Big brains from Harvard lead MySpace task force – but why?

by Steve Ragan - Mar 3 2008, 09:00

Created to explore online safety for kids, some of the top minds from Harvard Law will head up a task force that MySpace created. The Internet Safety Technical Task Force (ISTTF) is a part of a deal MySpace struck with several state attorney generals early this year. Will a group of technology and law experts really come up with something technical to protect children?

The overall goal of the ISTTF is to address the growing concern of safety for children online. The mandate, according to MySpace, is to explore not only safety from pedophiles, but to explore ways that children can be protected from cyber bullies and adult content. While founded by the company, MySpace said the ISTTF will remain independent, and will be run by Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

The ISTTF includes other well-known minds from the internet. Google, Yahoo, Time Warner’s AOL, Microsoft, and Facebook will take part in talks and planning as well.

So, focusing on the security aspect of this story, how will a group of smart people come up with something to protect the kids? How about offering parenting classes to the parents of the supposed at risk children? Taking a purely technical stance to this topic is maybe half of the overall issue.

Technology will not completely stem the amount of exposure children have online. The moment a child is online there is risk, and while it is true technology exists to help limit some of the risk, it will not limit all of it.

“Do they really think that better electronic solutions are going to do anything at all to this generation of techno-savvy kids? You may as well try to hold your hands up to stop a tsunami. Within a few minutes of instituting any electronic barriers, the kids will have a ‘work-around’ posted on their MySpace page and on a variety of websites,” said Dr. Larry Rosen, author, on another Tech Herald article posted about this topic.

While, unfamiliar with Dr. Rosen’s book, I will have to agree. How many parents out there remember Net Nanny? There is no solid technical or security solution that will help this problem, the best help will come from communication and from parents who take an interest in their child’s online life.

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