Safeguarding Children in Digital Spaces | 13 Feb 2024

Source: TH

Why in News?

Recently, heightened concerns have emerged regarding children's safety in digital spaces. Rising incidents of online exploitation have prompted calls for urgent action. Amid evolving digital landscapes, safeguarding children's rights is paramount.

What are the Challenges for Children in the Digital Spaces?

• Cyberbullying:
  • Definition:
    • Cyberbullying is the use of digital platforms to harass, threaten, humiliate, or harm another person, especially a peer.
  • Forms:
    • Abusive messages, rumours, hurtful comments, sharing private or embarrassing photos or videos, impersonating someone, or excluding someone from online groups.
  • Impact:
    • Negative effects on children’s mental health, self-esteem, academic performance, and social relationships. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, isolation, self-harm, or suicide.
• Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse:
  • Definition:
    • It is the use of digital platforms to engage children in sexual activities or expose them to sexual content, for the gratification or profit of the offender.
  • Forms:
    • Producing, distributing, or accessing child sexual abuse material, grooming children for sexual purposes, soliciting children for sexual acts, livestreaming sexual abuse, or sextortion.
  • Effects:
    • Can have devastating effects on children’s physical, psychological, and emotional health, and can cause lifelong trauma and damage.
• Privacy and data protection:
  • Definition:
    • Privacy and data protection is the right of children to control their personal information and how it is collected, used, shared, or stored by others, especially online.
  • Violations:
    • It can be violated by tech companies, advertisers, hackers, or other third parties, who may collect, use, or sell children’s data without their consent or knowledge, for commercial or malicious purposes.
  • Consequences:
    • Can have harmful consequences for children, such as identity theft, fraud, targeted marketing, manipulation, discrimination, or exposure to inappropriate or dangerous content or contacts.
• Digital literacy and citizenship:
  • Definition:
    • Digital literacy and citizenship is the ability and responsibility of children to use digital platforms effectively, safely, and ethically, and to participate in the online world as informed and active citizens.
  • Challenges:
    • It can be challenged by the proliferation of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech online, which can mislead, confuse, or harm children, and undermine their trust and values.
  • Consequences:
    • Digital literacy can be hindered by the lack of access, affordability, or quality of digital platforms and technologies, which can create digital divides and inequalities among children.
• Metaverse and Virtual Reality (VR):
  • Definition:
    • The metaverse is a virtual world that uses virtual reality, augmented reality, and other advanced technology to allow people to have lifelike experiences online.
  • Forms:
    • Exploitation by virtual predators and economic exploitation through scams. Harassment and discrimination thrive in virtual environments, fostering cyberbullying and online discrimination based on users' identities.
    • Privacy violations are rampant, with data mining and surveillance compromising users' personal information and security.
  • Negative Impacts of the Metaverse:
    • Children may encounter graphic or violent content in virtual environments, leading to desensitization or emotional distress.
      • Continuous exposure to such content can desensitize children to violence or other inappropriate behaviours, impacting their emotional well-being.
• Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI):
  • Definition:
    • Generative AI refers to AI systems capable of producing new content, such as text, images, or music, based on patterns learned from existing data.
  • Forms:
    • Generative AI offers educational benefits and creative opportunities for children, but it also poses risks, including the creation of persuasive disinformation and indistinguishable fake images, videos and information.
  • Vulnerabilities:
    • Children's cognitive vulnerabilities make them susceptible to misinformation, raising concerns about the impact of AI-generated content on young minds.

What Can Be Done to Keep Children Safe Online?

• Prevention:
  • Cyberbullying can be prevented and addressed by educating children about online etiquette and empathy, encouraging them to report any incidents, supporting the victims, and holding the perpetrators accountable.
  • Teaching children about responsible VR usage, digital citizenship, and online safety.
  • Digital literacy and citizenship can be enhanced by teaching children how to access, evaluate, create, and share online content, how to communicate and collaborate online, and how to respect and protect themselves and others online.
• Tech Companies' Role:
  • Tech firms must prioritize 'safety by design(SBD)', acknowledging their role in safeguarding children's well-being online, as highlighted in recent Congressional hearings.
    • SBD puts user safety and rights at the centre of the design and development of online products and services. It focuses on the ways technology companies can minimise online threats by anticipating, detecting and eliminating online harms before they occur.
  • UNICEF recommends that tech companies apply the highest existing data protection standards to children’s data in the metaverse and virtual environments.
• Government Responsibilities:
  • Assess and adjust regulatory frameworks like the Child Abuse Prevention and Investigation Unit regularly to prevent violations of children's rights in digital spaces.
  • Develop innovative initiatives like a child online safety toolkit, to help parents, educators, and other concerned adults protect children from online dangers.
  • Utilize regulatory power to combat harmful content and behaviour affecting children online.
• Collective Responsibility:
  • Recognize that existing real-world rules for child protection should extend to the online realm.
  • Emphasize the importance of collaboration between tech companies, governments, and organizations to ensure child safety online.