Solutions for protecting children in cyberspace

The use of the Internet by the children, often without the adult’s supervision, leads to the creation of an environment that favors inadequate psychological transformations or the commission of offenses that involve children and teens, such as child pornography, sexual violence and other crimes. The opinion was expressed in a roundtable meeting that brought together representatives of the central public authorities, civil society and Internet service providers, Info-Prim Neo reports. Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology Mihaela Iacob stressed the importance of addressing the problem of child protection in cyberspace as, besides providing advantages, the Internet is a source of increased risk. Stanislav Gordea, head of the Ministry’s Analytical Research Section, said that it is an urgent necessity to regulate the given area so as to protect the physical, mental and moral integrity of the children. “According to international experts, the 10% increase in the broadband Internet penetration rate leads to a 1.3% growth of the GDP, while the advantages of the Internet are numerous. But there are dangers that we should know so that we can protect ourselves. Globally, every seventh child aged 10-17 who uses the Internet is solicited through the Internet, while 34% of the children using the Internet are involuntarily exposed to sexual materials, with the word “sex” being the most searched for on the Internet,” said Stanislav Gordea. Ana Revenco, a representative of the NGO “La Strada”, said that no analysis of the Internet use by children and its effects on children of different ages and social categories was made in Moldova, but the organization is ready to take part in the improvement of the situation in the given area. Representative of the company “MoldData” Eugen Martin said the problem of filtering the information on the Internet is not technical, but rather educational and requires the involvement of parents and teachers. “CBM” Training Center head Veronica Cretu underlined the necessity of improving the educational system by including a subject on the Internet in schools to teach the children how to look something up on the Internet, what are the personal data and what risks the socialization networks pose. Pavel Shincariuc, head of the ICT Ministry’s Information Technology Policy Division, pleaded for launching an awareness raising campaign through the media to inform the children about the dangers posed by the Internet. He said the Ministry is ready to create a website that will include all the necessary information. The roundtable meeting “Protection of Children in Cyberspace” was organized by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the Prosecutor General’s Office, I. S. “MoldData”, The Human Rights Center, UNICEF Moldova, UNDP Moldova, and of Internet service providers.