Google wants to cut off trolling at its roots.
Starting with a workshop today in Liverpool, Google is launching a new Internet Citizens program to help teens foster positive communication on the internet. Internet Citizens will start as a series of day-long workshops in cities throughout the UK. Topics will include how to handle offensive speech, fake news and echo chambers.
Internet Citizens is part of Youtube's Creators for Change program, which promotes videos focused on tolerance and awareness. The UK classes were created in collaboration with UK Youth -- a national organization aimed at helping kids develop the skills they need for adulthood.
In the classes, teens ages 13 to 18 will learn how to participate responsibly and safely in internet discussions, and how to use tools like comment flagging to deal with online hate speech.
The goal, as stated by one of the program's teachers in Google's blog post, is to make the internet "this amazing place where we can share, collaborate, understand and help each other."