ICT industry regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) on Tuesday launched a campaign on Child Online Protection to raise awareness of the types of crime that children are exposed to in the cyberspace.
Dubbed Be the Cop, the campaign highlights the role that parents, guardians and teachers need to play to protect children in cyberspace and at the same time provides avenues of redress should one encounter cyber crime.
The Authority has partnered with other organizations that play a role in safeguarding children including Department of Children Services, The Cradle, Kenya Girl Guides Association, Kenya Scouts Association, Kenya Association of Professional Counselors, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Plan International and Childline Kenya. The Authority has also partnered with service providers Google, Orange, Airtel and Safaricom.
While launching the campaign at the Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association (KEPSHA) Annual Conference CA Director General highlighted findings from a study carried out by the Authority, “the study shows that teenagers are more concerned with cyber bullying while adults are more concerned that children and teenagers are accessing pornography. The study further reveals that parents, guardians and teachers seem to be unable to monitor what children and teens are doing online.” He added that findings from this study informed the campaign.
ICT Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiangi who was the guest of honour at the campaign launch noted that the Internet is a global tool that provides us with endless possibilities however it also harbors criminals and the issue of protecting children is a global concern, “it is for this reason that in November 2008, the International Telecommunications Union launched established the Child Online Protection initiative to create an international collaborative network and promote online safety of children around the world.”
The Authority is mandated to regulate the ICT sector and at the same time protect consumers of ICT services including children.
The Child Online Protection awareness campaign will run for a period of three months in electronic, print, outdoor and online media.