Other LanguagesOn Nov. 5, Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna received an award for Outstanding Achievement from FOSI, The Family Online Safety Institute:
"The Family Online Safety Institute works to make the online world safer for kids and their families by identifying and promoting best practice, tools and methods in the field of online safety...through the development of public policy, technology, education and special events. The Family Online Safety Institute is an International, non-profit membership organization dedicated to working to develop a safer Internet. There are four pillars to the work of the Institute; these are events, public policy, technology and education."
The FOSI award for Outstanding Achievement is awarded to those individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to advancing the goal of a safer Internet. Here's how FOSI describes AG McKenna (pictured here with FOSI board members Maria Jose Cantarino De Frias, Corporate Responsibility Manager, Telefónica Group and Michael W. McKeehan, Executive Director, Internet & Technology Policy, Verizon):
"Attorney General Rob McKenna is a leader in online safety issues and works hard to keep Washington state families safe online. In 2007, General McKenna formed the Washington Youth Internet Safety Taskforce, a coalition of law enforcement, child advocacy organizations, academic experts, state and local governments, technology firms and associations, and concerned citizens to make use of the Internet and related technologies safer for children General McKenna and the Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction partnered with Web Wise Kids and the Entertainment Software Association Foundation to bring an innovative youth Internet safety program to 70 Washington schools. The program uses video games to teach students how to protect themselves from online predators, cyberbullies and scammers. In the past year, General McKenna fought to close a loophole shielding users of online child pornography from prosecution, and he led a study to prepare for the first statewide digital crime lab for Washington state law enforcement."
AG McKenna has won similar awards in recent years. In 2008, he was given the Washington State PTSA's “Friend of Children” Award and the IKeepSafe Internet Safety Award.
To learn more about protecting your family from online threats, be sure to check out the AGO's comprehensive online guide to Internet Safety: WebWiseWashington.com.