2010 Design copyright 2009 Safer Internet Hellas. Content copyright Saferinternet EL consortium. All rights reserved.

3 al FINAL φίλοι, CONTENTS σορίζουμε στο Χριστουγεννιάτικο τεύχος μας στο οποίο αστε με την ελληνική πραγματικότητα σε σχέση με τα νέα κά μέσα. Συγκεκριμένα σας παραθέτουμε στοιχεία πρόσφατης ας για τις συνήθειες των μαθητών δημοτικού που φαίνεται ότι άξει δραματικά τα τελευταία χρόνια. ρώνουμε επίσης για μια πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα εξέλιξη που ην ανάδειξη της πρόσβασης στο Διαδίκτυο σε θεμελιώδες ο δικαίωμα από το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο. Επίσης, δύο από υ πάνελ νέων μας καταθέτουν τις απόψεις τους για τις ς ισορροπίες που διαμορφώνονται στο Διαδίκτυο αναφορικά ιστατικά ρατσισμού και ξενοφοβίας αλλά και το φαινόμενο της ας. τα στο τεύχος μας θα βρείτε πρακτικές συμβουλές αλλά και ενδιαφέρουσες ειδήσεις από τον κόσμο του Διαδικτύου. ς υπενθυμίζουμε ότι για το 2010 η Ημέρα Ασφαλούς ου θα εορταστεί στις 9 Φεβρουαρίου. Θα επανέλθουμε του νέου έτους με πληροφορίες σχετικά με τις εκδηλώσεις ις που θα λάβουν χώρα για τον φετινό εορτασμό. αστε Ευτυχισμένα Χριστούγεννα και Καλή Χρονιά! / διαγραφή να λαμβάνετε το newsletter μας, στείλτε μας ένα ηλεκτρονικό μήνυμα στην info@sihellas.org με θέμα «subscribe SI Newsletter». να διαγραφείτε από την λίστα αποδεκτών, τότε στείλτε μας ένα ηλεκτρονικό ην διεύθυνση info@sihellas.org με τον τίτλο «unsubscribe SI Newsletter». Safer Internet in Europe The Safer Internet Programme Safer Internet in Greece National Cooperation Memoranda of cooperation SECTION A: Awareness raising and helpline Main online safety issues Awareness raising activities Awareness tools for all age groups The web portal The Saferinternet.gr e-newspaper ΤV and radio campaign Bonds with press and media Educational Activities Our youth panel Safer Internet Day 2009 Safer Internet Day 2010 The Greek helpline YpoSTIRIZO Cooperation with the Insafe Network SECTION Β: The Greek hotline Safeline Reports How to make a report Processing a report Working together with the Greek police Safeline and INHOPE

4 SAFER INTERNET IN EUROPE THE SAFER INTERNET PROGRAMME Young people and children are today amongst the biggest user groups of online and mobile technologies in Europe. The Safer Internet Programme aims at empowering and protecting children and young people online by awareness raising initiatives and by fighting illegal and harmful online content and conduct. In order to achieve the above goal, the programme funds Safer Internet Centres, currently present in 29 European countries and in Russia, which develop information and awareness raising material, and organize information sessions for children, parents and teachers. They also receive reports on illegal content found on the Internet, and give advice on how to stay safe online. The Centres have also set up youth panels, which are consulted on safer Internet issues and information material. The coverage of the Safer Internet programme extends to new online technologies, including mobile and broadband content, online games, peer-to-peer file transfer, and all forms of realtime communications such as chat rooms, instant messages as well as recent communication services from the web 2.0, such as social networking, primarily with the aim of improving the protection of children and minors. Action will be taken to ensure that a broader range of areas of illegal and harmful content and conduct of concern are covered, including racism and violence. Source: Safer Internet Programme, SAFER INTERNET IN GREECE The Greek Safer Internet Centre is implemented with the co-financing of the European Commission under the Safer Internet Programme. It consists of three axes: Saferinternet.gr: Awareness Centre with the objective to create public awareness and to provide reliable information to minors and their parents about the proper and safer use of online technologies, as well as supportive material to educators, in order for them to become multipliers of awareness messages within the classroom. Safeline.gr: Hotline for reporting illegal content and conduct on the Internet. YpoSTIRIZO: Helpline for children, teenagers and their parents, offering support in cases of harmful content and conduct, such as excessive Internet use, bullying, or exposure to harmful online content. Awareness Centre and Helpline form the national representative of Insafe, the European network of Awareness Centres & Helplines, whereas the Hotline is the national representative of Inhope, the International Association of Internet Hotlines. 4

