Internet Matters is a

not-for-profit organisation A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations (NPO ...

based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. Launched in May 2014 by the United Kingdom's largest internet service providers BT,

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

, TalkTalk and

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

, the organisation offers child internet safety advice to parents, careers and professionals.

History

Internet Matters was launched on 13 May 2014 with a launch event at the Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, London attended by guests including

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo and ...

and

Janet Ellis Janet Ellis, (born 16 September 1955) is an English television presenter, actress and writer, who is best known for presenting the children's television programmes ''Blue Peter'' and '' Jigsaw'' between 1979 and 1987. She has published two nov ...

and industry experts including Sonia Livingstone. At the time, David Cameron described the launch as 'a significant step forward in our mission to protect our children online'. Internet Matters is supported by the largest internet service providers in the UK. Between them they have direct relationships with 90% of internet households in the UK. The organisation also works closely with other child e-safety charities and industry bodies including the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...

, Childnet,

FOSI The Fosi were a Germanic tribe. Tacitus, in his ''Germania'' mentions them as being neighbours of the Cherusci, and they suffered alongside the Cherusci in their downfall. He also noted that before their mutual downfall, the Fosi were less prosp ...

, the CEOP, search engine Google and TikTok.

Partners

Website

The Internet Matters online portal gives information and guidance about the main e-safety issues children might be exposed to when browsing the internet, as well as safeguarding and parental controls advice. The portal contains information for parents on the online issues of

cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...

, inappropriate content, online pornography, online reputation, online grooming, sexting,

self-harm Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, usually without suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-abuse, self-injury, and s ...

, radicalisation and more. The site has published guidance to help parents understand information relevant to their child’s age, the latest in connected technologies,

mobile applications A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

social networking A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

and online gaming.

Connecting Safely Online

Connecting Safely Online is an initiative to help children and young people with learning difficulties tackle online safety issues. It was launched in 2020 alongside Youthworks and in partnership with Meta.

Digital Matters

Digital Matters is an online safety learning platform designed for schools, parents, and children to teach children skills in online safety. It was developed with support from Internet Matters' partner, ESET, and uses

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

-style art. It was shortlisted for the Teach Primary 2022 awards in the App category.

Published research

Cybersafe (2013)

Cybersafe 2013 was a study commissioned to support the launch of Internet Matters. The findings of the study highlighted a clear demand for more information about the risks children face when accessing the internet, at the time of research 74% of parents surveyed stated they wanted to know more. Of the 74%, 18% wanted to learn more about filtering content and blocking access to specific websites.

Back to School (2015)

Over 1000 UK parents were surveyed to identify at what age they thought a child owning a smartphone was OK. The survey revealed that the majority of parents (84.6%) would like a minimum age on smartphone ownership with 10 being the most popular age.

Pace of Change (2015)

Internet Matters commissioned Childwise to carry out a UK-wide study to explore the use and understanding of technology among children aged 7–17, and parents of children this age. The research revealed an increasing gap between parents and children online with the fact that children spent significantly longer online, with girls using smartphones on average 4 hours a day.

References

{{reflist

External links

Internet Matters

Back to School (2015)

Pace of Change report (2015)

Cybersafe (2013)
Organizations established in 2014 2014 establishments in England Internet-related organizations Charities based in the United Kingdom