National initiative seeks to protect children online

LEBANON - Increased, unmonitored access to the Internet in Lebanon, particularly among children in Internet cafes, has prompted World Vision to address Internet safety for children both on a grassroots and national level.

Over the past week, government representatives, teachers, parents, Internet service providers, media and partners attended a World Vision-led workshop where they joined efforts to protect children exposed to negative content on the Internet. 

“Measures of prevention and protection on the Internet and technology risks have always been absent from the Penal Code,” said Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs Wael Abou Faour at the workshop. 

For children, Internet means “fun, chatting, games, downloads, Facebook, boy and girl, meeting new people, YouTube, shopping, music, download and games,” according to a World Vision study conducted in three areas of Lebanon and four Palestinian refugee camps. Despite showing some level of awareness among both parents and children, the unmonitored access to the Internet remains one of the areas of risk highlighted by participants, especially in Internet cafes. 

Accessing the web in Lebanon is relatively cheap and easy. For just 1000 LBP per hour (approximately US$0.65), children who don’t have Internet connection at home, can surf the net in any Internet cafe. According to the study, parents talked about their children’s addiction towards “Internet cafes”. “The man running the Internet cafe was constantly trying to harass girls; and when the girls’ parents knew that, they complained to the municipality president who limited his response to a warning,” said one of the mothers that participated in the study. 
When asked about pornographic sites and sex movies on the Internet, children shared their familiarity with these materials and had accessed some of them, describing them as “bad” and “not good”.

Being exposed to sexually explicit content is just one of the many risks that children face when they go online and play games that encourage violence and discrimination and cyber bullying; risks that World Vision sought to reduce at the grassroots level when it began the “Keeping Children Safe Online” project two years ago with the children.

Today the project has expanded with World Vision now mobilising all stakeholders on the national level, but still with a strong focus on children.
Faour promised to “amend [the] law and add materials criminalising the use of the Internet where it is detrimental to the child and to his psychological and social health".

“As a child-focused organisation, World Vision is keen to ensure that children are protected in all environments, real and virtual,” said Zeina El Khoury, Senior Project Coordinator. “There is a dire need to work with both parents and children on awareness raising and skills building.” The involvement of the Government, owners of Internet cafes, and religious leaders is also very important to ensure children are protected and able to grow in an environment that fosters their development and potential.