Latest news with #RobCope
Scoop
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Online Safety Crisis Solved: Filmmaker And Advocate Proposes Game-Changing New Law
Press Release – Case Basket Communications Under his proposed legislation, routers and phones would automatically filter harmful content for those under 18, while adults remain free to browse as usual. Another recognisable voice has just joined the legislative conversation about kids' online safety this week. Kiwi filmmaker and online safety expert Rob Cope has revealed that he wrote his own long-considered bill over the summer holidays. While he fully supports efforts to protect minors from the ills of social media, he proposes a more impactful and long-lasting place to start solving this problem. 'I definitely support MP Catherine Wedd's proposed bill to ban social media for children under 16 and I'm really encouraged to see the Prime Minister setting aside resources for this area of work,' says the co-founder of Our Kids Online who has spoken before tens of thousands of parents and teachers over the last seven years. 'But before we tackle social media – a complex beast with boundaries that are hard to define – we need to start at the very first rung on the ladder, which is providing access to safe internet for children and youth under 18 in Aotearoa.' Cope agrees that social media is 'a massive concern' but dealing with this as if it's the whole solution would be like building a house before the foundations are laid. The basic protections our children need are found in filtering harmful and explicit content for all minors – on phones, at home, and in public, he says. This is exactly what is proposed in Cope's The New Zealand Child Internet Safety Act: Protecting Minors from Harmful Online Content. 'You could see this as the foundation, and then social media protections built on top of this. Ideally, New Zealand would filter the internet for minors as I've proposed and, then afterwards, look at how to protect our tamariki from social media. 'For 30 years, the internet has remained unfiltered for most of our kids and, naturally, we've asked ourselves and countless others why the majority of parents haven't already seriously considered filtering. I think it's a natural subconscious belief that 'If it was really that bad, the government would've done something by now.' But they haven't – not for 30 years. It's long overdue, and our kids are paying the price,' says Cope. Under his proposed legislation, routers and phones would automatically filter harmful content for those under 18, while adults remain free to browse as usual. To those who would argue that filtering legislation is too hard or too expensive to implement, the dad of four responds with a challenge: 'How can we afford not to? We're pouring millions into mental health support for our youth every year and we now know that a growing proportion of that distress is down to an unfiltered online world. If we can stop the harm before it happens, we'll not only protect our children – we'll ease the pressure on families, schools, and already overwhelmed mental health services.' Cope stresses that this mess is not a technology issue – the tools already exist in various forms; it is a legislative issue. 'Let's not fail our tamariki because of a lack of creativity or effort. We're a nation of pioneers — Kiwis are known for their hard work and innovation. Let's roll up our sleeves, collaborate, innovate, and do what it takes to keep our kids safe online.'
Scoop
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Online Safety Crisis Solved: Filmmaker And Advocate Proposes Game-Changing New Law
Press Release – Case Basket Communications Under his proposed legislation, routers and phones would automatically filter harmful content for those under 18, while adults remain free to browse as usual. Another recognisable voice has just joined the legislative conversation about kids' online safety this week. Kiwi filmmaker and online safety expert Rob Cope has revealed that he wrote his own long-considered bill over the summer holidays. While he fully supports efforts to protect minors from the ills of social media, he proposes a more impactful and long-lasting place to start solving this problem. 'I definitely support MP Catherine Wedd's proposed bill to ban social media for children under 16 and I'm really encouraged to see the Prime Minister setting aside resources for this area of work,' says the co-founder of Our Kids Online who has spoken before tens of thousands of parents and teachers over the last seven years. 'But before we tackle social media – a complex beast with boundaries that are hard to define – we need to start at the very first rung on the ladder, which is providing access to safe internet for children and youth under 18 in Aotearoa.' Cope agrees that social media is 'a massive concern' but dealing with this as if it's the whole solution would be like building a house before the foundations are laid. The basic protections our children need are found in filtering harmful and explicit content for all minors – on phones, at home, and in public, he says. This is exactly what is proposed in Cope's The New Zealand Child Internet Safety Act: Protecting Minors from Harmful Online Content. 'You could see this as the foundation, and then social media protections built on top of this. Ideally, New Zealand would filter the internet for minors as I've proposed and, then afterwards, look at how to protect our tamariki from social media. 'For 30 years, the internet has remained unfiltered for most of our kids and, naturally, we've asked ourselves and countless others why the majority of parents haven't already seriously considered filtering. I think it's a natural subconscious belief that 'If it was really that bad, the government would've done something by now.' But they haven't – not for 30 years. It's long overdue, and our kids are paying the price,' says Cope. Under his proposed legislation, routers and phones would automatically filter harmful content for those under 18, while adults remain free to browse as usual. To those who would argue that filtering legislation is too hard or too expensive to implement, the dad of four responds with a challenge: 'How can we afford not to? We're pouring millions into mental health support for our youth every year and we now know that a growing proportion of that distress is down to an unfiltered online world. If we can stop the harm before it happens, we'll not only protect our children – we'll ease the pressure on families, schools, and already overwhelmed mental health services.' Cope stresses that this mess is not a technology issue – the tools already exist in various forms; it is a legislative issue. 'Let's not fail our tamariki because of a lack of creativity or effort. We're a nation of pioneers — Kiwis are known for their hard work and innovation. Let's roll up our sleeves, collaborate, innovate, and do what it takes to keep our kids safe online.'
