Technologies related toArtificial intelligence they are often accused of favoring cybercriminals of various types, making it easier for fraud and other malicious activities to occur.
In reality, in recent months, we have also been working in areas useful for society. In the United Kingdomfor example, thanks to a project linked to Ofcomis working to create an AI-powered system that protects children from harmful content present online.
This tool is part of a wider Ofcom initiative, which will take hold in the coming weeks and will become a solid reality by the end of the year. The director of Ofcom’s Online Safety Group described the project, Mark Buntingwho gave an interview to the site TechCrunch. According to what Bunting stated, technology already offers useful tools in this sense, focusing on how it remains important to protect freedom of expression e privacy boys.
He then underlined that, as with most regulations relating to online safety, the responsibilities lie with individual companies. These must take the most appropriate measures to protect users.
Children and the dangers of the Internet: 38% of children between 5 and 7 years old regularly access social networks
Ofcom’s mobilization came following research into the relationship between children and the internet in the United Kingdom. According to what emerged from the study, more and more young people are dealing with the Internet on a daily basis.
Other similar studies, held in the context of the United States, have confirmed this trend. It is estimated, in fact, that the 24% of American children aged between 5 and 7 years has its own smartphonewhile the 76% has regular access to a tablet.
Another worrying fact is that represented by the age limits for access to social networks which, apparently, are very little respected in Great Britain. Numbers in hand, the 38% of children between 5 and 7 years old already use platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok o ByteDance.
The study also highlights how the 32% of very young users, belonging to the age group just mentioned, surf online without the presence of a parent. All this, taking into account that the 30% of parents easily accept that their minor children have an account on social networks.
For Ofcom, the issues in this context are diverse and range from adult to feared content deepfake.