5 FINAL NATIONAL COOPERATION All Safer Internet Centres have established a national Safer Internet Centre s Advisory Board. The board consists of representatives from the government, the industry, child welfare, law enforcement, research and technology. It acts as consulting entity to the awareness campaign for future activities planning, as well as multiplying force of the campaign s messages through its own dissemination channels. In this respect, the Members of the Greek Advisory Board are: Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs / Greek School Network Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Ministry of Internal Affairs / General Secretariat of Information - Communication Greek Orthodox Church, Archdiocese of Athens and Greece / Youth Center Computer Crime Unit (Athens & Thessaloniki) Panhellenic Secondary Education ICT Teachers Union ΟΤΕ Cosmote Forthnet National Centre for Scientific Research Demokritos University of Athens / Communication and Mass Media Faculty Motor Press Hellas / Technology Press Department Nafteboriki newspaper Representation of the European Commission in Greece (honorary member) 5

6 SAFER INTERNET IN EUROPE MEMORANDA OF COOPERATION On October 30, 2009, Safer Internet Hellas, in its role as the Greek Centre s coordinator, signed a special Memorandum of Cooperation with the Greek Orthodox Church (Archbishop of Athens & Greece). The goal of this honorable MoC is to implement common activities that promote the kids and youngsters welfare in respect to online worlds. Under the above memorandum, 45 Sunday teachers received a 20- hours training covering all online safety issues along with the Awareness Centre s educational kit, with the goal to create multiplier-effect activities in their church regions. On June 4, 2010, the Adolescent Health Unit 2nd Pediatrics Clinic, University of Athens, in its role as the Greek Centre s Helpline and as the Centre s official representative, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Greek Minister of Education 1. This MoC is a milestone for the Greek Centre s work, as it will allow the Center to promote online safety through primary and secondary education via a series of activities targeting educators, pupils and parents. 1 The full text of the signed memorandum is available at the Ministry s website at 6

7 FINAL AWARENESS RAISING AND HELPLINE 7

8 MAIN ONLINE SAFETY ISSUES Τhe latest Saferinternet Eurobarometer survey 2 revealed that 52% of the Greek parents are concerned that their kids might reveal personal data on the Internet (rank 1 in EU27), 66% of the parents are concerned that their kids may be isolated by using the Internet far too many hours (rank 1 in EU27). One of the most severe concerns is that their kids might be confronted with inappropriate sexual / violent content on the Internet (81%) or on the mobile phone (75%), or with harmful content which promotes anorexia, self-harm or suicide (76%). Of big concern is also the possibility of grooming through the Internet (78%), and of cyberbullying by other minors, either via the Internet (83%) or via the mobile phone (78%). 2 Eurobarometer 2008 Towards a safer use of the Internet for children in the EU a parents perspective. Available at: eurobarometer/eurobarometer_2008.pdf Internet safety education should treat the student not as a simple user and consumer of new technology products, but also as a content creator. Greek Educator privacy A study conducted by the Greek Centre in primary schools in showed that 38% of the kids always surf alone on the Internet, 35% of those kids have a PC in their room, and only 9% have a PC in a commonly accessed place at home; 39% chat with other kids online, 9% give out personal data, and 38% have heard about happy slapping incidents. 3 The study was conducted in May 2009 by the Awareness Centre and the Helpline, with the help of the Dept. of Health in Primary Education, Ministry of Education, in 28 primary schools of the Attika region, receiving data from 602 kids of the fifth and sixth grade. cyberbullying 8

