With a theme, once again, of "Together for a better internet", the day called upon all stakeholders to join together to make the internet a safer and better place for all, and especially for children and young people.
The Safer Internet Day website, our central platform showcasing the wealth of events and activities taking place across the globe, attracted more attention than ever. On the day of SID itself, it received no less than 44,000 users – meaning that our website traffic more than doubled from SID 2019! The number of visits in the month leading up to SID also increased significantly, reaching more than 147,000 users.
In addition, this year's Safer Internet Day promotional video did not go unnoticed – at the close of the day of SID, it had been watched over 132,500 times on YouTube, 680,000 times on Twitter, and 8,500 times on Facebook!
On social media, Safer Internet Day was a major topic of discussion; on Twitter, our @SafeInternetDay account received no less than 2.5 million impressions, more than and 60 million potential impressions. This year again, the #SaferInternetDay, #SID2020 and #SaferInternetDay2020 hashtags became trending topics in various parts of the globe.
We were able to achieve such a high level of visibility thanks to the awareness efforts of Safer Internet Centres, Safer Internet Day Committees and Safer Internet Day Supporters. More than ever, we thank you for your support, your enthusiasm and your commitment.
On social media, SID also enjoyed widespread support from the EU institutions, featuring in posts from the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Roberto Viola, Eva Maydell, the Council of Europe, the Digital Single Market, DG Migration and Home Affairs, the European Data Protection Supervisor, DG Justice and Consumers, the Child Rights Intergroup in the European Parliament; in video addresses by Margaritis Schinas and Mariya Gabriel; and in an article written by Mariya Gabriel and Thierry Breton in The Parliament Magazine.
A flurry of other influential supporters helped spread the word about SID on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, such as the UN, UNICEF, Henrietta H. Fore, NSPCC, James McVey, Heads Together, Laura Marano, Snapchat, YouTube, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Millie Bobby Brown, Siwon Choi, Charli d'Amelio, Instagram, INTERPOL, Kaspersky, LEGO, Liberty Global, Sonia Livingstone, the Children's Society, the BBC, The Web Foundation, EUROPOL, Internet Society, the Irish Department of Education, the Turkish Information and Communications Technologies Authority, the Guardia Civil, the Spanish National Police, the Colombian Police, Save the Children, Orange Business Services, Amnesty, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, and much more!
Many newspapers around the world also published articles about SID, including RTBF, Luxemburger Wort, Mashable India, The Straits Times, CBS, La Republica, HLN, RTL Nieuws, and the Irish Times, among others.
Since the day, we've received a number of articles sharing insightful and inspiring accounts of SID celebrations across the globe:
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Austria: Austrian Safer Internet Centre celebrates 15 years of activities on SID
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Austria: Safer Internet Day study on younger children's digital media use
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Belgium: Together for a better internet on Safer Internet Day in Belgium
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Bulgaria: Safer Internet Day in Bulgaria – Cyberscouts and start of Media Literacy Days campaign
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Cambodia: Cambodia joins the global Safer Internet Day campaign
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Cape Verde: Teacher training on digital citizenship for Safer Internet Day in Cape Verde
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Croatia: Panel discussion with YouTubers for Safer Internet Day in Croatia
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Cyprus: "Together for a better internet" conference in Cyprus for Safer Internet Day
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Cyprus: Τraining workshop for CYberSafety Υouth Panel Cyprus
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Czech Republic: Multi-stakeholder activities for Safer Internet Day in the Czech Republic
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Denmark: Danish SIC focuses on manipulation of images on Safer Internet Day
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Denmark: Safer Internet Day conference on manipulating images and videos
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Estonia: Safer Internet Day – Encouraging Estonian parents to become digital role models
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Finland: Finnish Safer Internet Day and Media Literacy Week 2020
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France: Safer Internet Day 2020 in France – Launch of the FamiNum app
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Germany: Germany – Safer Internet Day campaign on "Idols online"
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Greece: Focus on the impact of social media on young people for Safer Internet Day
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Greece: Safer Internet Day study reveals that Greek children don't discuss online safety with parents
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Hungary: Discussing proper internet use in Hungary for Safer Internet Day
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Iceland: Focus on pre-school children for Safer Internet Day in Iceland
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Iran: Safer Internet Day awareness sessions and student competition in Iran
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Ireland: Safer Internet Day in Ireland 2020 – Launch of Connected
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Italy: Safer Internet Day in Italy - #WeAreFearless campaign
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Ivory Coast: First edition of Safer Internet Day in the Ivory Coast
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Latvia: "Caught in the net" Safer Internet Day event in Latvia
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Lithuania: Lithuanian pupils gather at CYBERteens event for Safer Internet Day
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Luxembourg: Focus on online privacy for Safer Internet Day in Luxembourg
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Madagascar: Madagascar celebrates Safer Internet Day for the first time
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Malta: Safer Internet Day activities in Malta
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Nepal: Safer Internet Day celebrations in Nepal
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Netherlands: Release of Dutch online safety lesson materials for Safer Internet Day
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Netherlands: Europol marks Safer Internet Day with third European Youth Day
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Nigeria: Safer Internet Day celebrations across eight Nigerian cities
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Norway: Safer Internet Day activities in Norway
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Poland: Safer Internet Day in Poland – The power of local involvement
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Portugal: Microsoft Portugal organises Safer Internet Day workshops
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Portugal: Portuguese children and young people among the most confident in using the internet
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Portugal: Safer Internet Day in Portugal – "Delete cyberbullying" seminar
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Portugal: School visit in Portugal for Safer Internet Day 2020
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Romania: Celebrating Safer Internet Day 2020 in Romania
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Rwanda: Rwanda celebrated Safer Internet Day for the first time in 2020
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Slovenia: Safer Internet Day in Slovenia – Focus on pre-school children
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Spain: Focus on cybersecurity for Safer Internet Day in Spain
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Ukraine: Safer Internet Day in Ukraine – Focus on the local level
- United Kingdom: Focus on identity online for Safer Internet Day in the UK
So, with SID 2020 now behind us, what's next? The Better Internet for Kids (BIK) project, and the Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres run events and activities to raise awareness of online safety and digital citizenship all year round. There are several ways in which you can keep an eye on the initiatives to come:
- check www.betterinternetforkids.eu and www.saferinternetday.org regularly;
- follow Safer Internet Day on Twitter and Facebook;
- follow the Insafe network on Twitter and Facebook;
You can also subscribe to the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) bulletin, a quarterly newsletter providing an in-depth exploration of specific online safety issues – such as positive online content, online challenges, media literacy, and much more.
Besides, Safer Internet Day will be back before you know it! The date of the next edition has already been announced as Tuesday, 9 February 2021, with campaigning activities kicking off in September 2020. Be sure to save the date!