The government has launched a new campaign to support parents in talking about harmful online content.
The ‘You Won’t Know until You Ask’ campaign will provide parents practical support they can use immediately and the confidence they need to have a conversation with their children about the content they see online.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of how harmful body-shaming, rage bait and misogynistic content on social media is.
The support is backed by behavioural research and academic insights and covers safety settings, conversation prompts, and age-appropriate advice for tackling misinformation and harmful content.
Newly released research shows that half of British parents have never spoken to their children about harmful online content, while 90 per cent of 11-year-olds now owning a smartphone.
Evidence shows boys are particularly at risk of being algorithmically served misogynistic and harmful content, often without seeking it out.
The campaign has an emphasis on building critical thinking skills.
The messaging will run across TV ads and social media content on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and will launch in Yorkshire and the Midlands on 16 February.
These two regions have been selected as pilots as they contain a representative sample of the target audience, with broadly similar media literacy skills to the rest of the country so meaningful insights can be gained if the government plans to roll out the campaign more widely.
Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, Associate Professor of Digital Humanities at UCL, said: "Solving this issue requires a multi-pronged approach: regulation, moderation and education. This education-focussed campaign seeks to empower parents and supports collective communication over isolation, ultimately resulting in more intentional choices about screen usage."
Will Gardner OBE, UK Safer Internet Centre Director, official organiser of Safer Internet Day said: "Today is Safer Internet Day, and it is great to see the launch of the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology awareness campaign coinciding with this national opportunity for conversations about online safety. This year, following conversations with young people, Safer Internet Day focusses on the safe and responsible use of AI and its adoption into our everyday lives.
"Today, we have published research which shows how young people are excited by this incredible technology and are using it more than ever across many online services, but they still have concerns, questions and want to learn more to equip themselves to use AI safely and responsibly. Thousands of schools and other organisations are taking part in and supporting Safer Internet Day, and we hope the day kickstarts conversations in classrooms and homes around the UK and helps young people be better supported when it comes to online safety."
