After completing his legal clerkship, Sebastian Fitting has dedicated his career to child online safety at eco – Association of the Internet Industry. He joined the INHOPE Board in November 2024.
My background and education are in law. Since completing my legal clerkship after university, I have been working at eco’s hotline. I now have over ten years of experience as an analyst for illegal online content and have taken on additional responsibilities over time, including acting as our law enforcement liaison and delivering awareness-raising workshops. Being something of a tech enthusiast certainly helps with the job and its peculiarities. And after finishing my shifts safeguarding children online, I regularly safeguard my guildmates as a healer in World of Warcraft.
There are clear advantages to being part of the network, such as the sharing of knowledge and expertise across hotlines, for example through analyst workshops, trainings, and bursary visits. INHOPE also creates a strong sense of community, showing that there are others around the world doing the same important work. Beyond this, the network demonstrates how very diverse organisations can still come together and be united around a common goal.
Alongside the personal challenge, I realised how much I have gained from the network in my work. As an analyst, I've benefitted greatly from being part of the INHOPE network, and I want to contribute to maintaining, promoting and improving its core services, particularly for analysts. I would be glad and honoured to give something back, drawing on both my legal expertise and hotline experience, while also remaining open to new developments.
Continuing to work as a hotline analyst keeps me closely connected to the realities at the frontline, and this experience will strongly inform my Board work. My first-hand experience of the benefits of collaboration within the network also shapes my thinking. In addition, working with external stakeholders such as law enforcement, and understanding their perspectives, will be an important consideration.
Adapting to an ever-evolving technological and online landscape will always be a challenge. At the same time, managing a network of highly diverse members with different backgrounds, views, and approaches is both enriching and demanding. It is the responsibility of the Board and the Secretariat to navigate this, while ensuring a strong and sustainable foundation so the network has the resources it needs to continue its work.
As hotline staff, and especially as analysts, we see very clearly that young people’s online experiences are not always positive. For me, the ideal online space is a balanced and proportionate one, combining freedom with appropriate restrictions and grounded in shared social responsibility. While this is difficult to achieve, I believe that if we model this approach as a society, both online and offline, we can involve children as safely as possible while encouraging them to grow up with safety and responsibility in mind.
