Press release

Digital Ethics of Childhood Charter presented in Russia

The Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment presented the Digital Ethics of Childhood Charter, outlining key principles and practical recommendations for fostering a safe and friendly online space. Everyone is welcome to join the Charter. It is based on five key principles: respect for children as individuals, joint responsibility, preservation of privacy, value-driven guidance in the online space, and an inclusive approach. Following these principles voluntarily will help increase the level of digital literacy and protect children from online threats.

Anton Shingaryov, Chairman of the Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment: "Establishing the Charter is an opportunity to expand the dialogue and join forces to protect children in the digital environment. Along with representatives of businesses, non-profits, and relevant organizations, we will work hard to create a safe online environment for children. We would be glad to see everyone directly related to working with children among the participants."

Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia: "It's key that the Charter is based on establishing a dialogue with children, listening to and acting on their feedback. The safety of children in the digital environment is clearly a joint responsibility of the state, businesses, parents, and teachers. As we move forward with the Charter, it must create new opportunities for children in the digital world, promote a system of values and ethical principles to help foster a culture of online communication, develop children's ability to think critically, and put technology to good use." 

The Alliance's founding members were the first to join the Charter. The memorandum of accession to the Charter was also signed by Rambler & Co Editorial Director Andrey Tsyper in his capacity as representative of Sberbank of Russia. Sberbank of Russia has become an associate member of the Alliance. As part of the work they do together, the participants will implement joint projects. 

Vladislav Kreynin, senior vice president and director of the Marketing and Communications Department at Sberbank: "Digital technology is becoming an indispensable and integral part of our daily life, with people learning digital basics at a very early age. The internet opens up a completely new realm for children in which they can learn about the world, study, and socialize with their peers. It affects them immensely. With that in mind, content in the digital space has become key to the well-being and safety of children, who must be securely protected in this domain. Sber is excited to join the Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment and contribute to their safety." 

Anna Kopylova, Program Development Director at Zhuravlik charity foundation: "Zhuravlik is always enthusiastic about projects that contribute to a safe environment for children, both online and offline. In our digital era, it's no secret that children spend a lot of time online. We therefore welcome the idea of adopting the Charter as an overarching document dedicated to their online safety. Given our work handling real-life incidents of cyberbullying and seeing the impact it can have, we're prepared to co-sign the Charter and coordinate with colleagues from non-profit organizations and businesses to make the online space a friendly, open, interesting, and safe place for children." 

Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights in Russia: "Digital technologies are our children's companions from their earliest years. Children learn how to use gadgets when they're still learning to walk. The fact that the leading IT companies in our country have joined the Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment and are now signing the Charter is a mark of civility and responsibility for our society. May the Charter become a beacon of goodness and light in the expansive digital universe." 

Alexander Pankov, Vice President for Government Relationships at Beeline: "The Charter signed today is aimed at respecting the child as a person, preserving the privacy of their personal data and maintaining core values. We fully share these principles since following them is our only path forward to creating a safe digital environment for our children and providing them with opportunities to grow. Beeline has developed a program called Personal Security aimed at creating products for physical and cyber security within the family context that are focused particularly at protecting children. To that same end, we have also created and are continuously working to improve our Kinbery app. We are now developing another service for kids aged 3-7 and their parents. It's called Backpack. This is a safe-content platform for childhood education that also offers educational games." The educational communication platform for digital credibility developed by MegaFon as part of the Alliance is an example of strong compliance with Charter principles. The project is aimed at uniting family members: children and teenagers can learn the basics of safety as well as the rules of online behavior in a playful manner, while their parents gain access to an information portal with educational content to better understand the online behavior of their children." 

Yulia Golubeva, Deputy General Director of Gazprom-Media Holding: "We at Gazprom-Media Holding are currently working on animated products for different segments of the youth audience, specifically in the domain of digital literacy. Our goal is to safeguard the very first steps of our kids on the web and help teenagers deal with tough and stressful cyberbullying situations. Next year, with expert support from Youth Digital Ombudsman Dmitry Gulyaev, we also plan to launch a cycle of on-air activities on Children's Radio and the Deti.FM portal. We will enlighten both children and parents about online etiquette, teach them how to protect their personal data, and touch on other important topics." 

Vladimir Mesropyan, Director of Public Relations at MegaFon: "By joining the Alliance, we were able to take a broader look at the problem of cyber security, gaining deeper insight into the threats facing the children and adolescents who are the future of our country. On the one hand, adults and children lack knowledge about online threats. Even more importantly, however, they don't know how to build communication that will solve their problem rather than widen the gap. We're developing a communication platform for digital credibility, offering customized content for children, teenagers, parents, and teachers. The platform will be an ongoing project, and we would like to invite expert psychologists and educators to participate in content development." 

Olga Ziborova, MTS Vice President for Ecosystem Development and Marketing: "The Generation M program MTS launched is an effective practice for the development of cognitive functions in children in the digital environment. We leverage the www.pokolenie.mts.ru platform to provide children with free and open access to educational content from Russia's leading cultural organizations and creative associations in a user-friendly and digital-native format. While only a select few had the opportunity to be trained by such globally-renowned cultural leaders in the past, technology has made it available for everyone, regardless of where they live, how much money they have, and other constraints that foster inequality. The UN has included the program in its list of best practices focused on achieving five sustainable development goals. Another important area of the Alliance's work is to create digital products that build dialogue between parents and children, including children with special needs. We believe technology is an international language for barrier-free communications, which is why we're launching a special mobile app for children with autism and their parents that we created in partnership with industry experts. Though the product is still just in the pilot phase, we have already received rave reviews from the expert community and seen strong demand." 

Olesya Lanina, NMG's Deputy General Director for Legal Affairs: "The key principle for us at the National Media Group is taking a responsible approach to every product created by our holding and distributed in every medium, from classical TV broadcasts to online platforms. The NMG perimeter currently runs several TV channels for children with a reach in the millions, broadcasting focus content with integrated educational programs. To achieve the Alliance's shared goals, we also integrated digital literacy lessons into a show on the STS Kids TV channel. At the initiative of the holding, a special chatbot called "What's tough for teenagers" was created with articles presenting expert advice on the most common problems faced by adolescents, including cyberbullying and how to counteract it. Signing the Charter is an important step and opportunity to expand the dialogue between the members of the Alliance, uniting our efforts to protect children in the modern digital space." 

Mikhail Pribochy, Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab in Russia and CIS countries: "Most children today get hold of their first gadget at the age of three. To protect them from inappropriate content, phishing, spam, and other cyber threats, we recommend non-technical protection measures in addition to special settings and programs, teaching children digital literacy from the first steps they take online. We are proud of our work as part of the Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment and have joined the charter because we believe following its principles will make the digital environment a safer place." 

Background:
The Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment is focused on creating a safe online space for children to unlock the full creative potential of the new generation. It was founded by nine major Russian companies working in the field of IT and communications: Beeline, Gazprom-Media Holding, Kaspersky Lab, MegaFon, MTS, VK, National Media Group, Rostelecom, and Yandex. On September 1, 2021, the companies signed the Agreement on Cooperation and Joining the Alliance. The members of the Alliance have made voluntary commitments aimed at improving digital literacy among children, parents, and educators, establishing and promoting positive and educational content, developing new approaches to protect children online, creating relevant IT solutions for personal data protection, and proactively identifying and removing content that might harm the health and development of children. One important area of the Alliance's work is constant dialogue with the government and international organizations to coordinate efforts protecting children in the digital world.

Alliance's PR Office
pr@internetforkids.ru