Safe Internet Alliance

[This is the ninth in a series of posts featuring key points and issues discussed at Safe Internet Alliance’s event on Capitol Hill on October 20th, “Framework For A Safe Internet: Know the facts, understand the issues, shape the future.”]

Speaking on Panel 3 , titled, "The Future of a Safe Internet," Holly Hawkins, Director of Consumer Advocacy and Privacy at AOL, gave a "holistic overview" of what AOL does in terms of Internet safety.

"We look at it in terms of enforcement, education, and empowerment, and they're all woven together to form our safety strategy," she said.

Because AOL is made up of a myriad of sites targeted at different age groups and demographics, she stressed the importance of creating niche-specific safety guidelines based on the site. For instance, TMZ, a celebrity gossip site run by AOL, has a very different audience than its Parent Dish network.

AOL employs several technology solutions, monitoring and filtering the content flowing through its social networking sites.

"We have had chat rooms for well over a decade, and we have on the list of filters over a half a million strings or terms, and we adjust that list on a daily basis," Hawkins explained. "The empowerment tools can determine who you want to speak with, who can see your content, who can come to your profile page, who can comment on your profile page. So it's really a granular solution."

She said that even though AOL offers parental controls, the level of adoption is relatively low, leading her to ask, "How do we get parents and other caregivers to use these controls? We have them, they're free, try them out, and if it doesn't work then find one that works for you."

She also encouraged the use of the "report abuse" button, especially in regards to instant messaging. It essentially freezes the conversation and sends a detailed report to AOL, and because it is so well documented, the IM conversation can even be later used as evidence in legal proceedings if it comes to that.

"But although the education is out there and you can build it, it doesn't necessarily mean that people will come and use it," she said. "So how do we create a format that's easiest to access from the parent's standpoint?"

David Pierce, Vice President of Public Affairs at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, agreed that adoption of these tools is one of the biggest hurdles that online safety advocates face.

"There are a lot of parental controls out there, but parents are confused, and there really should be some common language," he said. "Parents need to be told a consistent message about what online safety is, and how to deal with it. There are a lot of different landscapes, so another facet in the education landscape is: how do you turn up the volume in education? Where's the Smoky the Bear for online safety?"