About “Safer internet”

About Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre
“Safer Internet Centre Lithuania: draugiskasinternetas.lt” is recent action under the “Connecting Europe Facility” (CEF Telecom) programme whilst implementing Safer Internet centre’s (SIC) generic services.

For the past 10 years Lithuania has implemented EK Safer Internet programme that was started in Lithuania in 2005. Since July 2012 Safer Internet consortium in Lithuania increased its activities and there are four officially involved partners: National Agency for Education (Agency) as coordinator; Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania (RRT); “Vaikų linija” (Childline); association“Langas į ateitį” (LIA).

The overall objective is to deploy services that help make the Internet a trusted environment for children through actions that empower and protect them online.

The specific objective is to set up and expand national platform to run a range of Safer Internet services providing:

An awareness Centre for informing children, their parents and teachers about better and safer use of the Internet, building on enhanced digital resource centres (repositories), from which specific awareness toolkits and services will be adapted and deployed, in cooperation with third parties (schools, industry). Agency is responsible for implementing an awareness raising events, create relevant tools, develop national SIC platform, using current www.draugiskasinternetas.lt website, which is the main awareness raising instrument intended for Lithuanian society and educational community Agency. Together with consortium partners Agency organize Safer Internet Day events, traditional annual conferences and seminars for target groups, maintain a Youth Panel where children and young people can express their views and exchange knowledge and experiences. Agency prepares Certification program based on the best European practice for Safer Internet Ambassadors in Lithuania. LIA implements safer internet training and awareness raising activities, such as development and promotion of awareness raising materials (app “Are you safe on the Internet?” of the European eSafety label program), training activities (online trainings to 1000 educators and school librarians, series of webinars for parents broadcasted to public libraries).

Online helpline services for reporting and dealing with harmful contact (grooming), conduct (cyberbullying) and content. Child line as helpline is providing psychological and emotional support for youth and children. It is going to raise public awareness about provided help on websites, social networks, and interviews in media. Various promotional materials, including video about the helpline, will be produced and disseminated in Lithuanian schools and on websites (www.draugiskasinternetas.lt, www.vaikulinija.lt).Child Line is the service providing free and anonymous help to the children and teenagers by phone and on-line. Children and teenagers  may contact the service in case of various issues they have encountered, such as disagreement with friends, parents or teachers; conflicts; difficulties in learning; being abused or bullied; the feeling of being lonely or unloved, or any other difficulties or troubles calling for advice. In July 2011 the Child Line launched consultation services for children and teenagers on the safety of electronic environment.

A hotline for receiving and managing reports and data on online illegal child sexual abuse. RRT is the consortium partner in charge of operations of the hotline. Whilst prolonging activities started in recent projects the hotline is improving following activities: clear description of NTD procedure, closer cooperation with the ISPs with regard to the NTD procedure, monitoring period of time during which CSA images are taken down, etc. As a member of INHOPE the hotline of RRT actively participate in the activities of INHOPE.

Nationally, the SIC have a mature and well-established, multi-stakeholder network, involving the public sector, private sector and civil society, therefore with the capacity to deploy services that help make the Internet a trusted environment for children (and citizens at large) through actions that empower and protect them online. The work of the SIC Lithuania is aligned with the Children rights protection national policies contributing to the fulfilment of children protection from negative impact of public information: Information Society Development 2014-2020 Programme “Digital Agenda of the Republic of Lithuania” (http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=467638&p_tr2=2), National Digital Coalition for the Promotion of Digital Skills for Jobs in Lithuania (http://www.skaitmeninekoalicija.lt/en/about.html). The work of Child Line is related to the National Programme for the Prevention of Violence against Children and Assistance for Children for 2011–2015 (http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=390536&p_query=&p_tr2=).