Safer Internet Day: Children want tech companies to do more to protect them but will they?

Children want greater protection online and want technology companies and governments to do more to keep them safe, according to a new study released on Tuesday.

The research coincides with Safer Internet Day, a day to raise awareness of a safer and better internet for all, especially for children.

It also comes after Silicon Valley social media Übermenschen, such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, were grilled in a US Senate hearing last week on “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis”.

The study, by the charity Save the Children and the Young & Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University, showed that children routinely interact with people they do not know online and are three times more likely to ignore or decline an inappropriate or unwanted request than they are to report or block it.

Almost 600 children aged between 9 and 16 across Australia, Cambodia, Finland, the Philippines, Kenya, South Africa and Colombia participated in the survey.

It also found that children use their intuition and background checks rather than seeking help from trusted adults to manage their online interactions with people they do not know, putting greater importance on social media companies.

“I suggest all websites are age-restricted and require proof when putting in age. People should be kept safe when interacting with strangers online, because one message, video, or post can have a great impact on a child’s mind,” said 12-year-old Sophie (whose real name was not used) from Australia.

The children surveyed also placed great importance on governments to regulate tech companies and hold them to account.

“I personally would like the government to put strict rules on different social media platforms working together with organisations. I would also like the government to create more awareness to young people who use the internet and don't know about the risks online,” Baraka (whose real name not used), aged 15, from Kenya, said.

The study also found that children are more often abused or exploited online by people they know and they generally speak about bullying and harassment rather than child sexual abuse material, said Steve Miller, Save the Children’s