TREND MICRO LAUNCHES VIDEO COMPETITION FOR SAFER INTERNET DAY

Trend Micro asks young people in Ireland “If you had one special power to make life online better, what would it be?”

Marking Safer Internet Day, global leader in cybersecurity solutions, Trend Micro, has launched its 2019 What’s Your Story? competition. Now in its eighth year, the annual global video competition is designed to give young people a platform to educate others and nurture safer, more responsible use of the internet.

This year’s challenge to young people is to create an impactful video around the question, “If you could have one special power that would make life online better, what would it be?” Trend Micro’s Internet Safety for Kids and Families initiative hopes to encourage contestants to stretch their creative muscles when considering some of the biggest challenges we face today on the internet, including privacy, hacking, hate, misinformation, and overuse, and what they could do to make it better for everyone.

“We depend more and more on the internet because there are so many benefits to it, but life online is far from perfect,” said Avril Ronan, global programme manager of the Internet Safety for Kids and Families program for Trend Micro. “To address that, we want to give students an opportunity to think about the role they play online, what they see as the biggest challenges and how they can make the internet a better place for themselves and for all.”

One aspect that makes this competition unique is that winners are selected partly based on how contestants engage with the wider internet to promote their video and advocate their message. From the moment they submit until the day the winners are announced they are encouraged to drive views and reviews of their entries among their communities to help them win.

Participants from Ireland will have until 30 April 2019 to submit their videos, and an additional two weeks past entry deadline to promote their submitted videos to friends, families, classmates and communities. Prizes totalling €8,000 will be awarded for the winning entries from categories across individuals, schools, clubs and societies circa 28 May 2019.

What’s Your Story? was first launched in 2012 and has run successfully in more than a dozen countries worldwide. Over the past 11 years, ISKF has hosted and supported more than 3,000 events at more than 10,000 schools, teaching more than two million children, parents and teachers worldwide how to use technology safely, responsibly and successfully.

For more information on What’s Your Story? 2019, please visit: https://whatsyourstory.trendmicro.ie/