IGF 2020 OF #18 Safety by Design - implementation and impact

As the world's first government agency solely dedicated to online safety, the Australian eSafety Commissioner is emerging as a source of inspiration, evidence and best practice as countries around the globe seek to develop national online safety strategies and regulatory regimes. This session will provide government officials, representatives of international organisations, academics and industry partners with an overview of the role, remit and functions of eSafety.

Following this introduction, the session will focus on eSafety’s Safety by Design initiative.

The technological design and architecture of online services governs how users are able to interact and engage online. These aspects act as both a facilitator and amplifier for how humans interact, engage and behave. While technology may not drive behaviours, it is a medium through which these behaviours can manifest. As such, developers, engineers and vendors of online services play an incredibly important role in shaping online environments and users’ safety therein.

Safety by Design (SbD) seeks to drive-up standards of user safety within the technology community and secure greater consistency and standardisation of user safety considerations globally. The session will discuss:

• the importance of multi-stakeholder consultation in the development, dissemination and uptake of SbD – and in particular, the importance of incorporating the views and needs of children and young people in policy and regulatory guidance.
• how SbD is not common practice among industry partners, but that innovations in user safety are beginning to be developed at pace – illustrative case studies from industry and civil society organisations will be discussed.
• the impact that embedding user empowerment and autonomy as a core business objective for those developing products, platforms or services online could have.
• the development of eSafety's SbD Framework of guidance and resources to assist industry in implementing SbD.
• the role of national and international collaboration, multi-stakeholder engagement and coordinated efforts of the global community in achieving long-term and sustained social and cultural change.