On February 11-20, the 18th Safer Runet Week, an annual nationwide initiative designed to raise awareness of digital security issues, took place in Russia. This year, the Week covered almost all regions of the country, combining 14 events of various formats under its umbrella: conferences, seminars, roundtable discussions, public speeches, streams, webinars, and quizzes. The Week targeted different audiences such as children and teenagers, parents, education specialists, digital industry, public organizations, and government agencies.
The event was organized by the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ jointly with the Safe Internet Center (founder of the Week) and RAEC (leading association of the Russian “digital contour”). The Smart Internet Foundation (.ДЕТИ domain) became the Week’s information partner.
The Safer Runet Week kicked off on February 11, International Safer Internet Day, with a news conference at the Izvestiya Multimedia Information Center (MIC). Digital industry experts discussed the main topical internet security problems, such as the use of neural networks for internet fraud, domain infrastructure’s resilience to abuse, problems of countering cyber-humiliation, development of the digital public sector, and effectiveness of complaints about illegal actions on the internet. Anton Nemkin (State Duma Committee on Information Policy), Urvan Parfentyev (Safe Internet Center), Andrey Vorobyev (CCTLD), Karen Kazaryan (Digital Economy), and Vladimir Zykov (Association of Professional Social Media Users) were the speakers. The full video of the news conference can be found on the Izvestiya MIC website.
At the same time with the conference, two events began online: a cybersecurity quiz organized by CODDY SCHOOL and streams with cases from IT influencers in Likee. Over 1,000 people took part in the quiz to compete for the main prize: an annual subscription to programming training at CODDY SCHOOL. The streams can be found in Likee using the hashtag #SaferRunetWeek.
On February 13, the Russian State Children’s Library hosted the Together for a Safer Internet, a nationwide videoconference and one of the Week’s oldest events. Over 2,000 organizations from all the regions of Russia took part in the conference, which focused on raising digital literacy and security awareness and qualifications of teachers and specialists who work with children. The participants were shown the latest projects and digital contour programs to improve the IT knowledge of children, parents, and teachers designed by the Coordination Center, the Digital Economy and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, as well as cloud storages for children’s content from the librarian community. Of course, representatives of regional libraries also spoke about their initiatives and programs for children and parents.
On the next day, February 14, two central events were held. The Russian Civic Chamber hosted a series of roundtable discussions on the digital safety of minors, organized under the auspices of the Working Group on Comprehensive Childhood Safety of the Public Council under the Commissioner for Children’s Rights. The discussions analyzed in depth educational initiatives of the digital industry and mechanisms for protecting users from abuse. In particular, the participants noted that information, educational and training activities were unsystematic, and also identified problems in the work and training of popular services’ moderators. The analysis also focused on the actual use of critical thinking by users who have a general idea of what internet threats are in a real situation. It was once again noted that minor users significantly lack resources for communication and entertainment specifically tailored for children and teenagers. The speakers also highlighted the problems with children’s personal data flow. Viktoria Bunchuk, head of social projects at the Coordination Center, told the participants about the development of the Explore the Internet & Govern It educational project to increase digital literacy, the Explore the Internet Mentor School, and the .ДЕТИ domain for children’s and teenager resources. Following the event, a list of recommendations and proposals was developed for practical correction of the situation, which will require significant steps from the digital contour and the digital public.
Meanwhile, the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis hosted a scientific and practical conference, Psychological Wellbeing of the Digital Generation in the Context of Global Challenges, held with active participation of the Psychology Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Digital socialization in the context of mixed reality was discussed there, as well as such issues as the digital generation’s responsible and critical approach to technologies, prevention of destructive behavior in the digital world, growing cyberculture, and psychological wellbeing as a necessary condition for the harmonious development of the new generation in meta-reality.
