PARENTS and guardians play an enormous role in ensuring their children are shielded from exposure to indecent or inappropriate content online.
This was the message highlighted by Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Siromi Turaga while closing the Safer Internet Day deliberations organised by the Online Safety Commission (OSC) in Suva on Tuesday. He said issues in the online space ranged from cyber bullying to social networking and digital identity.
Mr Turaga said negative posts online were often detrimental to the health of people, especially the younger generation.
“Attention span has also decreased because of so much time spent on phones and the internet, all of us are guilty of that,” he said.
“The term social media is an irony since technology is used, however, it causes young people to be more anti-social than being social. “Privacy is another issue and as we have heard there have been a number of complaints of cyber bullying harassment and image-based abuse.
“It’s safer to say that a lot of people are not aware of the online commission so if a lot of people are fully aware the office, the three staff won’t be able to manage the complaints lodged.”
Mr Turaga said the conversation pertaining to online safety and measures to be taken to protect one’s privacy and security, must reach down to those most vulnerable in such spaces,” Mr Turaga said.
“Protect your privacy and do not share personal information or passwords or two factor authorisation code on MPaisa when you receive money.
We need to be careful. “As parents or guardians we have to protect our children and reduce the risk of exposure to inappropriate content.”
