“The Smile of the Child” participated in the annual Google and Facebook Child Safety Summit along with leading organizations from around the world

PRESS RELEASE

Dublin, 25 April 2018

“The Smile of the Child” participated in the annual Google and Facebook Child Safety Summit along with leading organizations from around the world

In the framework of the longstanding cooperation of “The Smile of the Child” with Google and Facebook, and its effort to use technology for the benefit of children in Greece and elsewhere, the Organization was invited to contribute to the EMEA Child Safety Summit 2018, hosted on the 18th and 19th of April by Google and Facebook at their main headquarters in Dublin.

“The Smile of the Child” was represented at the Summit by Mr. Costas Yannopoulos, President of the BoD of the Organization, and also President of the BoD of the European Antibullying Network (EAN), based in Brussels, and Board Member of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) in Washington, DC.

On the margins of the Summit the President of “The Smile of the Child” had the opportunity to exchange views with leading actors in the field of technology from across the globe on ways of enhancing cooperation among relevant stakeholders at the cross-border level in order to ensure the online protection and safety of children.

In this context, innovative ideas of utilizing and expanding already existing infrastructure, digital applications and technological tools for the benefit of children, and particularly vulnerable groups of children such as refugee and migrant children, including unaccompanied minors, were also discussed.

During the two-day discussions researchers and experts presented the latest developments in the field of detection and prevention of online crimes against children, good practices and challenges in approaching and educating children and parents, innovative projects in the school environment and in the management of sensitive content and the data protection of children.

New innovative applications, tools and successful practices developed by technology companies like Google and Facebook were particularly highlighted, as well as the need for the continuous education of children on safety issues and the development of the digital skills of parents, whose role is critical in the online protection and proper guidance of children. In addition, particular emphasis was given to the need to promote healthy online and offline peer relationships and effective synergies between relevant actors at a cross-border level in order to address problems such as child pornography, child exploitation and cyberbullying.

It is worth mentioning that “The Smile of the Child” was recently recognized as a Trusted Partner NGO of Facebook, and in this context it was invited to participate in the Global Safety Summit 2018, organized by Facebook on the 2nd of March 2018 in Washington, DC. Based on this partnership, “The Smile of the Child” will gain direct access to the Safety Center of Facebook in order to forward information immediately and address incidents related to child safety, hate speech, sexual abuse and cyberbullying.

Facebook and “The Smile of the Child” have united their forces since October 2016 through an official partnership on every launch of an Amber Alert in Greece for a child that goes missing and is in immediate danger.

More concretely, both organizations cooperate through the dissemination of an Alert message to the community of Facebook in the event of a missing child at risk and an activation of the mechanism of Amber Alert. The purpose of this partnership is to facilitate the spreading of instant information via a dedicated email notification to all users in Greece when a child goes missing.

In addition, the partnership between “The Smile of the Child” and Facebook focuses on issues related to the online safety of children and the prevention of cybercrime. This cooperation is possible thanks to the 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year operation of the National Helpline for Children SOS 1056 and the European Helpline for Children and Adolescents 116111, as well as the partnership with the Cyber-Crime Unit of the Hellenic Police.

For more information, please contact us at press@hamogelo.gr or +30 210 3306 140.