Unicef claims Children in Pakistan need safe and censored access to internet. We are living in an era where internet has become the necessity of People all over the world including children. However with uncontrollable substances over internet, not it is extremely important to offer a safe and productive online environment for children.
Recently a report came from United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) which emphasizes that the governments and telecom authorities be required to take steps for protecting children online, worldwide.
In Unicef’s annual flagship global report which is The State of the World’s Children (SOWC) 2017 “Children in a Digital World”, it has stated that governments must take steps to develop protected internet access to the children.
According to the report, one in three internet users worldwide is a child and it also states that the current efforts to give them safe online content are not enough. In the meantime, 346 million youth aged between 15 to 24 years is still offline, worldwide.
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The Unicef report also demonstrates its concerns over the reality that millions of children and youth in Pakistan and around the globe have no access to the internet which is the main reason that a larger populace of main regions around the world is not contributing in the digital ecosystem.
Melanie Galvin, chief of Nutrition for Unicef in Pakistan states,
“In a country like Pakistan, progress for every child is much more dependent on safe, inclusive and widely accessible online opportunities. To understand that the digital is not a need but an essential part of growing up in this world is the only way forward.”
The recent report by unicef puts a question mark on the digital networks counting the likes of Dark Web and cryptocurrencies, which have turn out to be the most horrible source of exploitation and abuse.
According to the report, due to these online networks, Child trafficking and sex abuse have extensively spread.
The SOWC 2017 contains the analysis of recent data on the usage of internet by children. The report also put a light to the impact of digital technology on children, opening a debate regarding digital ‘addiction’ and the potential effect of screen time on child’s brain development.
After this report, now its duty and moral obligation of government including telcom authorities to take firm action against online sites which are exploiting the children in different ways.
In order to provide a safe and sound online environment to children in Pakistan Government have to take some initiatives as the recent situation is alarming.
