Children exposed to unsafe digital space

Jack, aged 10, learns at one of the prestigious schools in Blantyre. At his age, he is already into technology. He has a dual-SIM tablet and a laptop at home, which are Internet connected, making it easy for him to surf.

Jack says he can install apps from Play Store as well as operating the laptop on his own without the help of an adult.

His mother, a Mrs. Tembo, says she bought a tablet for Jack in 2020 after the lockdown due to Covid 19.

“When schools closed, Jack’s school was offering lessons virtually and, as such, he needed a gadget with Internet to help him not miss classes. After the lockdown, we left the tablet with him and he can still access the Internet,” she explains

Tembo adds that she does not monitor what Jack does on the Internet but believes he only accesses educational sites, play games and watch cartoons on You Tube.

A report by Unicef indicates that the Internet can expose children to great harm like hate speech, violent content including messages that incite self-harm and suicide to children if proper supervision is not done.

For instance, 12-year-old Archie Battersbee was found unconscious at his home in the United Kingdom on April 7 last year with a chord around his neck after he tried an online ‘Blackout Challenge’. He was in a coma after a brain injury and eventually died.

E-Safety Commission, Australia’s national independent regulator which promotes online safety education for young people, parents and educators in that country reports that one in three children have experienced some form of cyber bullying and harassment while 47 percent of teenage children have received a sexual message.

The commission also reports that 30 percent of teenagers have been contacted by a stranger online while 67 percent of adults have experienced some form of cyber harassment and misinformation.

Locally, Malawi Police Service head of Digital Forensic and Cyber Crimes Unit, Gladwel Kubwalo,says cyber bullying and child pornography cases are commonly reported to their offices.

ICT Association of Malawi president Clarence Gama says as the country plans to increase Internet and mobile device penetration, there is need to take into consideration the impact this may have on children.

“Children and young adults are inquisitive, once you give them a gadget, they would want to explore more. You can give the gadget for education purposes only, but they will still use them for additional things.

“We now have a wide range of devices. We used to have desktops but now we are talking about tablets, phones, television sets. We would like to see that there is proper security when children and young adults are using the gadgets,” he says.

Gama feels that parents have a huge responsibility to only allow Internet access to children who can make sound decisions.

The Internet is a limitless space where all types of information can be obtained, parents, teachers and guardians should work together to regulate the type of information that children of certain ages have access to, he says.

As a control aspect, Gama says there are several technical interventions that parents can use to help promote safe Internet usage for children such as the parental control software which allows parents to set limits on their children’s Internet use and block inappropriate content.

“They can also use web filtering software to blocks access to inappropriate or harmful websites and content as well as antivirus software which protect against viruses, malware and other online threats that can compromise children’s safety while online,” he adds.

Airtel Malawi assistant digital experience manager Madalitso Matemba notes that parents nowadays give gadgets and Internet access to children without monitoring or supervising what they are doing.

“Our plea to parents is to be vigilant to monitor the activities that their children do online. A child can lie that he is accessing education materials when in actual sense they are on Tik Tok, WhatsApp or Facebook. So, checking regularly and giving them proper advice is crucial.

“For example, you will see a child below 18 years on Facebook, a thing which just shows that they are not controlling what the kids are installing on their gadgets,” says Matemba at the 2023 Safer Internet Day commemoration in Blantyre.

He says Airtel also offers routers with parental control features which enable parents to block websites which are not fit for children and control the time their children access Internet.

During a panel discussion on 2023 Safer Internet Day, TNM chief information officer Peter Munthali adds that parents can also utilise the various platforms such as Android which allows people to register as children and have a parental account controlled by the parents, thereby, restricting a child from installing apps as well as accessing sites without the parents’ approval.

Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority director of economic regulation Andrew Nyirenda says they are doing awareness campaigns targeting children and young adults as regards to safe use of Internet.

“We know we cannot control what they do on the Internet because most of the time they are doing this on their own, but as policy makers, we need to strategies, put initiatives such as awareness campaign that they should know what they are supposed to do on the Internet,” he says.

Nyirenda adds that currently Malawi with technical assistance from International Telecommunications Union is in the process of developing National Child Online Protection Strategy.

“Some of the key areas in the strategy are promotion of child rights, encouraging and helping the children to report when abused online as well as enhancing awareness.

“Every half a second, everyday, a child goes online for the first time tapping into all the great opportunities the Internet has to offer but facing grave risks, so it is a call for us to protect them from sexual exploitation, cyber bullying and the misuse of their private information,” he says.

In Malawi, following amendment to the Penal Code, exploiting children online into child pornography attracts a 15-year-jail-term and K10 million fine