On February 17, the Safer Runet Week continued with a public meeting of the Expert Council of the Safe Information Environment project held by the Academy for Innovative Education and Development with the support of the Public Council under the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights. Experts gathered at the Russian Civic Chamber to discuss topical issues, such as assessment of advertising content. In particular, the discussion focused on the question whether it is acceptable to retell works of classics in commercials made as their mini-adaptations. It was noted that such interpretations can affect the educational process, assimilation and perception of the original text of the books in the school curriculum. A special feature of the meeting was participation of medical specialists in it, who assessed the impact of digital consumption and content from the clinical, and not psychological, point of view. The digital industry was represented by Coordination Center Director Andrey Vorobyev, who presented the CCTLD’s educational initiatives for teachers, specialists working with children, and for children.
On February 18, public speeches from cybersecurity specialists for children studying in engineering classes were held at the Moscow office of Russia’s largest internet trader, Avito. Ivan Serov (Dialogue Regions) told schoolchildren how to distinguish disinformation on the internet and how artificial intelligence is used to create it. The topic of AI was continued by Andrey Sidenko (Kaspersky Lab), whose brief lecture was dedicated to AI’s role in shaping digital reality. Andrey Yarnykh (ROCIT) elaborated on the dangers of biometry and personal data leaks, as well as the effectiveness of passwords depending on their complexity. Representatives of digital platforms spoke about practical security issues arising from the use of applications: Daniil Drozd (Likee) spoke in detail about the aspects of verifying pages in social media, and Nikita Palyokha (Avito) gave a mini-quiz on security aspects of online transactions. During the breaks before the speeches, schoolchildren could answer thematic questions from the Digital Dictation, an annual event held by RAEC. After the mini-lectures, children were given a tour of the Avito office and had the chance to see the inside work of the largest Runet trading platform.
On February 19, the Coordination Center’s webinar on the features of generation Beta and related cybersecurity risks was held at the Children’s Safe Information Environment platform. According to the invited expert Polina Azmeyeva, Rostelecom’s leading specialist and graduate of the Explore the Internet Mentor School, representatives of the generation Beta, who were first born at the beginning of 2025, will be socialized in the so-called metaverse: they will exist online and offline at the same time, without realizing the difference between the two environments. The growing cybersecurity risks for generation Beta include marketing and information pressure, digital exploitation, internet addiction, deepfakes and post-truth, artificial intelligence in upbringing and education, and the impact of influencers among others. In addition, Polina briefly outlined the theory of generations, noting the key characteristics of each one.
Meanwhile, the Moscow Aviation Institute hosted lectures as part of Internet Technologies Days, which focused on domains and cybersecurity. Experts from both the Coordination Center and partnering organizations were the speakers. They also held a Explore the Internet & Govern It quiz on universal acceptance and internationalization of the network’s address space.
20 февраля, заключительный день Недели, стал региональным. Крупные мероприятия прошли в «столице российской провинции» Урюпинске и в исторической столице России — Владимире. Урюпинск охватил две целевые аудитории The final day of the Week, February 20, was dedicated to the regions. Large events were held in Uryupinsk, known as “the capital of Russian province,” and Vladimir, which used to be the capital of Russia. Uryupinsk brought together two target audiences at an offline meeting with pedagogues on problems of organizing a safe information environment for children and at the Parents and Children in the Digital Environment: Challenges and Solutions public parent meeting. Vladimir hosted the 14th Dialogue Online Interregional Scientific and Practical Conference organized by the Vladimir Regional Library for Children and Youth, with the support of the Vladimir Region Ministry of Culture and the Novikova Vladimir Institute for Education Development. The event in Vladimir was held at several sites at once both for college students and teaching staff. Opening remarks were made by coordinator of the Center for Safe Internet in Russia Urvan Parfentyev, who also gave a lecture for teachers. Representatives of the Coordination Center held a Safe Internet Lesson and a Explore the Internet & Govern It quiz for students.
The topic of cybersecurity in its various aspects will be continued at the Topical Runet Forum organized by ROCIT with the support of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ. Its information partners are Rambler&Co and RUTUBE. The Forum will be streamed on the official ROCIT channel on RUTUBE, starting at 14:00 Moscow time
