Supporting documents

In 2009, NTT docomo’s Mobile Society Research Institute and the GSMA jointly conducted an international research study examining the ways in which children communicate through mobile phones, and the role that the mobile phone – a personal medium – plays in the formation and development of personal relationships by and between children. This study builds on a previous research conducted by the same organisations in 2008, which considered the driving forces behind the penetration of mobile phones amongst children. The report is based on questionnaire surveys conducted in the summer of 2009 in six countries: Japan, South Korea, China, India, Mexico and Cyprus. Approximately 6,000 pairs of respondents were interviewed, each consisting of a child aged between eight and 18 and his or her parent or guardian.

This report aims to shed light on these questions. It is based on questionnaire surveys conducted in five countries; Japan, Korea, China, India, and Mexico in the summer of 2008. We interviewed approximately 6,000 pairs of respondents, each consisting of a child and his or her parent or guardian. In addition, we also conducted qualitative interview surveys in Japan and Mexico as case studies to give us deeper insight into children’s use of mobile phones.

The Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Content was founded by an international group of mobile operators within the GSMA to work collectively on obstructing the use of the mobile environment by individuals or organisations wishing to consume or profit from child sexual abuse content.

As growing numbers of mobile operators offer their customers access to a range of content services, they are faced with the challenge of how to manage content which would have been subject to age restrictions if accessed through different channels. To address the issue directly and to create a framework within which a wide range of content services can be offered to customers, the European mobile industry developed, with the endorsement of the European Commission, the ‘European Framework for Safer Mobile Use by Younger Teenagers and Children’.The framework contains recommendations designed to ensure that younger teenagers and children can safely access content on their mobile phones. These recommendations relate to:

• Classification of commercial content – mobile operators’ own and third party commercial content should be classified in line with existing national standards of decency and appropriateness so as to identify content unsuitable for viewing by younger teenagers and children
• Access control mechanisms – appropriate means for parents for controlling access to this content should be provided
• Education and awareness-raising – mobile operators should work to raise awareness and provide advice to parents on safer use of mobile services, and ensure customers have ready-access to mechanisms for reporting safety concerns
• Fighting illegal content on mobile community products or the Internet – mobile operators should work with law enforcement agencies, national authorities and INHOPE or equivalent bodies to combat illegal content on the Internet.

As the use of mobile phones by children and young people continues to grow, mobile operators need to adopt a consistently responsible approach to protect and support younger users. The GSMA leads and participates in many initiatives which are designed to address issues related to child protection and the safer use of mobile phones by children and young people.This flyer outlines the work the GSMA and our members are involved in.

As growing numbers of mobile operators offer their customers access to a rich and compelling range of content services, they are faced with the challenge of how to manage content which would have been subject to age restrictions if accessed through different channels.To address the issue directly and to create a framework within which a wide range of content services can be offered to customers, the European mobile industry developed the European Framework for Safer Mobile Use by Younger Teenagers and Children. The framework lays down a number of recommendations designed to ensure that children and younger teenagers can safely access content on their mobile phones.

As part of its ongoing commitment to fighting online child sexual abuse content and, in particular, to helping its members realise the objectives of the Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Content, the GSMA has worked with INHOPE, Save the Children, ECPAT, IWF, Net Safe Latvia, Meldpunt, ICMEC and Interpol to collate information which will help organisations build fully-functioning hotlines in countries where no such facility is currently in place.

www.teachtoday.eu is an educational website providing information and advice for teachers and the school community about the positive, responsible and safe use of new technologies. This flyer provides more information about the website.