9 FINAL A parallel online study conducted by the Awareness Centre among educators in showed that 99% of the Greek educators think that Internet safety should be taught in schools. According to the survey, the five most important issues educators believe that should be taught in the framework of Internet safety education are: fundamental rules of safe Internet use (72%), protection of privacy (63%), proper management of online communication services (57%), trustworthiness of online content (44%), and utilization of the positive side of the Internet (41%). In Greece students do not even put on a helmet when they drive their motorcycles do you think that they would listen about Internet safety? Greek Educator 4 The online survey was conducted by the Awareness Centre with the cooperation of the Greek Schools Network during the period June September 2009, receiving 679 responses from educators around Greece. Fundamental rules Privacy protection Online communication Trustworthiness Positive side 9

10 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES AWARENESS TOOLS FOR ALL AGE GROUPS In the period we created a versatile set of awareness tools with easy-to-understand information targeting all ages. These tools were disseminated in various seminars and events, published in magazines, or downloaded from our web portal. Printed awareness material: Awareness tools through our web portal: Flyers Posters Wallpapers Flash games Advertorials e-newspaper Quizzes Booklets Leaflets 10

11 THE PORTAL FINAL In December 2009 the Awareness Centre launched the campaign s fully revised Web portal. The portal is divided in three micro sites for adults, teenagers and kids, accessible via its homepage and providing up-to-date and easy-to-understand information and advice related to the safer use of online interactive technologies. The portal provides also a special section dedicated to Safer Internet Day, an Archive section with the campaign s spots material, and all downloadable resources, a News section, where recent news and announcements are published, an Internet ABC and a FAQ section, as well as RSS feed. Dedicated Press and Newsletter sections allow reporters and the wider public to access the Centre s press releases and bimonthly e-newspaper issues. From the homepage as well as from most of the web pages, the visitors can access the hotline and helpline respectively. HOME PAGE TEENAGERS MICROSITE KIDS MICROSITE ADULTS MICROSITE 11

