There is still nearly a month left to submit views to the government’s consultation on ‘Growing up in an online world’; the deadline is 26 May. Underpinning the consultation is a report from the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) that sets out the government’s rationale for taking action. Please consider responding; the survey questionnaire is rather long, but it’s perfectly acceptable to focus on whatever specific questions are of most interest to you. The survey is incorporated in the report and is made up of a mix of closed (multiple choice) and open questions.
Much of the focus of public debate has been around the vexed and often emotive question of social media bans or restrictions for young people under 16. There are differing views about the merits or otherwise of doing this, and an absence of consensus even among experts. The House of Commons Library has produced a useful briefing note outlining the issues and the case for and against bans.
Most of the DSIT report and questionnaire relates to interventions, compliance and enforcement regarding possible bans or restrictions. And the government’s overall approach is couched in terms of online safety and regulation. The Online Safety Act remains the foundation of this approach, providing a strong baseline. At the same time, the government recognises that the regulatory framework necessarily needs to evolve; as the report states, “all regulatory regimes need to remain agile and it is even more critical that we are able to act swiftly in the fast-moving world of technology”.
The consultation looks at three main areas:
- examining whether new measures, including age-based restrictions, could help keep children safer online;
- considering the role of enforcement both in applying any new rules and strengthening the ones that already exist;
- looking at the wider ecosystem: how parents can best be supported to get information about staying safe online and develop skills that set them up for the future.
It is obviously the third of these areas that is most relevant to media and information literacy – see chapter 4 of the report. Here too, the government concentrates on protection:
“For the purposes of improving children’s experiences online, our focus is on helping them develop the skills needed to recognise and respond appropriately to illegal and harmful content, as well as misleading and divisive material. In addition, we are prioritising how best to equip children to manage and resist excessive usage of online platforms for entertainment purposes. Each of these issues will need a specific approach tailored for age and content.”
The report, and corresponding questions, considers the media literacy role of different players: parents and carers, schools, Ofcom, community organisations (including libraries), civil society, industry – and government itself, in a co-ordinatory role. Organisations and initiatives such as Barnados, Parent Zone and Google’s Be Internet Legends programme are specifically referenced.
MILA is not taking a particular stance on the consultation. We recognise and respect the diversity of views among our partners. Once the consultation ends and the government has had time to digest the responses, we hope that the resulting policy prescriptions are grounded on evidence and workability rather than emotion. We note that for now, the government claims to be open-minded on the shape of any social media limits. But even that open-mindedness seems to have limits as, in the recent words of the junior education minister Olivia Bailey, irrespective of the consultation outcome, the status quo is unacceptable and the government “will impose some form of age or functionality restrictions for children under 16”.
Image credit: Today Testing (for derivative), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
