It's All Fun and Games until it Starts Storming out of the Blue
This week I presented at the 6th International Student Forum on Public Interest Law which was hosted by China University of Political Science and Law and Zhicheng Public Interest Lawyers. This year's focus was on the protection of children online. I learned about legislative and social actions which were done in multiple countries to protect children and adults online. The main topics were network privacy protection, online addiction, cyberbullying, and the responsibilities of Internet enterprises in children's network protection. For each of these topics a group of Chinese students presented on China's actions and then a foreign student presented on their home country's actions. An international faculty member then commented on the presentations and provided insight on how to best handle these problems. I presented on online addiction which included looking at the actions done by private actors and the government. My report was also published in the booklet which was given to all in attendance. My group report about children's Internet safety was also published in the booklet, although we did not present on it.
It was very interesting to hear how other countries dealt with such a difficult topic. Something I found to be very interesting was the responsibilities of Internet enterprises. Professor Rhona K.M. Smith, from Newcastle University, provided insight about the difficulties of holding Internet enterprises liable. One of these issues is that these enterprises can go through multiple countries to make taking legal action against them difficult since it is difficult to figure out their jurisdiction. These enterprises will also form in a country that has little to no laws which would make them liable for their actions. I was vaguely aware of the difficulties of going against an Internet enterprise, but it had never occurred to me just how difficult it was. This can be very alarming especially when dealing with sites that have child abuse and pedophilia and the such on them. As soon as you shut them down, they spring up somewhere else on the Internet. I am very interested on seeing what lawyers, legislature, and governments do on this front to help protect children.
I also learned how much the Chinese liked history when I went to the mansion of Prince Gong. Every time there was an informational sign there was a crowd of Chinese who were reading it. The Chinese that I saw stopped to read every description and background for every artifact and tended to glance over the things that were pretty but not of historical importance. There were also several tour groups with guides that further explained the history of the home and those who lived there. In each of these tour groups there were about forty to sixty Chinese who hung on every word. Everyone I saw at the mansion was very interested in the history there and not just the aesthetics.
At work this week, I researched how schools in the United States deal with violence, bullying, and sexual abuse. Something I found interesting was how Title IX is involved with sexual abuse in schools. Title IX's purpose is to prevent discrimination based on sex in schools. Mainly, that a student is not denied or limited in their abilities to participate in school activities. Sexual abuse is considered a violation of a student's right if it creates a hostile environment and the school fails to take prompt and responsive steps once notified. I thought this was very interesting because it makes basically all sexual harassment, assault, and abuse fall under this anti-discrimination legislation. Congress was able to use this legislation to not only address discrimination but also sexual violence in a very clever way. This act is enforced on the states based on funding so that all school which get federal funding have to follow Title IX. This is a very good step to protect children from discrimination and sexual abuse.
This week I learned about multiple countries' actions to protect children online, the interest of the Chinese in their history, and how sexual violence is addressed in Title IX. I also learned that in the summer in Beijing, you should always carry an umbrella even if the weather report says that it will not rain or storm. The weather report will be wrong.
