Online safety

The internet is a fantastic tool for learning and playing. But children today are exposed to risks such as cyber bullying, online grooming and access to inappropriate content. Two in five 8 to 17 year olds say they have recently felt worried or anxious online. We’re working to make the internet a safe place for children to explore. But children today are exposed to risks such as cyber bullying, online grooming and access to inappropriate content. Two in five 8 to 17 year olds say they have recently felt worried or anxious online. We’re working to make the internet a safe place for children to explore.

BT is a founding partner of Internet Matters, an organisation that educates parents and teachers on keeping children safe online. Free Parental Controls on BT, Plusnet and EE products allow parents to block adult content and restrict access to social media. We’ve also trained staff in more than 600 EE retail outlets to help parents set up their children’s mobile phones with the right controls to be safe.

We support the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), who identify webpages containing child sexual abuse content so they can be reported and removed. We were one of the first UK operators to block such content to prevent accidental access.

We’ve helped tackle cyberbullying through the Royal Foundation Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying by promoting e their Stop, Speak, Support campaign. . On Safer Internet Day in February 2019 we hosted a youth event at our Head Office with more than 100 key policymakers. We’ve also developed an educational game called Safety Snakes aimed at 5 to 7 year olds to teach them about online safety.

Our partnership with the Marie Collins Foundation is supporting children who have been harmed and abused online, by delivering training to more than 3,000 frontline staff under their Click: Path to Protection programme.

We share the Government’s ambition to make Britain the safest place in the world to be online.