Child Safety Shouldn’t Stop Online

A digital campaign from international funding body Oak Foundation, whose mandate is to address issues of global, social and environmental concern.

In 2022 the European Parliament and EU member states reached a deal on the Digital Services Act (DSA), a landmark piece of legislation that aims to address illegal and harmful content online. Although this is a step in the right direction, the vagaries of what is illegal and harmful are being exploited and further specific legislation has been proposed to combat child sexual abuse content online.

Most online service providers and big-tech companies flag and remove this content on a voluntary basis, meaning that in some instances Child Sexual Abuse Material, or CSAM, still gets through and in alarming quantities. In 2021, 85 million instances of CSAM were reported globally.

This campaign is directed at parents and policy makers, encouraging them to share the message and support the new legislation proposal so that tech companies are forced by law to report and then remove CSAM.

A visual identity was created for the campaign, drawing inspiration from warning signs, as well as online UI, alerts and iconography. The bold typographic style, use of atmospheric photography and vibrant colour palette helped communicate key themes of safety and childhood in an accessible yet balanced way – ensuring it was tonally appropriate for the serious issues being raised.

The campaign website and accompanying social media content was designed and then translated into five major European languages and in addition an explainer video was produced, which included the direction of script, voice over talent and subsequent animation.