TOWARDS A BETTER INTERNET FOR CHILDREN? POLICY PILLARS, PLAYERS AND PARADOXES

Abstract

Reviews the book, Towards a Better Internet for Children? Policy Pillars, Players and Paradoxes by Brian O'Neill, Elizabeth Staksrud, and Sharon McLaughlin (2013). The volume is presented in three sections. The first, Policy Pillars, analyses the effectiveness of a wide range of tools available to regulators, from hard legislation to the soft regulations mandating self and co-regulation with Internet providers and media companies. The second section, Policy Players, explores the evolving role of different policy players: regulators, parents as first teachers, socially responsible industry, teachers and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). The final, and arguably the most challenging section, Policy Paradoxes, explores the challenges that will continue to engage researchers into the future: issues of risk versus harm, protection versus privacy, intercultural issues which relate to the cultural context of risk and, finally, how to tie rights to responsibilities when it comes to charting diverse children's participation in the digital age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)