12 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES THE SAFERINTERNET.GR e-newspaper In the years , the Awareness Centre published and disseminated twelve issues of its electronic newspaper through its subscribers ing list. The list grew from 1607 subscriptions in January 2009 to 3895 subscriptions in December 2010, indicating an increase of 142%. The e-newspaper is disseminated on a bi-monthly basis and contains an editorial, a series of news concerning Internet safety, either in a local or a global context, an article-tribute to a topic identified as emerging or highly important, tutorials, practical tips, Internet-related fun facts and trivia, as well as news of the awareness raising, hotline and helpline activities. Η ελληνική πραγματικότητα Online 8 στα 10 Ελληνόπουλα Τι γίνεται στην Ελλάδα... Οκτώ στους δέκα μαθητές της Ε και ΣΤ δημοτικού Κατά τη διάρκεια του χρησιμοποιούν ηλεκτρονικό υπολογιστή και περίπου ερευνητικού το 65% έχει πρόσβαση στο Διαδίκτυο, στοιχείο που προγράμματος, EU Kids αποδεικνύει ότι η χρήση Η/Υ και η περιήγηση στο Online I που Διαδίκτυο έχουν μπει για τα καλά στη ζωή των ολοκληρώθηκε το 2008, ελληνόπουλων με όλες τις θετικές, αλλά και τις ακαδημαϊκοί και ερευνητές αρνητικές συνέπειες. από 21 χώρες Τα παραπάνω έδειξε έρευνα που πραγματοποίησε η πραγματοποίησαν Μονάδα Εφηβικής Υγείας (Μ.Ε.Υ.) της Β Παιδιατρικής συγκριτικές αναλύσεις σε Κλινικής του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, στα πλαίσια του ερευνητικά δεδομένα σχετικά με τα παιδιά και τις νέες έργου της ως Γραμμή Βοηθείας του Ελληνικού τεχνολογίες. Συγκεκριμένα για την Ελλάδα τα στοιχεία Κέντρου Ασφαλούς Διαδικτύου, σε συνεργασία με το δείχνουν ότι: Γραφείο Αγωγής Υγείας Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης Α Αθηνών και τη Δράση Ενημέρωσης Η Ελλάδα είναι χώρα με περιορισμένη χρήση του Saferinternet.gr του Ελληνικού Κέντρου. διαδικτύου (50% των ατόμων 9-18 ετών) σε σύγκριση με άλλες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες, και άρα η Στην έρευνα απάντησαν 602 μαθητές από 28 ανάπτυξη επικοινωνιακού και διαδικτυακού Δημοτικά σχολεία της Αττικής. Για τη συλλογή των αλφαβητισμού είναι απαραίτητη. στοιχείων χρησιμοποιήθηκαν ερωτηματολόγια, τα οποία συμπλήρωσαν οι εκπαιδευτικοί, μετά από Ο κίνδυνος έκθεσης σε διαδικτυακούς κινδύνους συζήτηση με τους μαθητές τους στην τάξη. Μέσα από αξιολογείται ως χαμηλός λόγω: την έρευνα διαφαίνονται οι συνήθειες των μαθητών σε σχέση με τη χρήση του ηλεκτρονικού υπολογιστή και o Περιορισμένης χρήσης του διαδικτύου του κινητού τηλεφώνου, αλλά και ο τρόπος o Αποτελεσματικής λειτουργίας των θεσμικών διαχείρισης των προσωπικών τους δεδομένων και οργάνων για το ασφαλέστερο Διαδίκτυο επαφών μέσω Διαδικτύου. Τα κυριότερα συμπεράσματα της έρευνας είναι: Οι Έλληνες γονείς θεωρούν ότι τα παιδιά τους δεν έχουν ιδιαίτερα αναπτυγμένη την ικανότητα να 13% των μαθητών Ε και ΣΤ δημοτικού αντιμετωπίζουν διαδικτυακούς κινδύνους χρησιμοποιούν Η/Υ σε Internet café. (Ευρωβαρόμετρο, 2005) 62% χρησιμοποιούν Η/Υ στο σπίτι, 18% στο σπίτι φίλων και 22% στο σχολείο. Επιβλέπουν περισσότερο τα παιδιά τους όταν σερφάρουν στο διαδίκτυο συγκριτικά με χώρες 25% των μαθητών χρησιμοποιούν υπολογιστή/ όπως η Δανία και η Σουηδία όπου οι γονείς είναι Διαδίκτυο 2-3 ώρες καθημερινά, ενώ το 34% 0-1 λιγότερο συχνά παρόντες ώρες καθημερινά. Συγκριτικά με τα έτη 2005/2006, οι Έλληνες 38% των μαθητών σερφάρουν στο Διαδίκτυο μόνοι γονείς έχουν αυξήσει τη χρήση λογισμικού τους, χωρίς καμία παρουσία των γονέων τους. Το λειτουργίας και ασφάλειας 28% των μαθητών χρησιμοποιούν το Διαδίκτυο συχνά με την παρουσία των γονέων τους, ενώ Τον Ιούλιο του 2009, το EU Kids Online II (2009- μόνο το 7% πάντα με την παρουσία των γονέων. 2011) ξεκίνησε την β φάση του ερευνητικού του 35% των μαθητών έχουν τον Η/Υ στο δωμάτιό έργου, θεωρώντας ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό το να τους. μελετηθεί η φύση της χρήσης του Διαδικτύου από τα παιδιά και να μειωθούν οι «κρίσεις πανικού» 9% των μαθητών δίνουν προσωπικές πληροφορίες σχετικά με τους διαδικτυακούς κινδύνους. Έτσι, το στο Διαδίκτυο. EU Kids Online II θα διεξάγει μια έρευνα με γονείς 38% των μαθητών έχουν ακούσει για και τα παιδιά (9-16 ετών) σε κάθε μια από τις 25 μαγνητοσκόπηση ξυλοδαρμού. συμμετέχουσες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες. 61% των μαθητών χρησιμοποιούν κινητό τηλέφωνο ενώ 50% έχουν δική τους συσκευή. Πηγή:

