On February 10, 2026, families, educators, law enforcement, and tech giants across the globe marked Safer Internet Day—a worldwide initiative aimed at raising awareness about the growing risks and responsibilities in our increasingly digital lives. With children and teens spending more of their time online, and seniors navigating new digital frontiers, the day’s events and announcements underscored the urgent need for vigilance, education, and powerful tools to keep everyone safe on the internet.
Google and YouTube, two of the world’s most influential online platforms, took the opportunity to announce a sweeping set of updates and resources designed to support kids, teens, and their families in the digital world. According to Google’s official statement, these updates build on more than a decade of work to protect young users and empower parents. The company’s latest efforts focus on making parental controls more intuitive, enhancing content quality, and promoting digital literacy for the next generation.
Central to Google’s approach is the Family Link platform, which now allows parents to manage all their children’s devices from a single page. Parents can view device-specific usage summaries, set time limits, and easily adjust controls through a consolidated screen-time management tab. This streamlining, Google says, is all about “making it easy for families to choose and customize their experience.”
YouTube, too, has rolled out a revamped sign-up process for families, letting parents create new kid accounts and switch between profiles in the mobile app with just a few taps. For parents worried about endless scrolling, especially on YouTube Shorts, relief is on the way: they can now set scrolling time limits, and soon, they’ll even be able to set that timer to zero minutes if they wish. Custom Bedtime and Take a Break reminders are now available for supervised kid and teen accounts, adding to the suite of default-on wellbeing protections already in place.
These protections go further than just time management. YouTube uses machine learning to estimate users’ ages, ensuring that children and teens see content appropriate for their stage of development. The platform also limits recommendations of content that could be problematic if viewed repeatedly by teens. For users under 18, Take a Break reminders are automatically enabled, set to trigger every 60 minutes, and uploads by creators aged 13 to 17 are private by default. According to Google, these measures are designed to “give parents peace of mind” and help young users develop healthier relationships with technology.
But the push for safety isn’t just about limiting exposure; it’s also about fostering positive, enriching online experiences. YouTube recently announced new teen quality content principles and a creator guide to help its vast community produce fun, age-appropriate, and high-quality videos. These principles, first introduced for kids five years ago, now guide the platform’s recommendation system, helping to elevate content that encourages curiosity and learning. Partnerships with beloved creators and educators—like Sesame Street—ensure that families have access to enriching programming wherever they are.
Education is another pillar of Google’s Safer Internet Day efforts. In August 2025, the company launched its Be Internet Awesome AI literacy guide, offering downloadable lesson plans and classroom activities for grades 2-8. The goal: make foundational AI literacy concepts engaging and accessible for students. This initiative is being scaled up throughout the curriculum and through Online Safety Roadshows in Canada and the U.S. this year, reflecting a growing recognition that digital literacy is as crucial as reading and math in today’s world.
Google’s Gemini platform now features Guided Learning mode, an AI-powered companion that encourages students to dig deeper into complex subjects. Rather than simply providing quick answers, Gemini prompts students with probing, open-ended questions, helping them build a more profound understanding of topics ranging from history to computer science. As Google puts it, the tool is “designed to encourage critical thinking,” not just rote memorization.
Of course, technology is only part of the solution. Google’s efforts are bolstered by collaborations with leading organizations worldwide. In 2025 alone, partners trained more than 60,000 caregivers, educators, and parents on Google’s online safety tools across the US, Brazil, India, Mexico, the UK, and Spain. This year, the company announced expanded partnerships with groups like the Parent Teachers Association, the National Center for Families and Learning, Education for Sharing, the National Cybersecurity Alliance, UpEducators, Fundación ANAR, and SaferNet. Together, they aim to train 200,000 families and practitioners on tools to help kids and families stay safe online.
While tech companies work to build safer digital spaces, law enforcement agencies are taking a proactive stance as well. The Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit used Safer Internet Day to spotlight the dangers lurking online and offer practical advice for families and seniors. As reported by local news outlets, investigators warned that children and senior citizens are often the most vulnerable targets of online criminal activity, from cyberbullying and human trafficking to credit card fraud and identity theft.
“Parents are encouraged to monitor their children’s use of all digital devices and senior citizens are urged to use the internet with caution, especially when asked to furnish personal information,” the Maryland State Police emphasized. Their tips for parents include monitoring online activity, knowing who children are communicating with, discussing online content, controlling app downloads, and being aware of the information children share. For seniors, the advice is clear: use extreme caution when sharing personal data, avoid suspicious emails, maintain adequate internet security, and never grant remote access to computers unless absolutely certain of the requester’s legitimacy.
When it comes to reporting online crimes, the Maryland State Police highlighted the importance of swift action. Complaints involving child exploitation should be filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at www.cybertipline.org or by calling 1-800-THE-LOST. If a child is believed to be in imminent danger, immediate contact with local police or calling 911 is urged. For other internet-based crimes—such as hacking, phishing, extortion, and identity theft—victims are encouraged to file complaints with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.IC3.gov.
Maryland’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, operated by the Computer Crimes Unit, continues its mission to protect children from computer-facilitated sexual exploitation. This statewide partnership of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors not only investigates these crimes but also leads community awareness campaigns to prevent their spread through education.
Safer Internet Day 2026 brought together the best of technology, education, and law enforcement in a coordinated effort to make the digital world a safer place for everyone. With new tools, stronger partnerships, and a renewed commitment to vigilance and education, families and individuals are better equipped than ever to navigate the opportunities and challenges of life online.