Introduction

In recent years, the policy agenda concerned with children's use of the internet has assumed an increasingly prominent role, due to sustained efforts on the part of civil society and of various government agencies to raise awareness about the topic. Policy considerations encompass both online opportunities (focused on access to education, communication, information and participation) and the risks of harm posed to children by internet use. In relation to risks and safety, the main focus of this book, the agenda remains a highly contested one. This is partly because evidence about children's experience of internet technologies has to date been patchy, in some countries more than others. It is also because the benefits of particular policy actions, whether focused on state intervention, industry self-regulation, educational initiatives or parent (and child) safety awareness, are as yet unproven. Last, it is contested because children's safety gives rise to considerable public anxiety, even moral panic, over childhood freedom and innocence, all compounded by an uncertainty and fear of the power of new and complex technologies.

Research findings, as detailed throughout this volume, provide new kinds of evidence that are significant for policy makers and raise new questions about how to respond to the fact that the internet is now thoroughly embedded in children's lives. Policy attention in this area has, since the early 2000s, shifted from a focus on content-related risks, for example, exposure to pornographic and violent content, to contact and conduct-related risks, such as grooming and cyberbullying. Arguably, this shift reflects the increase in children's participation in the online environment. Children no longer simply consume content; they are creators of content and encouraging children to be safe and responsible users of online technologies needs to take account of their diverse roles as consumer, participant and creator.

Against the background of sustained policy initiatives, as supported by the EC Safer Internet Programme among others, this chapter examines the following policy-related questions:

• • What implications for internet safety arise in the context of a rapidly changing technological environment and shifting patterns of access and use?

• • How can stakeholders manage persistent risks to children's welfare that appear to be amplified in the online world, and deal with completely new risks that are now emerging?