Why all parents need to make Internet safer for children

The internet has today become very integral to the lives of Kenyans, who have embraced its potential for communication, entertainment and information.

Children have also not been left behind. The internet is easily accessible to them with technologies such as mobile phones and other hand-held devices becoming a familiar presence in their day to day life.

There is also an increased number of Wi-Fi hotspots in Kenya to be found in homes, schools, restaurants, churches and public transport.

Unfortunately, the advancement in technology has exposed children to serious risk of abuse online while leaving parents and guardians helpless to intervene.

Notably, warning signs that can serve to protect children in the physical world are largely absent online. Children engage in ‘chat’ or ‘conversation’ in the private space of their own bedrooms without parental supervision and can unwittingly expose themselves to an unknown worldwide audience, potentially increasing the risk of harm.

“Parental capacity to protect children is also increasingly limited by the fact that many of the activities previously done via computers based in fixed locations are now being utilised on mobile phones with Internet connectivity,” says the report.

When children have access to such phones, as an increasing number do, parents are less able to monitor their children’s activities, introduce filtering or blocking mechanisms, or control the degree of access to the Internet.

The numerous online channels that are available for abusers to access children make it difficult to police illegal behaviours and to protect them.

Information on privacy and security risks exist for all users. However, children are a particularly vulnerable because they often lack the capacity to foresee possible consequences of disclosure of personal information online.

Privacy risks

“Children bear information privacy risks when their personal data are collected online automatically (e.g. cookies), upon request by an information service provider (e.g. when signing up for a service), or voluntarily, when they fill their personal information in online forms .Unlike most adults, children tend to skip privacy statements of online services,” the report says.

Making friends online has attracted particular attention as a risky behaviour, especially when this leads to offline meetings.

And since young people value the internet as a particularly enabling environment for intimate or private communications, it goes without saying that the internet has increased the risk of strangers contacting children.

The draft report notes that there is a particular risk of ‘grooming’ practices which entail communicating and forming a ‘friendship’ with children online with the intent of arranging to meet them in the ‘real world’ to sexually abuse.

The draft report appreciates that such behaviour takes place online, without physical contact between the abuser and child.

However, despite the lack of physical contact, children can be frightened and harmed by what has happened and may find difficulty talking about it.

“They may use flattery and promises of gifts, or threats and intimidation in order to achieve some control. Chat rooms and social networking sites are common places for such behaviour to start. Children may in the process be encouraged to give personal details,” says a draft report, “Child Online Protection; A Practical Guide for Children, Parents and Professionals Working with Children” prepared by the Department of Children Services, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Kenya.

Physical description

Groomers’ sometimes pretend to be younger than they are and may change their gender, give a false physical description of themselves and send pictures of other people, pretending that it is them. Usual rules around friendships and trust are changed making it harder to discern true ‘friends’ from strangers in this context.

Notably, minors in search of help or assistance can receive harmful advice from incompetent or ill-intentioned advisors on interactive platforms such as social networks or chat rooms. This contact risk mirrors of being exposed to harmful advice.

“Children may presume, incorrectly, that all information they submit remains within the boundaries of their immediate contacts, and they may fail to anticipate the possible adverse consequences of providing information to “friends of friends”, to people who may subsequently cease to be friends, and to those who may pass information on to others,” draft report.

Although cyberbullies and their victims are often minors, cases of adults harassing children also exist.

Strategies include repeated threats by e-mail, text messages or chat, publication on the web or circulation of embarrassing pictures, often taking advantage of the relative anonymity of the online media.