Yesterday I went to the report launch for the 5Rights (previously iRights) Youth Juries entitled “The Internet on Our Own Terms: How Children and Young People Deliberated About Their Digital Rights.” I won’t discuss what the report outlines because you should definitely take a look at what the young people had to say about their Internet rights yourself.
Much of the discussion was centred around “The Right to Know” whereby young people wanted to have more choice over what information is collected about them online. It was striking (and a relief) that this is a concern shared by adults as well. However, I think the biggest takeaway from the discussion yesterday was what one of the 17 year olds had to say about digital economy education: adults should not excuse themselves from learning about the internet, because parents and teachers are the people who youth look to, to help them understand the world around them. A world that is seamlessly physical and virtual.
It was an absolute honour to be amongst so many fantastic people and the organisations they were representing. And of course, to have the Open Educational Resource discussed as well. I am certainly looking forward to the outcomes of the UnBias project, that deals directly with the issues raised by the youth around algorithms, filter bubbles and predictive privacy harms.