13 TV AND RADIO CAMPAIGN FINAL During 2009 and 2010, the Awareness Centre produced and broadcasted on public television two TV spots with Internet safety advice and two informative cards for the hotline and the helpline respectively. E.C. s STOP cyberbullying spot was broadcasted over times in 12 national and 25 regional TV channels, whereas the spot Think B4 U post! was shown over times in 14 national and 60 regional channels. In close cooperation with the German Safer Internet Awareness Centre, the Helpline TV card Think B4 U Post Where is Mitsos? Hotline TV card In which world do you live STOP cyberbullying popular spots In which world do you live? and Wo ist Klaus were adapted in the Greek language as Σε ποιο κόσμο ζεις; and Πού είναι ο Μήτσος;. The two spots were broadly broadcasted in 14 national and 60 regional TV channels, and viewed several thousand times online. The Awareness Centre maintained a strong presence on the radio with a special Safer Internet Minute show every working day on NET public radio, with radio spots broadcasted in more than 15 national and 130 regional stations, with shows and interviews, and with several Safer Internet Minute features broadcasted in 12 languages, addressing the foreigners living in the country. 13

14 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES BONDS WITH PRESS AND MEDIA Press and media have been of strategic importance for the Greek campaign. Therefore, the Awareness Centre has been in close contact with TV, radio and press channels with national and regional coverage, forwarding press releases in regular intervals, and being available for interviews almost on a daily basis. Through this collaboration, the Centre achieved a significant appearance in the press, online, as well as in various TV and radio channels in the years 2009 and mass media activities 368 articles in the Press 181 TV & radio appearances 566 online articles 14

15 EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES A broad consultation carried out as part of the European Commission s 2009 Safer Internet Forum 5 brings a clear message: online safety needs to be taught in schools from as early an age as possible and as a horizontal subject. The Awareness Centre has effectively worked to support the above message with a polymorphic educational campaign towards educators, pupils and parents. As a first step, the educational kit Learning how to surf creatively and with safety, was approved by the Ministry of Education as appropriate resource to be given to educators attending the Greek Centre s events. Within the framework of the MoC with the Ministry, the kit was made available online through the Ministry s portal of the Greek School Network to all certified educators of the network 6. The kit consists of 244 A4 pages with lesson plans designed to introduce the youngsters to issues concerning the Internet and its safety, both for beginners as well as for advanced users. It is targeted to school teachers and social workers with the aim to promote online safety activities within the classroom FINAL Two leaflets for educators and pupils, with editorial by the Minister of Education, were created and made available online via the Saferinternet.gr and the Greek School Network portals. Face-to-face awareness raising has always been among the main goals of our campaign. Therefore, in the two years period we organised or participated in 189 events targeting educators, parents, minors of all age groups, industry, government representatives, stakeholders and the wider public. During the same period, we implemented 15 train the educators seminars throughout the country, under the auspices and with the support of the Ministry of Education. The seminars were organized around all three axes of the Greek Safer Internet Centre: awareness raising, helpline and health issues concerning youngsters and the Internet, as well as promoting Safeline and its reporting facilities. Over school counsellors, school principals, educators from various disciplines, as well as primary school teachers from schools all over the country attended those seminars, and received a set of awareness material from all three axes of the Greek Centre, along with the educational kit. 15

16 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES OUR YOUTH PANEL Our youth panel consists of young people in the ages of 12 to 18. These youngsters cooperate with the Awareness Centre and provide their opinion and view about online technologies and potential dangers. Additionally, the panel members act as Safer Internet ambassadors towards the wider public, but mostly towards their peers. Those youngster s views are extremely useful for better defining the (online) content and procedures that the safety, security and notifications mechanisms should take into account, as the observations come from the actual end-user group that the Safer Internet programme is addressing. During, the panel members participated in various regional and national and events, as young ambassadors towards their peers. Representatives of the Greek panel took part in the 2009 and the 2010 pan-european Youth Panel, which assembled in Luxembourg on the occasion of the annual Safer Internet Fora in October each year. 16

