Parental Approaches to Protecting Children from Online Harm: Trust, Protectionism or Dialogue?

The European Commission and the UK government, committed to protecting children from online harms, have proposed new legislation which will impose additional duties upon online platforms. Whilst parents believe such platforms have a role to play in making the internet safer, they nonetheless believe they have primary responsibility for protecting children online. This chapter uses family privacy theory together with original empirical research to explore the parental role in protecting children from online harms. Family privacy is a long-established doctrine, which is conventionally understood to entail state non-intervention in family life and non-interference in parental decision-making (Fineman (1999) George Washington Law Review, 67, 1207; Woodhouse (1999) George Washington Law Review, 67, 1247). Family privacy ideology views children as inexperienced, immature and lacking judgement considering parents to have the knowledge and experience needed to educate, protect and make decisions in their children’s best interests (Fineman (1999) George Washington Law Review, 67, 1207). This chapter confirms, however, that many parents lack the knowledge to support children’s safe online engagement. It identifies that parents may use laissez-faire, educative or protective strategies to manage children’s online interactions, outlining how both laissez-faire and protective approaches may negatively impact upon children’s rights and well-being. This chapter suggests more state intervention and support are needed to ensure parents understand the benefits and risks of digital technologies and have the knowledge and skills needed to engage in supportive dialogue with children and promote children’s safe online engagement.