January 31, 2022 FY2022 Spring Safety Net Campaign with Chain of Moves in New Semester

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) will implement this year’s Spring Safety Net Campaign with Chain of Moves in the New Semester from February through May to create an environment where young people can use the Internet securely and safely.
Many young people acquire smartphones for the first time after their new enrollment or graduation in spring. With particular emphasis on this period, MIC will cooperate with related government agencies and businesses to promote the spread of parental control and awareness-raising activities to improve young people’s ability to use the Internet appropriately. Such activities include the establishment of parental control functions, e.g., filtering, time management functions, billing restrictions, and the promotion of creating family rules.

1. Purpose

With the rapid spread of smartphones in recent years, many young people have been using social media, such as social networking services (SNS) and online games. This trend has also spread to early elementary school children and smaller children.
On the other hand, with the progress of social media use by smartphones and other handheld terminals, children’s cyberbullying and long-term use of such terminals have become issues. Improper SNS use is causing serious cases in which young people are involved in crimes.
For this reason, it is particularly important for youth who will bear the future to understand the risks of using smartphones, along with countermeasures, and to create an environment where smartphones can be used securely and safely.
Since 2014, MIC has focused on students’ graduation, admission, and new enrollment in spring, when many young people first acquire smartphones.
Accordingly, MIC has been conducting the Spring Safety Net Campaign with Chain of Moves as an annual intensive campaign of educational activities for safe and secure use of smartphones, social media, etc. for parents, school, etc.
From February through May, MIC will conduct the fiscal 2020 Spring Safety Net Campaign with Chain of Moves in the New Semester. MIC and the parties concerned will intensively conduct various initiatives to promote the spread of parental control and awareness-raising activities to improve young people’s ability to use the Internet appropriately. Such activities include establishing parental control functions, e.g., filtering, time management functions, billing restrictions, creating family rules, and improving Internet literacy for young people and parents.

2. Initiatives in fiscal 2022 Spring Safety Net Campaign with Chain of Moves in the New Semester

• 1.
  MIC will collaborate with information communications companies and various organizations, including mobile phone carriers, and promote various initiatives to improve young people’s Internet literacy, including the safe use of SNS and filtering.
• 2.

  Examples of initiatives

  • MIC’s preparation and release of the 2022 Internet Trouble Casebook and conduct activities to keep the Boards of Education informed of the trouble.
  • Intensive implementation of awareness-raising activities (e-net caravan) on safe and secure Internet use under the collaboration of MIC, the Foundation for Multimedia Communications, and private businesses.
  • Enhanced awareness rising of parents by MIC and related ministries through the Japan High School PTA Federation and the Japan PTA National Council, including the issuance of documents for cooperation requests (e.g., those on (1) Promotion of parental controls, (2) Effective use of filtering, etc., (3) Promotion of family rules through discussion, and (4) Promotion of the ability to use the Internet appropriately).
  • Development of awareness-raising activities related to the safe and secure use of the Internet in each region in cooperation with the PTA, the Board of Education, etc., by MIC’s Regional Bureau of Telecommunications.
  • Promotion of careful explanations by creating flyers and distributing them at stores, etc. to promote filtering by mobile phone carriers and sales agents.
  • Storefront display of videos of popular animations tied up with educational videos created in cooperation with mobile phone carriers and the publishing industry.
  • Educational courses on safe and secure Internet use by mobile phone carriers.
  • Implementation of awareness-raising activities related to the safe and secure use of the Internet by distributing flyers at new websites and events in various places by the Safety Network Creation Promotion Council, as well as information on the Spring Safety Net Campaign with Chain of Moves through the Safety Network Creation Promotion Council’s newsletter.
  • Public awareness activities under the collaboration of MIC, the Foundation for Multimedia Communications, the Telecommunications Carriers Association, the Safety Net Creation Promotion Council, and other organizations concerning the revised Civil Code, which will come into force in April of this year to lower the age of majority to 18.

3. Others

In addition to the initiatives listed above, the Spring Safety Net Campaign with Chain of Moves will include other initiatives by related parties as needed. Specific details of the initiative will be posted on related websites, including those of the Japan Internet Safety Promotion Association (https://www.good-net.jp/english/ ) and MIC’s Regional Bureaus of Telecommunications.