Safety comes home to ROOST

A host of tech firms, including Google, OpenAI and Roblox, have this week launched ROOST (Robust Open Online Safety Tools) – a new initiative that will provide a much needed boost for technologies that foster online safety. The big question is: will social media platforms unite and follow ROOST’s call to action? And if so, when?

Technology is fundamental to building a safer world online, but I have long contended that these advancements must be accompanied by education, awareness and critical thought, in particular for social media users, to ensure technical protections are effective in modern society. 

So what better time to be discussing this balancing act than in the aftermath of Safer Internet Day (February 11), which brought about a host of initiatives from organisations on both tech and educational fronts. 

My pick of the bunch would be a beefy new report by the Commission into Countering Online Conspiracies in Schools, which has had a fair amount of airtime this week including Channel 4 and The Times. 

The Commission’s research looks into how children’s understanding of trustworthy media is changing, largely due to what they see and experience on social media, including creator content, misinformation, and mainstream news. 

One of the key findings of the report is that young people today live in information silos because of social media. This can fill their screen time with obscure information and disinformation. 

This illustrates in just one way (there are 12 headline findings in the report), the importance of not relying solely on technology initiatives such as ROOST, which I am certain will make a huge impact on the platforms that will apply its frameworks. 

I hope, too, that through our work at RAISE, this is balanced with societal improvement too.