In an event held at the Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs to
commemorate the "Safer Internet Day 2012" on Tuesday February 7, 2012, the statistics
of the reports received by the Hotline Safeline for illegal content or illegal behaviour
on the Internet were presented to the Minister Anna Diamantopoulou by Mrs. Meltini
Christodoulaki, Communications Liaison SafeLine, Institute of Computer Science,
Foundation of Research and Technology (FORTH) .
In the year 2011, SafeLine received in total 3635 reports, a figure which shows the
constant vigilance of the Greek Internet users, in respect to illegal activities and online
trafficking of illegal material. The breakdown of the reports received by the Hotline is as
follows: Personal data 31%, Spam/ Phishing 20%, Financial fraud 12% Communication
12%, Slander 9
%, Child Pornography 7%, Racism- Xenophobia 4%, Threat 3%,
Copyright 2%.
Compared to previous years, a significant increase in reports related to child pornography
has been noted and even in the second half of 2011 the number of reports related to child
pornography has doubled if compared to the first half of the year. Overall, reports of such
content were more than one hundred in total and in order to be effectively dealt with, they
are recorded in the common database of INHOPE (www.inhope.org) of which SafeLine
is a member, and from there the reports are forwarded to other report hotlines, based on
the country of origin of the illegal website. The fight against child pornography, and in
general against all those crimes that have to do with children’s dignity continues, as it is
SafeLine’s primary goal.
It needs to be pointed out that the percentage of the number of reports received regarding
the popular social networking site Facebook reached 35% in 2011. In order to process all
those reports about the Facebook that have to do with personal data breach, credentials’
theft, cyber bullying, etc., SafeLine is in direct communication with the administrators of
the popular website. Through this communication, the opportunity to promote the reports
and find a solution to every problem a Greek user may have is available.
The Institute of Computer Science and the Foundation for Research and Technology
operate the Hotline SafeLine since the 2003, which since 2009 SafeLine is a member
of the Greek Safer Internet Centre. The aim of this effort is to eliminate online material
presenting child abuse, to defend the right of children to a safe online surfing, the
tackling of bullying through cyberspace or mobile phone as well as the elimination of
violence, racism, xenophobia and generally anything which is contrary to the Greek
legislation. SafeLine is supported by the Safer Internet Programme of the European
Committee under the projects NetWatch, SafeLine, SafeLine2 and Saferinternet EL AN-
HL-HELP and since 2005 is an official member of INHOPE (International Association of
Internet Hotlines).
Mrs. Meltini Christodoulaki, Communications Liaison SafeLine (www.safeline.gr),
Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas
(FORTH)
Εmail: meltini@ics.forth.gr, phone number. 2810391615