DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, through its Internet Safety for Kids and Families (ISKF) program, today launched its What’s Your Story? 2020 video competition. The annual contest is designed to give young people a platform to educate others and nurture safer, more responsible use of the internet. Unlike most video contests, participants must both submit an entry and demonstrate that they can be an advocate for their own message. Contestants are asked to encourage their fans and communities to view and rate their entries as evidence of this advocacy.

This year’s challenge is to create an impactful video around the question, “If the internet disappeared today, what would your life be like?” Whether you shudder or celebrate at that notion, Trend Micro’s ISKF hopes to encourage contestants to stretch their creative muscles when considering some of the biggest challenges we face today on the internet, including concerns about privacy, fake news, erosion of civility, and misinformation.

“We are at a critical point in history where society has become increasingly dependent on the internet,” said Lynette Owens, global director of the Internet Safety for Kids and Families program for Trend Micro. “For more than a decade we’ve encouraged kids, through this contest, to explore ways to collectively make the internet better for everyone; this year we want to take a slightly different approach and draw attention to the challenges or triumphs young people would face in the absence of the internet.”

Participants from Canada and the U.S. can begin submitting entries as early as November 19, 2019 and will have until January 14, 2020 to submit their videos. An additional week past the entry deadline is allocated for participants to promote their submitted videos to friends, families, classmates and communities. Finalists will be notified on or around January 28, 2020, with the winners announced on February 11, 2020 – Safer Internet Day, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. A total of three grand prizes will be awarded; $10,000 will be awarded to the winning student entry – of which $5,000 will go to the student and $5,000 to their school. The best Canadian and best U.S. school entries will each receive $5,000 awards.

Supporting efforts for What’s Your Story? 2020 come from a variety of companies including the National Association for Media Literacy Education, Twitter, ConnectSafely, Media Smarts, Cyberbullying Research Center, and Trend Micro.

What’s Your Story? first launched in 2010 and has run successfully in more than a dozen countries worldwide. Over the past 12 years, ISKF has hosted and supported more than 3,000 events at more than 10,000 schools, teaching more than two and a half million children, parents and teachers worldwide how to use technology safely, responsibly and successfully.

Contestants can post general comments under #WYS2020 and are asked to promote their entries under #HeresMyStory2020. For more information on What’s Your Story? 2020, please visit: https://whatsyourstory.trendmicro.com/

About Trend Micro Internet Safety for Kids & Families

Founded in 2008, the mission of Trend Micro's Internet Safety for Kids & Families is to enable and empower kids, parents, teachers, and schools around the world to make the Internet a safe and secure place for today's youth. ISKF does this through a worldwide employee volunteer program, grants and donations to eligible organizations, strategic partnerships with organizations working to protect youth, educational programs, and a robust series of online tips and solutions for parents, educators, and youth. For ISKF's free Internet safety tips, tools and advice, visit: https://internetsafety.trendmicro.com/.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro secures your connected world. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.