NCPCR set to finalise guidelines for responsible, safe use of social media by children

NewsIndia NewsNCPCR set to finalise guidelines for responsible, safe use of social media by children NCPCR set to finalise guidelines for responsible, safe use of social media by children NEW DELHI: Amid increasing use of digital platforms by children and concerns around child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is working to finalise the draft of the first set of comprehensive guidelines on “responsible, safe and age-appropriate use of social media by children”.

Expected to be ready in December, the commission will put up the draft thereafter for public suggestions.As part of the ongoing consultations, the commission led by its chairperson Valeti Premchand held a final stakeholder meeting with representatives of social media platforms and online gaming platforms on Thursday where representatives of Meta, Google, X, Snapchat, ShareChat and Reddit among others were present.NCPCR member secretary Sanjeev Sharma shared that the meeting focused on reviewing the existing child safety measures adopted by digital platforms and deliberating upon the recommendations contained in the child safety implementation matrix.According to the commission the participating platforms shared their inputs against each proposed child safety safeguard under three heads: measures already implemented, future plans for implementation and any other comments.

They also made brief presentations highlighting their existing child safety measures, awareness initiatives for children, parents and caregivers, and planned initiatives to further strengthen online safety.The initiative assumes significance in view of the concerns relating to exposure to harmful and age-inappropriate content, cyberbullying, online grooming, CSEAM, privacy violations and other forms of online exploitation.As part of this initiative, NCPCR held its first meeting with social media platforms and technology companies, where they deliberated upon existing child safety mechanisms, content moderation, reporting and grievance redressal systems, prevention of online exploitation and awareness measures.

Another round of consultation was held with these tech companies on an individual basis.Subsequently, NCPCR held a consultation with civil society organisations (CSOs) in July. These inputs were examined and consolidated into a ‘child safety implementation matrix’ which included the principles like safety by design, age assurance and age appropriate experience, child data protection, CSEAM detection and enforcement, anti-addictive design and digital wellbeing, reporting and time bound redressal and empowerment of children and parents.Join conversation InsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig Development The consultative process was further extended to online gaming platforms, with a separate meeting held with them in October.On the way forward, the NCPCR member secretary said that with the final stakeholders meeting done, now all views gathered will be put together and the commission was hopeful that the final draft guidelines will be ready next month and then they will put it up for public suggestions for a specific period.

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