In the Service of Young People? Studies and Reflections on Media ...

Public <strong>Service</strong> on Digital MediaBBBOnline <strong>and</strong> WebTrust, all created in <strong>the</strong> United States, but with a limitedamount <strong>of</strong> industry subscribers. A more ambitious program for visible banners<strong>and</strong> logos has been established by 3WC (World Wide Web Consortium), with<strong>the</strong> Platform for <strong>In</strong>ternet Content Selection (PICS). It has been developed as alabelling tool to prevent children’s access to <strong>of</strong>fending <strong>and</strong> harmful content, yetwithin <strong>the</strong> realm <strong>of</strong> a free <strong>In</strong>ternet paradigm, .An alternative model has been developed in <strong>the</strong> European Union with PEGI, aclassificatory system for video games at first with current extensions to <strong>In</strong>ternet.<strong>In</strong> 2000, <strong>the</strong> two federations have agreed on “safe harbor” provisions to makesure that <strong>the</strong> differences in privacy law <strong>and</strong> children protections (that are tighterin <strong>the</strong> European Union) are met for trade purposes, though <strong>the</strong> United Statesgovernment remains very reluctant about such infringements to its laissez-fairepolitics, .But <strong>the</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> using technology as a means to enhance privacy protection<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> replacing public service obligations remains very dubious, as seals <strong>and</strong>logos present a variety <strong>of</strong> leaks that have failed to establish e-trust. A lot <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>content ratings going along with <strong>the</strong>se filters are done by <strong>the</strong> industry itself, <strong>and</strong><strong>the</strong>re is a real risk <strong>of</strong> conflict <strong>of</strong> interest <strong>and</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> objectivity. Ano<strong>the</strong>r seriousshortcoming <strong>of</strong> such technological devices <strong>and</strong> industry labels is that <strong>the</strong>re areno sanctions attached to infringement, as <strong>the</strong>y actually favour self-managementover self-regulation (Ang 2001). Also, <strong>the</strong> ratings <strong>of</strong>ten do not reflect <strong>the</strong> content<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> program or <strong>the</strong> site with accuracy (especially when it comes to violence,pr<strong>of</strong>anity <strong>and</strong> sex). As a result, parents – when <strong>the</strong>y are not completely unaware<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ratings criteria – <strong>of</strong>ten tend to seek o<strong>the</strong>r independent rating systems tomake <strong>the</strong>ir opinion (Pew Research Center 2000). Besides, a technological privacylabel may blunt <strong>the</strong> users’ awareness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> actual problems <strong>and</strong> blind <strong>the</strong>mto <strong>the</strong> appearance <strong>of</strong> new ones.O<strong>the</strong>r human-centered solutions, geared toward more interaction among variousactors, call on grassroots initiatives. They tend to interpret co-regulation asmulti-stakeholder partnerships <strong>and</strong> involve civil society entities, <strong>of</strong>ten in associationwith <strong>the</strong> state, around issues <strong>of</strong> media literacy. Some grassroots solutionshave been developed that tend to compensate <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> public service relaysin relation to this exp<strong>and</strong>ing educational necessity. A network like <strong>the</strong> CanadianRéseau Education Médias has a government m<strong>and</strong>ate to monitor <strong>and</strong> promotemedia education, be it on traditional vehicles or digital ones. The network hasdeveloped a three-pronged program, that teaches children how to confront typicalsituations on <strong>the</strong> <strong>In</strong>ternet, <strong>and</strong> aims at making <strong>the</strong>m develop <strong>the</strong>ir criticalthinking while surfing. A variety <strong>of</strong> activities are <strong>of</strong>fered, including workshopsfor teachers, librarians <strong>and</strong> parents, to acquaint <strong>the</strong>m better with young people’son-line practices, .Ano<strong>the</strong>r civil society initiative has emerged, to take into account <strong>the</strong> transborder<strong>and</strong> global dimension <strong>of</strong> on-line media. The need for action beyondnational frontiers has lead consumer groups in <strong>the</strong> United States <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> EuropeanUnion to create an international forum, <strong>the</strong> Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue,23