Free Speech debate on online safety

[Florian Rathgeber]

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Hi,

Further to our twitter conversation some information on our project:
I'm the founder of an open source project called SecondFriend
(2ndFriend) which is building a platform to support helplines for
young people in making the leap into the 21st century. Read more about
us on our website http://2ndfriend.io, where you can also find a
handout: http://2ndfriend.io/downloads/2ndfriend_handout.pdf

Based on our analysis of the status quo of counseling for young people
we think we have something to contribute to a discussion about online
safety:

There are a number of risks and opportunities associated with
navigating the Internet and on a regular basis, there are reports in
the media about cyberbullying and the risks associated with sites that
promote self-harm, eating disordered behaviours and suicide. One of
the central tenets of Internet safety education is to ensure that
people know how to report instances of abuse online. In addition to
being able to report an instance of abuse to a web site operator it
would be incredibly valuable to be able to connect people in need of
advice and support with professionals and organisations able to meet
this need. SecondFriend aims to do exactly this and to do so in ways
that protect an individual’s privacy and safety online.

Young people need ways of reaching out for help and support for issues
they're not comfortable talking to parents and peers about using their
preferred medium - the web and mobile devices. Helplines and support
networks have so far not been able to keep up with the change in young
people's communication patterns and preferences, which leads to
desperate attempts of reaching out for help via portals like Yahoo
answers. Clearly this is not a sufficient solution, but neither are
offerings recently launched by some helplines: web based chats which
deter help seekers by putting barriers like mandatory registration and
long waiting times in their way. Another issue that needs to be
addressed is the desire of a young person in need to remain anonymous
vs. the duty of care of a counsel when there is e.g. a risk of self harm.

SecondFriend aims to build an open source platform for allowing
organisations to operate a private and secure, one-click chat helpline
which is accessible via different channels such as browser plugins,
mobile apps or even text message. Moreover SecondFriend could act as
an umbrella and single point of entry for queries of different kinds
that will be automatically routed to the most relevant support network.

Kind regards,
Florian
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