International “Stop Cyberbullying” Conference
Ivan G. Seidenberg
New York, NY
June 3, 2008
As Delivered
Introduction by Parry Aftab, founder of WiredSafety.org.
Thank you, Parry, for that introduction and, more important, thank you for all you do to put on the map the issue of providing a safe online experience for kids. It’s really inspiring to see the breadth of the constituency in this room today, and Verizon is proud to be a part of this team.
I also want to thank Pace University … for hosting this conference, and for its leadership in focusing on cyber-safety and security as part of its curriculum. In the face of those who seek to use the Internet to harm and exploit, you are using the Internet to teach and empower, which Verizon believes is the best path to creating a safe and secure digital space for our children.
I know you’ve heard from some teen-agers at this conference, and I think you’ll agree that – when it comes to “being digital” – we grown-ups have some catching up to do.
When today’s teen-agers were babies in, say, 1993, there were about 3 million Internet users and maybe 10,000 websites in the world. Today, there are more than 1.2 billion people online around the world and upwards of 100 million websites. More than half of all American households have some form of a broadband connection today, a number that has grown more than 300 percent over the last five years. Add to this the rise of cell phones and the emergence of “texting” as a second language for teen-agers, and it’s clear that today’s young people have been bathed in digital culture -- at home, at school and in between – pretty much from the day they were born.
This immersion in digital life has opened vistas for our children that people of my generation could never dream of. With the click of a mouse, a person can travel the world, publish a novel, start a business, learn a language, make a friend – all on a medium that transcends distance, time, physical limitations and economic barriers. Social networking sites are today one of the most innovative components of this online world, creating virtual town squares where cybercitizens anywhere in the world can gather.
Of course, as a major broadband and wireless company, Verizon has been at the center of this revolution. We believe strongly that broadband is a positive force in our society and that getting this technology in the hands of as many people as possible, as fast as we can, is good for our customers, our company, and our country. As we add to the speed and capacity of our networks, the Internet is evolving from a written to a visual medium, which is ushering in a whole new generation of two-way, high-definition, multi-media services. As that happens, we see even more fantastic opportunities in the future to create whole new industries and re-invent entertainment, education, medicine and the arts.
But accompanying the rewards in the Internet revolution are some risks. As digitization turns content into ones and zeroes, we need to find new ways to protect intellectual property. As more and more commerce is conducted on the web, we must be vigilant about protecting personal information and guarding against unscrupulous spammers and fraudsters.
Consumers will only fully utilize the capabilities of broadband networks if they trust that their personal information will remain private and that those they do business with online will keep that information secure. So, privacy is a priority at Verizon. Protecting the privacy of customer information is a requirement for every employee, and we work hard to earn and maintain our customers' trust.
Verizon has tried to stay ahead of the curve in meeting our customers’ privacy requirements. We were one of the first companies to have a Chief Privacy Officer and a clear online privacy policy. Working with groups like WiredSafety, we sought to protect consumer privacy during investigations into illegal downloading and file-sharing investigations. And it’s why Verizon makes a number of different privacy tools available to our customers for their home computers or mobile phones.
For all of our efforts, however, we know there is more to be done. We know that some adults have found insidious ways to take advantage of the Internet’s openness and global reach to create forums for hate, illegal activity and intimidation. More disturbing is the growing number of young people who use online communities and mobile communications tools for cruel, hateful and abusive behavior against one another.
Surveys indicate that the incidence of this kind of cyber-bullying is shockingly high. According to the Pew Internet surveys, one out of every three teen-agers reports being contacted by a stranger online. Among social network users, that number rises to 40 percent. Eleven percent of online girls say they’ve been contacted by strangers who made them feel scared or uncomfortable. Thirty-two percent of teens say they’ve been harassed online by someone who posted unwanted photos, spread rumors, circulated emails or made threats.
Parry’s organization, WiredSafety.org, surveyed more than 45,000 middle and high school students last year and found that more than 80 percent had experienced at least once some form of bullying online.
And here’s something to think about: Pew reported that only 11 percent of teens say they’ve talked to their parents or another authority figure about these kinds of disturbing online experiences.
All of us must be committed to addressing these challenges. In our view, our society will never realize the full promise of broadband technology unless we make it a safe and secure environment for commerce, communications, and – most of all – for kids. That’s why it’s critical to Verizon’s future that we play an active role in this vital conversation.
In 2006, to make cyber-safety a priority, we launched our “Partnership for a Child-Safe Internet” – a series of face-to-face meetings that engaged state and civic leaders, educators, law enforcement agencies, child advocates and community organizations. Working with state attorneys general around the country, we’ve held town hall meetings in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee to discuss how parents and law enforcement can work together to keep our children safe online, and we’ll be doing more of these forums in the months to come.
We’re also fighting fire with fire – using technology to give parents the tools to protect their own digital information and create a safe online environment for their children. For example, we provide our mobile customers a variety of security controls, content rating filters, and blocking options that they can use -- for free -- to control how their children use their cell phones.
Right now “location-based services” are becoming popular with mobile device users. They can help you navigate a new part of town or help a parent identify where their child with a mobile phone is. But we also understand that with such new innovations there are privacy issues about how such consumer information – where you are, what you are doing – could be used. That’s why Verizon requires that the consumer make the choice about turning on location-tracking features, other than for emergency 911 purposes.
We’re also seeking to further empower our customers when they connect to our broadband networks at home. Our Internet service, Verizon Online, also has a suite of strong parental controls, which – I am pleased to announce – will soon be offered free of charge to all consumer broadband customers. These tools will allow parents to filter web sites based on age-sensitive content, control access to chat, email and file-sharing applications, and monitor Internet activity.
Tools without an understanding how they can and should be used don’t do much good, which is why conferences like this one, and the involvement of Pace University and WireSafety, is so important.
It’s important that young people understand the “rules of the road” on the information highway, whether it’s how to deal with the threat of anonymous online lurkers or abusive peers.
It’s important that parents understand the virtual communities their children are spending greater amounts of time in, how they are organized, how they function, and the risks and rewards these new communications tools present.
And it’s important that professionals who enable the sites and Web applications, the hardware and software that makes the Internet so vibrant, understand the great responsibility and trust that is placed with them in ensuring a secure and safe online experience for all of us.
Educated, empowered and engaged adults can use these technological tools to fight back against those who are using the Internet to prey on the most vulnerable among us. Verizon is proud to be working with Pace and WiredSafety to meet the needs of everyone invested in the future of the Internet. But at the end of the day, this battle will not be fought entirely on technological grounds.
The tools of the cyber-bully may be 21st century, but the intolerance and insecurity at the root of their behavior are as old as time. What these victimizers count on is that they can shame their victims into silence and isolation, while they use the viral quality of social networking to spread a kind of fear, intimidation and embarrassment that can be as devastating, if not more so, to young people than physical threats during recess.
It’s up to us to turn this assumption on its head.
By opening a dialogue with our children about the safe use of the Internet, we can shine a bright light on this issue and dispel the cloud of shame that allows predators and bullies to do their work. By coming together as families and communities, we can create social networks that spread positive values and build self-esteem. And by educating our young people to use these powerful online tools responsibly, we can advance a culture of trust, respect and accountability on the Internet, just as we do in our schools, homes, businesses and society.
Broadband technology is a powerful tool. How we use it is up to us. I look forward to working with in partnership with all of you to create a safe, secure and rewarding future for our children and for our society.
###
