Mobile operators must do more to put children first 24 February 2004

Childnet International’s Chief executive, Stephen Carrick-Davies, speaking today at the 2004 global system for mobile communications (GSM) Association Congress in Cannes, urged mobile operators to consider the rights of children as they roll out their new 3G mobile phones with high speed unfiltered internet access.

Speaking at the Congress Mobile in Society session, Carrick-Davies made a plea that operators would not offer filtering or parental blocking tools as “paid for” add-on services and challenged operators not to exploit children and young people just because they represented a huge growth segment in the market for the latest integrated products. He went on to challenge the industry to learn from the experience and mistakes of the fixed Internet industry, as well as the very real need to showcase the positive, inspirational ways the mobile technology can be used to benefit young people. He also highlighted the need for effective 360 degree awareness and education for both parents/carers and young users so that they understand how to use these powerful new tools safely.

Following the call from senior GSM Association members that the mobile industry needed to have a commitment to corporate social responsibility at the opening of the keynote session on Tuesday, it was disappointing to see the sparse attendance at the Mobile in Society session. “ I think the mobile industry is in danger of making the same mistakes as the Internet industry” explained Carrick-Davies. “Seven years ago many ISPs claimed to have no responsibility for the way young people used their tools and to be only the “highway” on which traffic moved. However, as the cases of children being hurt through inappropriate content and contact came to the media’s attention, the public began to see things very differently. With the threat of regulation, the Internet industry started to accept a “duty of care” and has now been working positively with organisations such as Childnet to produce high quality safety advice and services which help educate and give greater protection to children on line.”

However, the one encouraging sign of proactive thinking was the Code of Practice recently drawn up and agreed on by the UK mobile operators which is designed in part to protect children from harmful content. In going through the points in this code, Carrick- Davies argued that this code be considered by companies in other regions as the issues facing children are not restricted to just the UK. “The GSM Association has a key role in replicating this good practice in other regions,” said Carrick-Davies. “Children are early adopters and often are the drivers for new services such as multi-user games, text and MMS. However, the industry needs to treat them with respect and care and consider carefully the social implications this personal technology has on children and families before the mass marketing begins.

Let’s not treat children as the ‘canaries in the coalmine”. He spoke of his recent trip to Japan where many children have been hurt through accessing dating sites from their latest Internet-enabled handsets without the knowledge of their parents and carers.

At the congress the 26,000 delegates celebrated the acquisition of their one billionth customer – a phenomenal achievement which took just over 10 years. (The fixed telecommunications industry took over a century to reach this milestone). With huge growth forecast for India and China the mobile community now has its eye on the next billion. Delegates heard industry leaders share their plans for greater industry standardisation across the globe, smaller and cheaper high performance chips and the latest handsets which finally would live up to the earlier rhetoric of delivering fast, high quality Internet access and the convergence of features such as camera, TV, video, audio, gaming, organising functions and voice all on one device.

Introducing Stephen’s presentation and the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility, Tom Philips, the recently appointed Public Policy Director for the GSM association reminded attendees that the industry has a very high profile place in society “If we do not meet public expectations, it will damage us and there will be a danger of punitive regulatory intervention” he said. Carrick-Davies concluded his talk saying that Childnet was keen to work constructively with the mobile industry and replicate its award-winning Internet safety advice resources for the emerging mobile internet era. “ Childnet is here to help, to challenge and to ensure that the children benefit from the new technologies. I hope that the industry will respond positively and work constructively in partnership with us. “What is not up for sale is the way we care for and treat children’s rights and vulnerability in a fast changing environment. We don’t need to agree on everything to accept the essentials” he said.

Click here to download the presentation and script (2.3MB).