With children spending considerably more time online, they are increasingly susceptible to a broad range of harms. We outline three critical issues countries, particularly those in the Caribbean region will need to address, in order to create a safer online environment for children.
Last week, the Minister for Education, Youth and Information in Jamaica, Honourable Fayval Williams, announced that the Cabinet of Ministers had approved the establishment of a National Child Online Protection Committee, along with the preparation of a National Child Online Protection Strategy. In a virtual press briefing, the Minister expressed the urgency for greater protections for children in the digital age:
It has become critical for children to access the tools which would guarantee their safety as they thrive in this digital age…
(Source: Jamaica Information Service)
However, Jamaica is not the only Caribbean country that Is looking to implement more comprehensive child online protection (COP) frameworks. Virtually all countries, particularly those in the English-speaking Caribbean, are actively pursuing activities either to strengthen the frameworks, and/or to increase awareness of the need for children to be protected online.
On the face of it, addressing COP may appear straightforward, and may just require a national policy, supplemented by suitable legislation, in order to properly define the enabling environment. However, the overarching framework will only tell part of the story. To a considerable degree, the success of the measures implemented will be evidenced in the changes in attitude and behaviour of stakeholders, particularly of children and those who tend to be part of their circle (such as parents, guardians, teachers, tutors, coaches, etc.). We thus highlight three issues that will need to be considered as Caribbean countries develop more comprehensive frameworks for COP.
Laws are only the first step to effect attitude and behaviour change
When COP legislation is promulgated in the region, the odds are that they will be establishing an overarching framework, and would in part would establish broad guidance on the types of online risks to which children are exposed, which would inform the enforcement measures that would be specified. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), key risks that children can encounter include the following:
content risks: exposure to inaccurate or incomplete information, inappropriate or even criminal content such as exposure to adult/extremist/violent/gory content, self-abuse and self-harm related content, destructive and violent behaviour, radicalization or subscribing to racist or discriminatory ideas;
contact risks from adults or peers: harassment, exclusion, discrimination, defamation and damage to reputation, and sexual abuse and exploitation including extortion, grooming (sexual), child sexual abuse material, trafficking and sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism as well as extremist recruitment;
contract risks: exposure to inappropriate contractual relationships, children’s consent online, embedded marketing, online gambling, as well as violation and misuse of personal data such as hacking, fraud and identity theft, scams, profiling bias;
conduct risks: such as sharing of self-generated sexual content or risks characterized through hostile and violent peer activity such as cyberbullying, stalking, exclusion and harassment.
Although the four areas of risk appear quite comprehensive, to varying degrees, they might be difficult to enforce, especially in the Caribbean where resources and expertise might be limited. – though the requisite legislation should still be established. As a result, the approach to fostering greater COP may also need to be more pre-emptive, so that citizens are more aware of not only the areas in which children ought to be protected, but also the legal consequences should breaches of the law occur.
Sustained awareness and training will be needed to create behaviour change
Currently, a broad range of COP-related resources are available online, and from agencies, such as the ITU and UNICEF (the United Nations Children Fund) to name a few. As a result, countries are likely to find a wealth of information from which they can draw and customise for use in their own jurisdictions. However, the bigger challenge that does not appear to be given the requisite attention is the continual public awareness and training that would need to be provided.
Although it has only been in the past 20 years that internet access and availability has taken off across the region, to a fair degree, there has been limited content regulation by countries. As a result, individuals were able to make judgement calls for themselves and for others in their care. In introducing measures to make children safer online, it is likely to require attitude and behaviour changes by adults, which is likely to take some effort.
Moreover, and where the internet and technology are concerned, there are parents and guardians, for example, who are not digitally savvy or literate, and as adults, would be expected to be an integral actor in keeping children safe. Hence, training, in addition to general public awareness may be necessary.
It is worth highlighting that training to support COP would most likely need to be customised for the various segments of the COP ecosystem. For example, the training provided to parents and caregivers would not be identical to that provided to children, or to teachers, or to school administrators, or to ministry officials, or to the police.
Balancing protection and participation
Finally, and although it might go without saying, children and youth ought to be active participants in the COP development space. Yes, policymakers may be driving the process, but children and youth ought to be considered key stakeholders, and they (especially youth) should have a place at the table as well.
Increasingly, the internet and digital technology are seen as key channels to foster civic engagement. Children also have the right to freedom of expression, along with “the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds”, as enshrined in Article 13 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As a result, there is a fine line to be drawn between measures that seek to protect children from online harm, versus those that end up suppressing their rights and freedoms.
In summary, the Caribbean region’s growing focus on COP is welcomed and necessary, as children have been spending a considerable amount of time online, and so are susceptible to a broad range of harms, some of which have been highlighted earlier. However, the effort to foster societies that are proactive in protecting children online is unlikely to be straightforward, or a quick fix. Several issues that will need to be addressed, if a comprehensive and well-functioning regime is to be realised.
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