On 7 February 2012, the press center of RIA Novosti hosted the third Safe Internet Forum. The Forum was organized by the League of Safer Internet, with the RF Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media, The Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC) and the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ as co-sponsors of the gathering.
The Forum is traditionally held on the Day of Safer Internet when the world sees plethora of events dedicated to safe and responsible usage of the network technology.
Mr. Igor Schegolev, the RF Minister of Telecommunications and Mass Media, opened the Forum. In his presentation he noted that the Runet boasts 60-plus million users, each going online no less than once a month. Teens between 12 and 15 years constitute 59% of the Web audience, which often plays straight into intruders’ hands. The Minister also stressed that the government is always ready to assist and support NGOs combating illegal online content.
The problem of improper content is a hot potato at the Forum, with practically each presenter tackling the issue of combating illegal content. For example, Konstantin Malofeev, Chairman of the Board of the League of Safer Internet, called on all attendees to join efforts to build new efficient mechanisms to protect the Web from illegal content.
Mikhail Yakushev, the CC’s Council Member and the Head of the RAEC Commission on Legal Issues, elaborated on methods to combat illegal content. He believes that all available methods should be employed, including legislative and technical ones, education of users, and self-regulation in the Web. “None of the existing technical methods of content blocking is at 100% effective, - said Mikhail Yakushev. – Each of them have flaws which affect the Internet’s overall performance and pose a threat to freedom of speech and the users’ rights.”
Marina Zhunich, GR Director of Google, is confident that it is impossible to create a technological tool capable of fully protecting users from an inappropriate content. According to M. Zhunich, the focus should be made on self-regulation of the industry.
Other speakers at the Forum’s plenary discussion were Nikolay Prianishnikov (Microsoft), Natalya Kasperskaya (InfoWatch), Valery Ermakov (Megafon) and Alexander Popovsky (MTS), to name a few.
