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Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative

The Berkman Center's Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative will explore those policy issues that fall within three substantive clusters that emerge from youth's information and communications technology (ICT) practices:

  • Risky Behaviors and Online Safety (led by danah boyd);
  • Privacy, Publicity and Reputation (led by John Palfrey); and
  • Youth Created Content and Information Quality (led by Urs Gasser).

In each of these clusters, we seek to:

  • map and analyze the key policy aspects that deserve attention by private and public policy-makers;
  • summarize the current state of knowledge and research; and
  • identify key policy considerations and, to the greatest extent possible on a compressed timeline, make specific policy recommendations.

Our intended audience is policymakers, both in the public and private sectors. In the public sector, the audience will primarily be federal policymakers, including legislators and regulators. In the private sector, the targeted audience consists of corporate policy-setters and technology developers (those who write "code" as self-executing policy). The intent of this initiative is to bring the best research on youth and media into the policy-making debate and to propose practical, relevant, situated solutions based upon that research.

This project is supported in part by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
 


Our Work 14

Publication
Feb 23, 2012

Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality

Building upon a process- and context-oriented information quality framework, this paper seeks to map and explore what we know about the ways in which young users of age 18 and…

News
Oct 5, 2010

Youth and media research update

The Berkman Center has recently organized all of its research efforts relating to young people and technology – including new work on youth in developing countries – under a…

News
Jun 25, 2010

Risky Behaviors and Online Safety: draft literature review

What is known about online youth safety? danah boyd releases the Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative's DRAFT literature review on the topic -- for public comment and…

News
Jun 23, 2010

"Sexting": legal and practical issues

The Berkman Center is pleased to share our Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative's latest document, which addresses legal and practical issues related to the practice…

Publication
Jun 22, 2010

Sexting: Youth Practices and Legal Implications

This document addresses legal and practical issues related to the practice colloquially known as sexting. It was created by Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, based at the…

News
Jun 18, 2010

Four Essays Addressing Risky Behaviors and Online Safety

From danah boyd's blog: "...John Palfrey, Urs Gasser, and I have been co-directing the Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative to investigate the role that policy can play…

Publication
Jun 15, 2010

Working Towards a Deeper Understanding of Digital Safety for Children and Young People in Developing Nations

An Exploratory Study by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, in Collaboration with UNICEF

This paper's main objectives are: to raise awareness about issues related to digital safety for youth in developing nations; to provide a tentative map of these issues and give…

Publication
Apr 28, 2010

How the COPPA, as Implemented, Is Misinterpreted by the Public: A Research Perspective

Statement to the United States Senate, Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Statement by danah boyd, Urs Gasser, and John Palfrey, urging consideration of the gap between the intentions of COPPA and how children and their parents perceive its…

Apr 21, 2010

(Futures) news, social science, Internet filtering (more)

Seven different pieces of writing and research from the Berkman Center community have appeared over the last seven days, from Ethan Zuckerman's essay in the latest issue of…

Apr 14, 2010

Understanding youth, privacy and reputation

The Berkman Center is pleased to share our Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative's extensive literature review mapping out "what is currently understood about the…

Publication
Apr 12, 2010

Youth, Privacy and Reputation (Literature Review)

The scope of this literature review is to map out what is currently understood about the intersections of youth, reputation, and privacy online, focusing on youth attitudes and…

News
Feb 24, 2010

On "Empowering Parents and Protecting Children in an Evolving Media Landscape"

The Berkman Center is pleased to share the Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative's response to the FCC's Notice of Inquiry on "Empowering Parents and Protecting Children…

Publication
Feb 24, 2010

Response to FCC Notice of Inquiry 09-94 “Empowering Parents and Protecting Children in an Evolving Media Landscape”

The response synthesizes current research and data on the media practices of youth, focusing on three main areas -- 1) Risky Behaviors and Online Safety, 2) Privacy, Publicity and…

News
Oct 22, 2009

Exploring youth and media policy

new Berkman Center initiative underway

The first meeting of the Berkman Center's new Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative is being held today; experts from various fields are gathered to discuss privacy and…


People 06

Team


Related Projects & Tools 01

Youth and Media

Youth and Media (YaM) encompasses an array of research, advocacy, and development initiatives around youth (age 12-18) and digital technology.