17 SAFER INTERNET DAY 2009 Safer Internet Day 2009 was celebrated on February 10th in more than 55 countries worldwide. Beyond its participation in the common Insafe activities, the Greek Awareness Centre organised for this day s celebrations a high-profile press conference, at the Conference Centre of the General Secretariat of Information & Communication, in Athens. The conference was opened by Ms. Evangelia Markidou, the Greek Centre s project officer, presenting E.C. s pan-european cyberbullying campaign, aiming to empower teenagers in reporting cyberbullying issues. Also, Ms. Markidou informed the conference attendees about the European memorandum Safer Social Networking Principles of the EU signed on that day between 17 leading SNS providers and the E.C., with the aim to improve the safety of minors who use social networking sites. The event was honoured by important speakers: the head of the Greek Cyber Crime police dept., the D.A.R.T. 7 coordinator, as representative of the Special Secretariat for Digital Planning - Ministry of Economy and Finances, and the Greek Ombudsman for the Rights of the Child. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the Centre s youth panel; all youngsters presented in pairs their view about the Internet and its safety, attracting huge media attention and admiration. FINAL SAFER INTERNET DAY 7 Digital Awareness & Response to Threats 17

18 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES SAFER INTERNET DAY 2010 SAFER INTERNET DAY With the slogan Think B4 U Post!, Safer Internet Day 2010 was celebrated on February 9th in more than 60 countries worldwide. The European Commission presented at the European Parliament in Strasbourg its first assessment of the SNSs memorandum implementation, evaluating what the SNS providers had done since last years Safer Internet Day to improve safety for minors online. Along with the pan-european celebrations for that day, the Greek Awareness Centre, in cooperation with the Greek helpline, the Holy Archdiocese of Athens and EC s Representation in Greece, organized a highprofile conference entitled Safe Use of the Internet for our kids, in Athens. It was highest honour for the Centre to have the Archbishop of Athens and Greece, Ieronymos, opening the conference. Opening speeches followed by the Deputy Minister of Health, Ms. Fofi Gennimata, and the Special Secretary of Primary & Secondary Education, Ministry of Education, Mr. Mihalis Kontogiannis. The conference tackled the issues of illegal & harmful content and conduct, presenting to the audience and the press the Safeline & Helpline statistics for the year 2009, and emphazising on the importance of promoting the safe & constructive use of the Internet through the school, the role the Greek Church can play in multiplying the messages of Safer Internet in Greece, and on the parents role in Internet safety. The youth panel members presented in their own way their experiences in using the online worlds, emphasizing on privacy on the Net, cyberbullying, addiction, improper games for young ages, and phishing, taking the message Think before you Post! one step further, to Think before you Login!. 18

19 THE GREEK HELPLINE YPOSTIRIZO FINAL The Adolescent Health Unit (A.H.U., 2nd Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Athens P&A Kyriakou Children s Hospital) offers, for the first time in Greece, a Helpline where minors and their families are able to raise concerns about illegal and harmful content on the Internet, about problems they encounter, about unwanted experiences, and about psychological problems, such as isolation or Internet addiction. Τhe dedicated toll-free number and the address help@saferinternet.gr are available on working days (9:00-15:00) to everybody who would like to contact the helpline, facing one of the above problems. Target audiences are at a first level minors, college students, parents and educators, and at a second level the general public, industry, government, and public services. Τhe helpline started to operate in mid-august 2009, and for the period August 2009 December 2010, it received inquiries, out of which 87,65% came through the toll free number and a 12,34% from . 4 out of 10 inquiries concerned general information about Internet safety (42,69%), whereas 3 ouf of 10 dealt with Internet addiction issues (34,01%). Helpline inquiries per type (August 2009 December 2010) 6% 9% Minors A dults Professionals Inquiries demographic data (August 2009 December 2010) 19

