Digital harms and online safety
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Digital has endless benefits to how we live our lives. It can make our world bigger and create new opportunities. However, just as we can use it for good, it can also be used to be harmful. Some people may be more susceptible to harm, especially if they don't know how to navigate the internet safely.
This is no different to how we might navigate our everyday lives in non-digital spaces to digital spaces. From a young age we are taught not to talk to strangers, to check before we cross the road and to tell our parents or carers if someone is horrible to us. As we get older, we experience more of the world, and these new experiences require us to learn new strategies to stay safe. The internet is the same. We all start knowing nothing. We all start in our digital youth, regardless of what age we actually might be. We don't experience the entirety of the internet in one go. We take small steps, learning along the way.
As practitioners, we must be aware of online harms, and how this relates to the people we support. We can't let our own fears determine the opportunities of others, but we should make balanced decisions informed by evidence. There is always an element of risk when we're on the internet, but there can also be risks to someone not having the opportunity to be online.
We've highlighted some of the common online harms, and information from Get Safe Online on what you can do about each of them.
Scams
Social engineering
Misinformation and fake news
Adult content
Online abuse
Online gambling
