UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS)

New technologies inspire children to be creative, communicate and learn. However, while the internet is a great resource, it is important that children and young people are protected from the risks they may encounter. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) is a group of more than 200 organisations drawn from across government, industry, law, academia and charity sectors that work in partnership to help keep children safe online. The Council was established in 2010 following a review by Professor Tanya Byron and discusses and takes action on topical issues concerning children’s use of the internet.

UKCCIS latest news:

Membership Review of the UKCCIS Executive Board – Spring 2016

At the request of the Ministerial co-chairs and as per the discussion at the last quarterly meeting of the UKCCIS Executive Board on 8 March 2016, the UKCCIS Secretariat is now conducting a full review of membership of the UKCCIS Executive Board and inviting applications from those interested in becoming members. The membership review is to ensure that we have the right balance of Executive Board Members around the table to deliver current and emerging priorities.

Seats will be allocated on a 2-yearly basis as stated in the UKCCIS Terms of Reference. Board members may apply as a representative of a particular organisation, or as an individual with particular expertise to offer UKCCIS.

Applicants are asked to return completed application to the UKCCIS Secretariat inbox [ukccis.secretariat@culture.gov.uk] by 5.00pm on Thursday 21st April 2016. Application form for UKCCIS Exec Board (MS Word Document, 45.3KB)

Public Consultation - Child Safety Online: Age Verification for Pornography

The UK is a world leader in the work it does to improve child safety online, but we cannot be complacent. Government has a responsibility to protect citizens from harm, especially the young and most vulnerable. That is why we committed in our manifesto to requiring age verification for access to pornographic material online. On 16 February, the Government launched a consultation seeking views on how we deliver on this commitment.

The consultation will run will run for eight weeks and will close at midday on Tuesday 12 April, 2016.

The full consultation document, as well as supporting documents, can be accessed on the GOV.UK website. Our preferred method of capturing your responses to our consultation questions is via the dedicated online survey. Please click on the in the ‘Ways to Respond’ section to share your views with us.

Social Media Guidance

The online world is a hugely important part of many children’s lives and social media is a big aspect of this, with half (48%) of online 9-16s saying that they visit a social networking profile daily. On 22 December, UKCCIS published two new guides to support child safety online:

UKCCIS achievements include:

  • implementing an unavoidable choice for home broadband customers about whether to turn on parental control filters, as well as considering potential problems around overblocking.
  • working with the Registered Digital Institute to design a Friendly Wifi logo, to allow parents and families to easily identify places where they can be sure that the public wifi has filtered inappropriate websites.
  • creating summaries of a large body of internet safety research
  • developing a series of guidance documents for industry, including on social networking (PDF, 232KB, 54 pages) , moderation (PDF, 210KB, 44 pages) , search (PDF, 329KB, 30 pages) , chat (PDF, 151KB, 24 pages) and advice for industry on effective internet safety messages (PDF, 242KB, 21 pages)

UKCCIS members

The Council’s work is made possible by the enthusiasm, energy and efforts of its members.

Executive Board members

The UKCCIS Executive Board brings together representatives from across the membership on a quarterly basis and is chaired jointly by Baroness Joanna Shields, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Internet Safety and Security, Karen Bradley MP, Minister for Preventing Abuse and Exploitation, and Edward Timpson MP, Minister of State for Children and Families.

The Executive Board is responsible for identifying priority areas of work, and sets the strategic direction for UKCCIS. Read the Executive Board’s Executive Board’s terms of reference (PDF, 87.1KB, 4 pages) .

Including the three Ministerial Chairs, Board membership consists of:

  • Julian Ashworth, Chief Strategy Officer, BT
  • Daniel Butler, Head of Public Affairs, Virgin Media
  • John Carr, Secretary, CHIS
  • David Austin, BBFC
  • Catherine Duggan, Head of Child Protection Policy, Scottish Executive
  • Will Gardner, Safer Internet Centre
  • Jonny Gwynne, Director, CEOP Command
  • Susie Hargreaves, CEO, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
  • Lindsay Harvey, Welsh Assembly
  • Nicola Hodson, Director of Marketing and Operations, Microsoft
  • Aleyne Johnson, Head of Government Relations, Samsung
  • Adam Kinsley, Director of Policy, Sky
  • Alan Wardle, Head of Corporate Affairs, NSPCC
  • Sonia Livingstone, Professor, LSE
  • Eilis McDaniel, Northern Ireland Executive
  • Dave Miles, Director, FOSI
  • Katie O’Donovan, Public Policy and Government Relations Manager, Google
  • Tink Palmer, CEO Marie Collins Foundation,
  • Claudio Pollack, Director Consumer Group, Ofcom
  • Cindy Rose, Managing Director, Consumer Division, Vodafone
  • Rishi Saha, Head of Public Policy, UK, Facebook
  • Vicki Shotbolt, CEO, Parentzone
  • Jo Twist, CEO, UKIE
  • Iain Wood, Public Affairs Manager, TalkTalk

Associate Members

UKCCIS Associate Members List (PDF, 120KB, 6 pages)

Appointment process

Organisations wishing to become a member of the wider council, please contact the Secretariat at ukccis.secretariat@culture.gov.uk. Applications will be considered at the subsequent Executive Board meeting.

Working groups

The Executive Board has created the following five working groups to consider topical issues:

UKCCIS Board meeting notes

Contact details

ukccis.secretariat@culture.gov.uk