Google Joins Family Online Safety Institute to Protect Kids in Web 2.0 World

WASHINGTON - The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), an international non-profit organization dedicated to identifying and promoting best practices, tools, and methods for online safety, today announced that Google has joined the Institute as a full member. Additionally, Google Policy Counsel Pablo Chavez has joined FOSI's board of directors to assist in governing FOSI's strategic direction and initiatives.

"Joining FOSI furthers Google's efforts to educate families about ways to use the Internet safely," said Pablo Chavez, Senior Policy Counsel at Google and FOSI board member. "Over the years, we've built tools, like our SafeSearch filter, and offered educational materials, like our Tips for Online Safety site, to help kids and families stay safe online. We look forward to working with FOSI to promote awareness of Internet safety resources."

"Google is a recognized industry leader known for technology development and innovation in our constantly evolving digital world," said Stephen Balkam, CEO of FOSI. "We're incredibly excited to welcome Google to FOSI and look forward to promoting best practices in online safety."

Google joins a high profile community of FOSI members, including Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, France Telecom, British Telecom, AOL and Telmex. Google is the largest search engine on the World Wide Web and offers users access to an index comprising billions of URLs.