Session: Digital Citizenship - A Charter of Children;s and Young People's Rights in the Online World

Concise Description:
The internet is a social space in which families with children are one of the key and not the least important constituency of users.

A number of excellent "cyber charters" have emerged in recent years. They seek to embody a comprehensive framework of rights and guarantees whilst at the same time laying a foundation for good online citizenship.

But few seem to recognize that families, children and young people are now also a constant presence on the internet. On the contrary the underlying assumption appears to be that every single internet user is a literate adult of at least average intelligence.

How do we construct a framework of rights which preserves all the highly valued freedoms of the internet for the adult world but at the same time provides an appropriate and proportionate response to the needs of younger users? And how do young people themselves view this debate?