CHICAGO, IL — A report to be released January 14th indicates the threat to minors posed by the internet and social networking sites may be overblown.Published by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, the report suggests the biggest threat to children’s online safety is other children. It also suggests children’s own behaviors are the most common contributor to trouble they encounter.
The ISTTF is a group of industry, academics and technology experts formed in February 2008 by 49 state attorneys general. Members include executives from Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo Inc., Verizon and AOL. The organization’s primary goal is to address what the AGs have said is a growing problem: online sexual predation.
“Minors are not equally at risk online,” according to the report. “Those who are most at risk often engage in risky behaviors and have difficulties in other parts of their lives.
“The risks minors face online are complex and multifaceted and are in most cases not significantly different than those they face offline, and … as they get older, minors themselves contribute to some of the problems,” the study’s authors noted.
As the study points out, children are more likely to be approached for sex by other minors than by adults.
“Youth report sexual solicitation of minors by minors more frequently, but these incidents … are understudied, underreported to law enforcement, and not part of most conversations about online safety,” the report noted.
Bullying and harassment, especially by peers, are the most frequent problems minors encounter online, according to the study.
The members of the task force were not united in support of the report. The chief executive officer of age-verification software developer Aristotle said blaming parents and children for their own problems is not the way to find a solution to what he continues to view as a serious issue. However, he did conceded parents and children have roles to play in minors’ online safety.
The study was funded by MySpace, Microsoft Corp., AOL, Viacom, AT&T, Symantec, Turner Broadcasting, Loopt and Second Life creator Linden Lab.
