Safer Internet Day: Teens & Tech Leaders Tackle Online Safety Issues

Event Features WWE Superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin

Contact: Hani Khan/ (650) 346-7045/ hani@connectsafely.org

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 3, 2016 – To mark Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, February 9, ConnectSafely.org will host the official U.S. event, “Safer Internet Day 2016: Play your part for a better Internet” at Universal Studios Hollywood. The event will bring hundreds of California middle school and high school students and technology industry leaders for a discussion on Internet safety.

Safer Internet Day is celebrated on the second Tuesday of every February in more than 100 countries. The day is designed to promote safe, effective use of the Internet and mobile technology.

The event will be streamed live on SaferInternetDay.us and will feature a keynote speech from WWE Superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, remarks from ConnectSafely CEO and technology journalist Larry Magid, media personality and Digital Shepherds founder Tshaka Armstrong, game developer and Crash Override founder Zoë Quinn, and a greeting from our host Jim Janco of Comcast NBCUniversal.

The event, live from the Globe Theater at Universal Studios, will also include a panel: “Rejecting Hate, Building Resilience & Growing the Good Online,” moderated by activist and student filmmaker Leo Sheng, which will feature student leaders discussing ways they are taking their emotional well-being into their own hands and supporting their peers.

Southern California schools, including several from the Los Angeles Unified School District, will send students to the event. Other schools around the country will participate via the live stream.

The 300 students in attendance will break into groups to answer questions and solve problems regarding how to create a safer and better Internet.

“ConnectSafely is proud to be the U.S. host of Safer Internet Day, a global event, celebrated in more than 100 countries,” said ConnectSafely.org CEO and technology journalist Larry Magid. “This year’s event is all about young people, including the hundreds of students attending who will be tackling real-world problems and providing solutions that can be applied by industry, government and nonprofit safety organizations.”

“This year’s global theme of Safer Internet Day is Play Your Part for a Better Internet, and that’s something that Comcast NBCUniversal takes to heart every day,” says Jim Janco, senior director of Operations Compliance for Comcast Cable.  “Families need ongoing support and resources to enrich their online experience and keep them safe, and events like Safer Internet Day provide the education and engagement Internet citizens need to create the best possible Internet for everyone.”

Supporters and national partners for Safer Internet Day USA include Comcast NBCUniversal, Facebook, Google, Ask.fm, LifeLock, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Trend Micro, and Twitter along with Committee for Children, Common Sense Media, the Family Online Safety Institute, #iCANHELP, the iKeepSafe Coalition, the Internet Education Foundation, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the National Cyber Security Alliance, the National PTA and STOP. THINK. CONNECT.