The Privacy Piece
Report on Privacy Competencies in Digital Literacy Programs in Canada, Britain, Australia, America, and Brazil
Report on Privacy Competencies in Digital Literacy Programs in Canada, Britain, Australia, America, and Brazil
To develop the Use, Understand & Create framework, we needed to first explore the digital literacy skills Canadian youth were already learning in different provinces and territories. Our discussion paper Mapping Digital Literacy Policy and Practice in the Canadian Landscape draws on policy and curriculum documents from across the country to synthesize key concepts and best practices in current digital literacy education. The discussion paper was made possible by financial contributions from Google Canada.
Although there has been research on offline bullying and the role of peers, there is limited research on peer intervention for online bullying. Researchers have expressed concerns that cyberbullying and online harassment might increase negative bystander behaviours because of the physical distance and the perceived anonymity of online communication. To better understand the relationship between peer intervention and electronic bullying amongst Canadian youth, MediaSmarts partnered with PREVNet and TELUS to examine the factors that influence the likelihood of young people intervening in online bullying scenarios; the helpfulness of different ways of intervening, and the motivation and barriers to intervening.
To better understand the skills young Canadians need as citizens and future workers in the digital age, MediaSmarts and the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) hosted a national Digital Youth Summit in Ottawa (October 22-23, 2015) to hear directly from secondary students on this topic. This report provides an overview of the important themes raised and discussed by the students during panel discussions, brainstorming sessions, Speakers’ Corner, and through evaluation forms.
In this study, MediaSmarts conducted a survey of 825 parents of children from birth to 15 years old to learn more about their digital family life; specifically, the digital technology uses and activities of their children, their parenting style, and the opportunities and challenges that digital technology brings to parenting and family life in Canada. The results of this study emphasize that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for digital well-being in families. However, one consistent pattern is the importance of digital literacy in tipping the scales in favour of the positive effects of digital technology use in Canadian families.
Building on the privacy findings from our Young Canadians in a Wired World research, this qualitative study of youth ages 13 to 16 examines the reasoning that teens apply when deciding to share photos of themselves or other people electronically.
MediaSmarts conducted a survey of 1,000 youth ages 12 to 16 years old to better understand their attitudes and experiences with casual prejudice online; specifically, the motivations and external factors that influence their decisions whether or not to intervene. Study results uncover that youth experiences with online casual prejudice are common yet many youth do not respond because they don’t know what to do to make a difference. This research is a call for more effective interventions that will prepare, engage, and empower youth to push back against hate online.
MediaSmarts conducted focus groups with young Canadians ages 13 to 16 in Ottawa, giving them the chance to consider, discuss and design ways of obtaining consent online that are clear and meaningful to them. As part of the focus groups, youth were asked to share their thoughts on and experiences with current online consent processes. They were then asked to come up with hand-drawn ‘paper prototypes’ of their ideal privacy policies. The findings, highlighted in the report Young Canadians Speak Out: A Qualitative Research Project on Privacy and Consent, offered creative new ideas on how platforms can improve online consent processes – not just for young people, but for everyone – so Canadians can better understand what they’re agreeing to when it comes to their privacy.
MediaSmarts facilitated online focus groups with youth ages 16 to 29 to examine and assess reporting processes on popular apps (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube). More specifically, we wanted to understand how young Canadians feel about current efforts to counter misinformation and disinformation online and what solutions they have regarding the problems and concerns they experience while navigating online information ecosystems and communities. Overall, youth expressed a lack of trust and confidence in the ability of platforms to counter misinformation and disinformation and to keep them informed and safe online. Participants emphasized that users are not provided with meaningful opportunities to engage with platforms to prevent and address misinformation and disinformation, and they felt platforms must make design changes that prioritize values of accuracy, transparency, trust, responsibility, and safety.
In this report, we detail the methodology and results of a needs assessment we conducted in February and March 2023 to understand the current needs and concerns of survivors and practitioners regarding addressing and preventing technology-facilitated violence and abuse in Canada.