POP

PoP - Protection through online participation - is a collaborative global initiative leading the way towards creating a digital world that helps children and youth access safety and protection in a timely and safe manner, when at risk of experiencing any form of harm, whether in person or online.

Our mission is to align technology with children's needs when looking for safety and protection. We envision a world where every child and youth person who has access to the internet, can connect with the help and safety they need when they need it.

Understanding how children and youth use digital platforms to be safe

Children and young people are increasingly turning to the online world when at risk of any form of violence, online or offline. They access helplines, hotlines, counselling services, and violence reporting systems, and they also use digital platforms to create solutions for the protection needs of their peers. However, there is little information about how these systems operate.

The protection community has been very focused on understanding the risks that children face online - and we need to continue to do that - but it hasn't yet fully understood the other side of the coin: how thanks to having access to the Internet, children can also be safer. Evidence is showing how sometimes the Internet is the only means through which children can access safety, especially in times of lockdown and isolation. This adds an additional layer of complexity to the digital divide, as children who have access to the Internet have higher chances of accessing protection than those who don't. There is a need to bridge that gap.

How are digital platforms an entry point to being safer?

Every child who has access to the Internet should also have access to an online protection system.

POP, Protection through online participation, has the vision of a world where children and young people can safely access support and referral systems through online means, having increased possibilities to receive support, either from their peers or official services.

Through intersectorial cooperation and an evidence-based approach, POP will provide insights into how online protection systems function, in order to share recommendations to the world on how to implement and improve these services. Led by United Nations Agencies, POP is working with over 30 global partners - private sector companies, academia, civil society organizations, and children and young people themselves - on making recommendations for implementing or improving online protection services.

Children are turning to the online world to be safe

They are reporting violence. They are connecting with helplines through online means. They are receiving counselling. They are connecting with services. They are coming up with innovative solutions to address the protection needs of their peers.

By better understanding how they're doing it, we can help them get the help they need

In 2021, disturbed by the reports of rising domestic violence under the coronavirus lockdown, a Polish adolescent girl launched a fake online shop to offer a lifeline to victims trapped in their homes. Victims can hide requests for help from their abuser at home by appearing to shop online. When a victim writes asking to buy a cream, a psychologist responds instead of a salesperson and asks how the "skin problems" have been going on or how the affected skin reacts to alcohol. If someone places an order and leaves an address. It is a code asking for authorities to visit their home.

Even though the internet is a place where children are at risk of experiencing a wide range of online threats, it's also a place where children can find safety.

When children risk being victims of in-person harms - like domestic violence and abuse, sexual violence, bullying, physical violence, and discrimination - it's common that they use the internet to look for help. The same happens when they're going through mental distress when they're scared, or feeling lonely.

When feeling unsafe, children and youth use the internet to connect to child helplines, to communities dealing with similar issues, to the police or law enforcement. Or they help each other.

Regardless of where the risk or harm is coming from, the internet is a means to connect with the help and support needed at the time. PoP believes that every child who has access to the internet should have access to safety and protection, regardless of the form of harm they may experience.

By collecting evidence on how these systems are working

POP is currently mapping online protection services (like helplines and hotlines) that use the Internet to provide support to their audiences. It has received over 3000 responses from countries in all regions through an online form being disseminated by POP partners. The next mapping phases include child and youth-led solutions and artificial intelligence-driven services addressing protection and well-being.

By combining evidence collected through POP mapping with in-depth learnings from child helplines, children and youth, and the ICT industry

In-depth interviews with children and youth leading protection solutions using the internet. Evidence collected through POP mapping. Learning from the ICT industry on how their platforms are used to access safety. In-depth interviews with selected child helplines from different regions.

By bringing together partners and experts from different fields to analyze the information and extract learnings on the benefits and challenges of supporting children through online channels

Different perspectives will be brought together to combine expertise from the private sector, UN agencies, Civil society organizations, Child helplines, Academia, Children and young people, and Policymakers.

By publishing a report with recommendations for improving and/or implementing these services

By publishing a report with recommendations for improving and/or implementing these services, addressing the ICT Industry, Governments & policymakers, Service Providers, UN Agencies, Civil Society Organizations, and Children & Youth.

2022

PoP convenes a network of global partners: UN agencies, CSOs, tech companies, and academia.

PoP outlines strategy and methodology for collecting evidence from different stakeholders.

2023

PoP collects data from 100 countries, mapping child helplines using the internet to counsel and support children.

PoP collects learning from tech platforms regarding bridging protection services with their users.

PoP convenes its network of partners for an in-person meeting to analyze findings.

2024

PoP is collecting evidence from children and young people on how they use the internet to access safety and protection when at risk of experiencing any type of harm.

PoP holds online sessions with a broader community of tech companies, to identify solutions for providing children and youth with online protection services.

PoP publishes a dynamic map to make available all the collected evidence.

PoP interviews children and youth who have led online solutions to address children's protection needs.

PoP releases recommendations for improving or implementing online protection services/ platforms/ solutions, targeting child helplines, private sector companies, children and youth, and policy makers.

2025

PoP identifies implementing partners to take forward the PoP recommendations.

PoP collects evidence on how AI is being used to support online protection services and platforms, to later release recommendations.

PoP collects evidence on how children are accessing support and protection through online gaming.

What will the report target?

Encouraging stakeholders who have not yet activated online protection systems and recommending to those stakeholders who have already activated these systems on how to improve those systems.

PoP Partners

Partners of the POP (Protection through online participation) initiative.

POP: Protection through Online Participation