The Chancery of the President of Latvia, in cooperation with the Latvian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) and the global development and education organisation "IREX" within the Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2022 organised the discussion "The image of my Latvia. How to distinguish true information from disinformation?" at the Latvian Presidential Palace.  

Safer Internet Day (SID) is almost here – on Tuesday, 7 February 2023, we will be millions around the globe, joining forces “Together for a better internet”. This edition is extra special, as it celebrates the 20th anniversary of this international day. Are you ready? How are you going to get involved in celebrating with us?

At the end of November, the BIK Youth Ambassadors, Joao and Kathrin, set off for Addis Ababa. After many years, the global and annual Internet Governance Forum took place again on the African continent, hosted by the Government of Ethiopia with support from the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

Great insights and discussions were held at the 2022 edition of the Internet Governance Forum (#IGF2022) on 29 November 2022. The Greek delegation was especially involved in the workshop on online disinformation. 

The Youth Panel of the Greek Safe Internet Centre of the FORTH - Institute of Computer Science Technology and Research Foundation created its own magazine "Digizens". It is a magazine produced by young people for young people themselves. The first issue is now available, and it tackles how children see the dangers of the internet, and their own advice for a better and safer internet.

On 15 November, the BIK Youth Ambassadors were invited to take part in a meeting of the “Council for Digital Good Europe” (CDG-E), where they talked about the BIK Youth activities and the Safer Internet Forum giving their views and opinions on various topics such as cyberbullying and digital safety.

Safer Internet Forum - the annual international conference on online safety for children in Europe - returned for another edition in October 2022, providing an opportunity to discuss the new European strategy for a better internet for kids (BIK+) and set new goals to achieve a safer and better online experience for all. 

Last month, the FSM - Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter e. V. presented its report on the protection of minors from harmful media for the second time after five years. Kathrin from Germany, a longstanding BIK Youth Ambassador was invited to contribute to the panel discussion on the report’s results.

This year’s edition of the annual Safer Internet Forum (SIF) is a youth-led event, with young people playing an active role in the planning, preparation and delivery of the forum. SIF takes place in a hybrid format in Brussels, Belgium and online on Thursday, 27 October 2022 with a theme of A Digital Decade for children and youth: BIK+ to protect, empower and respect! 

‘‘They say ‘young people are the future’. They say they are future voters, future politicians, and future teachers, and that’s why it’s important to empower them. But they’re wrong - young people are also the present.‘‘ - Vice-President of the EU Democracy and Demography Dubravka Šuica stated at the 14th European Forum on the rights of the child. This blog is authored by BIK Youth Ambassador, Prachi, 16, from Ireland who took part in the Forum expressing her views on the BIK+ strategy.