Scoop
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Online Safety Crisis Solved: Filmmaker And Advocate Proposes Game-Changing New Law
Another recognisable voice has just joined the legislative conversation about kids' online safety this week. Kiwi filmmaker and online safety expert Rob Cope has revealed that he wrote his own long-considered bill over the summer holidays. While he fully supports efforts to protect minors from the ills of social media, he proposes a more impactful and long-lasting place to start solving this problem. 'I definitely support MP Catherine Wedd's proposed bill to ban social media for children under 16 and I'm really encouraged to see the Prime Minister setting aside resources for this area of work,' says the co-founder of Our Kids Online who has spoken before tens of thousands of parents and teachers over the last seven years. 'But before we tackle social media – a complex beast with boundaries that are hard to define - we need to start at the very first rung on the ladder, which is providing access to safe internet for children and youth under 18 in Aotearoa.' Cope agrees that social media is 'a massive concern' but dealing with this as if it's the whole solution would be like building a house before the foundations are laid. The basic protections our children need are found in filtering harmful and explicit content for all minors - on phones, at home, and in public, he says. This is exactly what is proposed in Cope's The New Zealand Child Internet Safety Act: Protecting Minors from Harmful Online Content. 'You could see this as the foundation, and then social media protections built on top of this. Ideally, New Zealand would filter the internet for minors as I've proposed and, then afterwards, look at how to protect our tamariki from social media. 'For 30 years, the internet has remained unfiltered for most of our kids and, naturally, we've asked ourselves and countless others why the majority of parents haven't already seriously considered filtering. I think it's a natural subconscious belief that 'If it was really that bad, the government would've done something by now.' But they haven't – not for 30 years. It's long overdue, and our kids are paying the price,' says Cope. Under his proposed legislation, routers and phones would automatically filter harmful content for those under 18, while adults remain free to browse as usual. To those who would argue that filtering legislation is too hard or too expensive to implement, the dad of four responds with a challenge: 'How can we afford not to? We're pouring millions into mental health support for our youth every year and we now know that a growing proportion of that distress is down to an unfiltered online world. If we can stop the harm before it happens, we'll not only protect our children – we'll ease the pressure on families, schools, and already overwhelmed mental health services.' Cope stresses that this mess is not a technology issue - the tools already exist in various forms; it is a legislative issue. 'Let's not fail our tamariki because of a lack of creativity or effort. We're a nation of pioneers — Kiwis are known for their hard work and innovation. Let's roll up our sleeves, collaborate, innovate, and do what it takes to keep our kids safe online.'
Associated Press
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
The Worst Children's Library opens: a school library so shocking children are banned
Safe Surfer and Samsung partner with Auckland school to show the scale of harmful online content in real life AUCKLAND, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, April 4, 2025 / / -- Parents are being invited to witness the confronting reality of the internet through their kid's eyes - inside a real children's library filled with content so shocking that children are banned. 'The Worst Children's Library' will strip the shelves of a real-life New Zealand school library and replace its innocent material with the harmful content that children are actually seeing online, based on multi-source global data. Showcasing over 1,000 books and book covers catalogued in a 'Dewey Decimal System of Harm', topics range from toxic masculinity and hate speech, to self-harm and animal cruelty. While some titles are too upsetting to share beyond the walls of the Library itself, examples include '100 Ways To Self-Harm', 'Cruel Ways To Kill Animals', and '1,2,3, Count Calories With Me'. Rob Cope, Our Kids Online co-founder and child cyber safety expert, is hoping that the library will be a powerful tool to help educate parents on the scale of harmful content online that is incredibly damaging to young people, by bringing to life the actual horrors that children have at their fingertips. 'We often rely on our children to be good digital citizens, when in fact they're naturally curious and it's incredibly easy to access harmful content,' Cope says. 'This library is essentially a parent's warning label for the world wide web, showcasing the eye-opening reality of how detrimental the online world is in real life.' Kieran Gleeson, Senior Leadership, Deputy Principal of Auckland Normal Intermediate School, says that they often have conversations with school parents about the issue of children's online safety - but it was extremely difficult to convey the sheer scale of harm that is so easily accessible. 'We understand that keeping up with a child's internet use—especially on social media—can feel overwhelming for parents. Many worry about what their children are seeing online but may not always know how to monitor or guide them effectively,' Gleeson says. 'The reality is that parents play the key role in managing their child's access to these platforms, often before they reach the recommended age. While schools can work hard to educate students about online safety, we can't oversee their social media use beyond the classroom. That's why we were keen to partner with Safe Surfer and Samsung - to provide parents with practical tools, insights, and support.' Children's safety online is the top concern for New Zealanders when it comes to the internet, with 71 per cent indicating they are extremely or very concerned about children accessing harmful content online*, and the New Zealand Government banning smartphone use in schools last year. This concern is not limited to Aotearoa, with the Australia recently passing a Bill to ban children under 16 from using social media and the recent TV show such 'Adolescence' sparking global conversation about the potential impacts of the digital world. 'We developed Safe Surfer to empower parents to take control of their children's online safety, and 'The Worst Children's Library' enables us to very clearly educate parents on the reality of what they need protecting from, and demonstrate how unlimited access can be extremely detrimental to a child - especially while they are so young and don't have the maturity to process and understand the context of the content they're accessing,' Cope said. 'As an issue facing parents globally, this is something that Kiwi kids are not immune to, and there is a need to partner with schools not only locally, but around the world to bring this important initiative to their community,' he says. 'The Worst Children's Library' is an initiative by Safe Surfer and Samsung New Zealand, in partnership with Auckland Normal Intermediate School. Safe Surfer is an innovative platform that uses smart technology and filtering to protect kids from harmful content, and last year partnered with Samsung to launch the Kid-Safe Smartphone - a world-first phone with customisable, in-built safety features and filtering designed to safeguard young users from online harms while keeping them connected. ENDS. Images and Video available upon request.