20 COOPERATION WITH THE INSAFE NETWORK Ιn 2009 and 2010, Awareness Centre and Helpline cooperated with the Insafe network, and actively participated in all its activities and events, such as steering committee meetings, online meetings, or training events, contributed to the monthly e-newsletters, and participated in special interest groups. Resources, know-how and expertise was shared with several other Awareness Centres and Helplines of the network. The most prestigious international events, in which the Centre took active part, exchanged experiences and shared achievements, were: EU Kids Online Final Conference, London, UK; June 2009 INHOPE & INSAFE Southern Regional Meeting in Madrid, Spain; July rd and International Conference Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online, Warsaw, Poland; September 2009 European Commission s Safer Internet Forum, Luxembourg; October 2009 International Conference Child safety on the Internet, Moscow, Russia; November 2009 European Commission s Safer Internet Forum, Luxembourg; October 2010 International Conference Growing up in a Digital Society: Search for Values in the Lives of Children and Young People in Germany and Europe, Berlin, Germany; December

21 FINAL THE GREEK HOTLINE SAFELINE 21

22 THE GREEK HOTLINE SAFELINE The Internet has become an integral part of the daily life of millions of people around the world. It is a fascinating instrument that is widely used for communication, information and entertainment by people of all walks of life. Despite its advantages, it is also used to distribute content that is illegal or harmful. Due to the fact that cyberspace is not confined by national borders, illegal activities can easily find a virtual shelter in this medium. Since its foundation in April 2003, SafeLine s primary concern is the elimination of child pornography from the Internet. The fight of any illegal content on the Internet is the primary objective and purpose of SafeLine. The Greek Hotline accepts reports about content found on the Internet and contains: Images of child abuse anywhere in the world Racist and xenophobic material that breach the Greek legislation Anything else you may consider to be illegal. SafeLine is in close cooperation with Internet service providers, the Greek Research & Technology Network ( and the Pan-Hellenic School Network ( with research and cultural institutions and the Greek Police to restrict the flow of illegal online content and have it removed. 22

23 THE TOTAL NUMBER OF S SKY ROCKED IN 2010 FINAL The causes of the rapid increase in the number of reports recorded since 2008 are quite difficult to determine, but they certainly include the increased number of Internet users and the increased number of Internet users who are aware of SafeLine s presence. A hotline like SafeLine is essentially the only way of mapping the illegal side of the Internet and this mapping helps to reduce child abuse, racism, Internet fraud, etc. The Internet users care about autonomy and contribute energetically to this effort. It is important to note that the number of reports in 2010 reached 4204 compared to 2009 that the figure totaled to 1778 reports for the whole year. NUMBER OF S RECEIVED PER YEAR BREAKDOWN OF S RECEIVED IN 2009 AND

24 THE GREEK HOTLINE SAFELINE HOW TO MAKE A In order to submit a report in respect to illegal content you come across online, you may choose one of the following ways: Online, filling in the online form at By , sending a message to report@safeline.gr By phone, dialing on working days during office hours (9:00-16:00) In addition to the above ways of reporting, individuals may also send a short message (SMS) to In order to report by SMS, users start their message by typing safeline followed by space, then add their message and send it to the above number. This message is charged at standard rate. The hotline s website ( is also accessible by using the Internet services provided in mobile phones. During 2009, SafeLine s website was reconstructed and, thus, the electronic report form is more straightforward and more user-friendly. Choosing the type of content (whether the content was found on a site, a peer-to-peer system or a newsgroup), a few pieces of information are displayed. These pieces are those needed by Safeline s experienced staff to process information and to register the report. When a user submits a report to SafeLine, the report remains anonymous, if so is desired. The IP address of the computer used to submit the report is not recorded by SafeLine s system. In case a user wishes to give personal data, these stay strictly confidential and are used exclusively for updating the user for the progress of the report. Ensuring the anonymity of the report works as an encouraging factor and removes any reluctance to submit a report. 24