Every year in February, many countries celebrate International Safer Internet Day. Safer Internet Day, SID) – on the second day of the second week of the second month of the year. It is held under the motto «Together for the best Internet (Together for a better internet).
The rapid spread of Internet technologies in everyday life has become a distinctive feature of our time. The Internet, as one of the most significant phenomena of progress, has radically changed and continues to change the life of modern man. Being part of progress and its logical stage, the Internet itself has become a certain kind of stage for new discoveries and development that are no longer conceivable without it.
Like any phenomenon of reality, it brings with it a lot of consequences, both positive and negative. Recognizing the colossal role of the Internet in the development of humanity, the initiators of the relatively young holiday tried to draw public attention to precisely those aspects and features of the World Wide Web that play a negative role in human life.
Activists and organizers of events dedicated to the holiday strive to explain to the younger generation and representatives of older age groups responsible for its formation the peculiarities of human work in this global information network. They draw attention to the fact that the Internet, being a kind of bank and relay of information, must be able to use it wisely, drawing from what you are looking for in it, filtering out unnecessary things and protecting yourself and your loved ones from outright garbage, falsehood, asocial and immoral components of individual pages.
First of all, the organizers were concerned about the safety of the Internet for the younger generation, whose consciousness is still in the process of formation and sometimes unable to resist.
The establishment of the holiday took place in 2004 as one of the planned activities within the framework of the «Safe Internet» program implemented by the European Commission. Starting next year, the non-profit organization Insafe became the coordinator of all events dedicated to International Safer Internet Day. All EU countries, joined by Russia, Norway and Iceland, became members of this organization. 20 years after the establishment of the holiday, it is celebrated in more than 150 countries around the world.
Russia has become a constant participant in these events since 2007. The holding of Safe Runet Week, which precedes the celebration of International Day, has already become traditional. On the Russian side, the active initiator and coordinator of the events is the Regional Public Center for Internet Technologies (ROCIT). And the official organizer of the events of the International Day of Safe Internet in Russia is the Center for Security in the Information Society «Don’t Let!».
Every year, as part of the celebration of the Day, round tables, seminars, webinars, conferences, presentations of new programs that ensure Internet security, etc. are held. Representatives of universities, software development companies, representatives of law enforcement agencies and public organizations take part in many events.
Largely thanks to the active position of the organizers, comprehensive measures are being developed at the state level aimed at creating a safe Internet environment for the younger generation, and amendments are being made to legislation providing for liability for the dissemination of information harmful to the health and development of children and adolescents. In Russia there are «hotlines», as well as public organizations to combat illegal content.
Let us remind you that every year another interesting and useful holiday is celebrated – International Day WITHOUT the Internet.