LONDON, Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- To mark Safer Internet Day 2024, Gen Z social discovery platform Yubo has partnered with the UK Safer Internet Centre to learn about the online experiences and perspectives of young adults and teens.

In collaboration with the UKSIC, and in support of the UKSIC's own research released today, Yubo polled users in the United Kingdom aged 13 to 24 years old to understand their views on emerging technologies like generative AI, and how they experience digital platforms from a user-safety standpoint, in response to this year's Safer Internet Day theme.

Safer Internet Day 2024 centres around changing digital landscapes, including young people using the internet for positive impact; changes young people want to see online; and the factors that could influence how young people think, feel, and act online.

"Safer Internet Day provides the best opportunity in the year to promote safe and responsible use of technology. It works to raise awareness and leads to key conversations between children and their parents and carers, as well as at school," said Will Gardner OBE, CEO of Childnet International, a charity that helps to spearhead UKSIC's annual Safer Internet Day efforts. "The success of the day lies in the huge collaboration that takes place with thousands of organisations getting involved to promote key messages and provide information, resources and tools. The support and involvement of companies like Yubo is important for this and helps these messages reach as far as possible."

The following were among notable insights gleaned from the Yubo-UKSIC poll of over 600 young adults and teens in the UK:

Emerging Tech & the User Experience: Gen Z believes that safety & security will be the area of their online experiences that will change the most as a result of emerging technologies.
Views on Online Safety Today: 39% of young adults and teens polled described the overall online environment for young people today as "unsafe and hostile," while 35.2% described it as "moderately safe."
Online Safety Awareness: More than 36% of users polled said there is awareness about online safety among their peers, but 33% say "not enough."
Enhancing Online Safety: When asked what actions would best ensure that new technologies have positive impacts, almost half (49.3%) of young adults and teens polled said that getting input from users (including young people) would be most impactful. However, fewer than half of users polled (45.7%) say they have participated in online campaigns or movements to promote internet safety.

"Safety is an essential component of making digital platforms engaging, which is just one of the reasons Yubo makes online safety innovation our top priority. The input we get from users, combined with the expertise and support of organisations like the UK Safer Internet Centre, are invaluable to our ongoing development and improvement," said Yubo CEO Sacha Lazimi. "We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the UK Safer Internet Centre to support online safety initiatives and engaging our users to ensure their feedback is central to our decision-making."

UKSIC's Safer Internet Day 2024 research generated similar findings to the poll conducted among Yubo users. The survey of over 2,000 parents aged 25+ and their kids, aged 8 to 17, found 80% of young people believe "they should be listened to more about changes in technology, including how it can remain safe." Other notable findings of the research include:

Views on generative AI: 53% of young people polled by UKSIC aged 8 to 17 who have used generative AI (33%) say they have seen people their age use generative AI in a negative way.
Advancing Tech with Safety: 51% say they feel confident that as technology gets more intelligent, their safety will be a priority to those who are creating it.
Online Safety Community Support: 68% of young people say they have helped a friend in the last year to identify safety features, such as the privacy settings or blocking tools, when they set up an app.

The UK Safer Internet Centre will host today the Safer Internet Day Virtual Youth Conference, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. GMT. The virtual event, which will feature remarks by Department for Education Minister David Johnston OBE and Saqib Bhatti, Minister of the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), will gather government, charities, and other organisations to hear directly from young people about their lives online.

Yubo's partnership with UKSIC/Childnet to promote the goals of Safer Internet Day 2024 follows the platform's recent U.S. launch of the Yubo-AFNOR Spec reference document, a policy toolbox with operational recommendations for enhancing online safeguards to better protect young people.

"It's the responsibility of digital platforms today to adapt and evolve their safety infrastructure according to new technologies and new potential safety risks, but industry is just one segment of the online safety puzzle," Lazimi said. "Collaborating with organisations like the UK Safer Internet Centre for the second consecutive Safer Internet Day, and engaging stakeholders across industry, government, and nonprofit for the AFNOR policy initiative reflect how Yubo lives up to our commitment of continually improving the online community we've built for millions of young adults and teens around the world."

The results of the Yubo-UK Safer Internet Centre Safer Internet Day 2024 poll can be accessed via the Yubo blog. The UKSIC's research is available on the Safer Internet Day website homepage: www.saferinternetday.org.uk.

ABOUT YUBO
Yubo is a live social discovery app that makes it easy for Gen Z to make new friends and hang out online. By eliminating likes and follows, we empower young people to show up as their true selves and form genuine connections. As a platform serving teens and young adults, safety is a cornerstone of Yubo. All of our features and policies are developed with guidance from our board of safety experts, which is made up of respected leaders and online safety experts from such organisations as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Thorn, and The Diana Award. Founded in France in 2015, more than 80 million users across more than 140 countries have joined Yubo to date. Visit us at yubo.live to learn more and follow our journey.

ABOUT THE UK SAFER INTERNET CENTRE
The UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC), established in 2011, is a leading global partnership helping to make the internet a great and safe place for everyone. We provide support and services to children and young people, adults facing online harms, and professionals working with children.

We are unique. Formed of three charities, Childnet, Internet Watch Foundation and SWGfL, we work together to identify threats and harms online and then create and deliver critical advice, resources, education and interventions that help keep children and young people, and adults, safe. We share our best practices across the UK and globally.

UKSIC is the proud coordinator of Safer Internet Day in the UK. For more information on the next Safer Internet Day and how you can get involved - click here.

We work alongside 30 other centres across the European continent. Since 2022, we have been part-funded by Nominet - the public benefit company that operates and protects UK internet infrastructure and uses surplus funds to support projects that promote digital inclusion. Prior to that, we were appointed and part-funded by the European Commission as the Safer Internet Centre for the UK.

Media Contact:
Debora Lima, Yubo Media Director
debora@ext.yubo.live

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