Minimising the risk of internet use

June 4, this Monday, marks the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression. Internationally, this day was established in order to draw attention to the plight of children involved, unwillingly and through no fault of their own, in conflict situations that lead to them becoming innocent victims.

In Malta, we are fortunate to be far from the realities of conflict, unless we become witness to international happenings. However, this does not mean that in Malta children cannot also become innocent victims of aggression in many ways, for example due to bullying, domestic violence or by inadvertently being drawn, unsuspecting, to dangerous situations.

Surely, we all agree that such a danger can come from a source which is spreading in the technically-developed world - the internet. Children and young people are increasingly spending more time on the internet and using new technologies. Parents are finding it increasingly more difficult to live up to their roles in an IT era.

Children can go online from home, at friends' houses, libraries, local councils, internet cafés or in schools. Game consoles can be connected to the internet and it is also possible to connect through mobile devices, such as cellular telephones. In other words, children don't have to be in the company of responsible adults to use the internet.

Most children who go online have positive experiences. However, as with any endeavour, there are some risks. They can be targets of crime, exploitation, and harassment, in this as in any other environment. Trusting, curious, and anxious to explore this new world, children need parental supervision and common-sense advice on how to be sure that their experiences in cyberspace are happy, healthy, and productive.

Articles 13 and 17 of the UN convention on the rights of the child protect their right to information.

Article 13 on freedom of expression says that "this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice". Article 17 on mass media says that children should be ensured "access to information... from a diversity of national and international sources" - especially those aimed at promoting well-being and physical and mental health.

Governments should also "encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child".

Children have the right to find information on the internet, listen to the radio, watch TV and read newspapers, even though the UN convention specifies that "children have the right to reliable information from the mass media".

Television, radio, and newspapers should make an effort to provide information that children can understand, and should not promote material that could harm children.

Parents have been encouraged to install filters, to monitor; but these are not enough to ensure that children and young people can surf the web safely - in the exercise of their rights and freedoms, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the Council of Europe's Deputy Secretary General, expressed her belief several times that "empowering children to use the internet is the best filter".

It is for this reason that I wholeheartedly welcome the draft e-Security Strategy prepared by the National e-Security Working Group. Children are one of the priorities of the strategy. The protection of children should be paramount when dealing with online illegal material and the ensuing problems of children pornography, grooming, paedophilia and others. At the same time, the strategy stresses the need for the empowerment of children and young people when using the internet, so they can competently use its tools and services and critically analyse internet content and communications.

By creating the necessary IT infrastructure for the development of services, ongoing research and adequate protection, as well as by equipping individuals, including children, with appropriate skills and knowledge, they will be able to exercise their rights and freedoms fully and responsibly, to improve their development and well-being online.

Ms Zammit is Commissioner for Children.