Keeping young people safe online is a key objective of the London Violence Reduction Unit.

In 2020, the unit commissioned The Social Switch Project which aims to switch the narrative on how social media's relationship to violence affecting young people is understood, tackled, and solved.

Catch22 and Redthread, to develop a programme that offers training for frontline practitioners to enable them to challenge negative online behaviour as well as a specific programme to support young people into sustainable digital careers.

This programme also focused on the delivery of an initial, light touch piece of research on how tech companies could adopt self-regulation, by exploring (with young people and experts), how current policies, processes and the impact of enforcement challenges online harms and serious youth violence.

In November 2021, The Social Switch Project launched The Voices of Children and Young People Findings on 'Acceptable Use' and Regulation Research.

The research highlighted 7 key recommendations that needed to be actioned according to the young people that took part in the studies: Through the report, London's VRU, Catch22 and Redthread, lobbed for these recommendations and young people's opinions to be at the centre of policy reforms in the Online Safety Bill.

Some of the new inclusions in the Online Safety Bill reflects the recommendations in our latest online harms research including recognition of legal but harmful content, accountability for technology companies, and a demand for swift responses to harm which has occurred.

We are writing to invite you to take part in a workshop, to draw on your experience and expertise as key stakeholders with vested interest in ensuring the online space is safe for Children and Young People.

The VRU are commissioning further work in this space to explore how we can enhance the work that has been done to date and ensure that any potential commissioning is beneficial to the sector and London as a whole.

The aim of the session will be to support the VRU to understand what more can be done to complement existing or ongoing work within the Children and Young People Online Safety space.

We would like to explore this further and would love for you to join us.

Date: Tuesday 26th April 2022 Time: 11:00-12:30 am Online Event: Zoom meeting link will be circulated to attendees.

Do please share this with any colleagues (across your organisation or the wider sector) you think may be interested in attending - although we kindly ask that attendance is limited to 2 colleagues per organisation.

Please RSVP to VRUCommissioning@london.gov.uk quoting "Children and Young People Online Safety in the title" followed by your name & organisation by Tuesday 19th April 2022 12pm.