"Defensive shields" to protect Vietnamese children online

82% of Vietnamese children aged 12-13 use the internet. How to protect them in a "flat world" with a mixture of good and bad?

Những 'tấm lá chắn phòng thủ' bảo vệ trẻ em trên môi trường mạng

82% of Vietnamese children aged 12-13 use the internet. (Photo: TD)

A signal of both joy and worry

According to the most recent report of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 82% of Vietnamese children aged 12-13 use the internet. This figure shows that the majority of young children in Vietnam have early access to information on cyberspace. This is both a welcome sign and a challenge to protect children from potential risks from the online environment.

Mr. Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, in an interview with the media, stated that the internet can “connect children to a world of opportunities and provide them with the skills they need to succeed in a digital world”. However, along with undeniable benefits for the young generation, the online environment also brings unpredictable risks and dangers.

In the first 8 months of this year alone, the National Child Protection Hotline 111 received 251 calls related to child abuse on the Internet. Of these, 142 calls were related to serious child abuse on the Internet: Sexual abuse (67 calls), cyberbullying (20 calls), insults to honor and dignity (30 calls), and disclosure of personal information (3 calls). The number of people interested in how to use the Internet safely for children was 98 calls.

At a press conference last September, the Department of Children, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said: In the first 8 months of this year alone, the National Child Protection Hotline 111 received 251 calls related to child abuse on the internet.

Of these, 142 calls were related to serious acts of child abuse on the internet: sexual abuse (67 calls), cyberbullying (20 calls), insults to honor and dignity (30 calls), and disclosure of personal information (3 calls). The number of people interested in how to use the internet safely for children was 98 calls.

Not only that, the number of people under 18 years old suffering from syndromes such as internet addiction, social network addiction, online game addiction is still complicated. These diseases not only affect the comprehensive development of children, but also have negative impacts on family, relatives and society.

Furthermore, the phenomenon of juvenile crime stemming from “game addiction” and “game imitation” is not common, but it has sounded an alarm bell for many parents who allow their children to use the internet excessively for fun and entertainment without any supervision.

Comprehensive efforts, on many fronts

Faced with the above situation, the need to create a protective shield against the negative impacts of the online environment on children is becoming increasingly urgent. In recent times, the Vietnamese government has recognized the importance of this issue by developing and promulgating a relatively comprehensive legal system on protecting children in the online environment.

The results achieved in the work of protecting and supporting children in the online environment have shown the determination and efforts to always give the best to Vietnamese children.

The Department of Children, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that in recent times, the legal system on child protection in the online environment has been developed, supplemented with regulations in a number of documents, laws and policies. The most prominent are the two National Action Programs for Children for the period 2021-2030 and the Program to Protect and Support Children to Interact Healthily and Creatively in the Online Environment.

In addition, Vietnam and ASEAN countries agreed to adopt the Declaration on Protecting Children from All Forms of Online Exploitation and Abuse in ASEAN in 2019, and then in 2021 adopted the Declaration on Eliminating Bullying in ASEAN, including bullying of children in the online environment.

In parallel, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has coordinated with relevant organizations and units to organize campaigns and communication activities on child protection in the online environment; develop leaflets, documents, and clips to guide children on online safety skills in the online environment. These documents have been sent to provinces and cities and posted on the website of the Department of Children and Hotline 111.

From 2020 to present, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the Ministry of Public Security have closely coordinated with each other, working together to handle children's issues in the online environment, issuing timely and resolute documents to handle violations, especially bad and toxic information on social networks such as Facebook and Youtube, resolutely requiring foreign service providers to remove violating information.

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has proactively informed and issued an official dispatch requesting inspection and handling of content posted on electronic newspapers and social networks with bad and toxic content that affects the healthy development of children as soon as it discovers information on electronic newspapers, social networks and from people's feedback via the national hotline for child protection (number 111).

In addition, to educate children about healthy interactions in the online environment, many information security competitions for students have been successfully organized. As of August this year, 740,250 students from nearly 5,417 secondary schools in 63 provinces and cities participated in the "Students with Information Security" contest (about 140,000 students higher than the statistics in 2022).

Discussion on protecting children online within the framework of the Award Ceremony of the 2023 Student Information Security Competition. (Source: Childfun)

Not only that, identifying child protection in cyberspace as a task for the whole society, the Vietnamese Government also organized a series of seminars and training programs for many target groups to learn about practices as well as propose solutions and initiatives to protect children and support child victims.

Notably, on September 27, the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA) launched the Vietnam Children Protection Club on Cyberspace with the participation of 11 initial members who are businesses and organizations operating in the field of supporting and protecting children in Vietnam. The Club's Chairman is Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh - Vice President of VNISA, General Director of SCS Company (with a Board of Directors of 6 members). This is the first Vietnam Children Protection Club on Cyberspace in Vietnam.

Promote solutions, professionalize systems

However, efforts to protect children online still face some difficulties and problems. Specifically, removing unhealthy content is still facing difficulties and obstacles due to information sources from some foreign platforms.

Vietnam has not yet established a CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) database that includes information and descriptive data on images/videos of child abuse and has a mechanism for authorities to participate in updating and analyzing information to prevent the posting and sharing of images/videos of child abuse on the internet.

Currently, the main sources of information are through the 111 hotline and the website vn-cop.vn, which are often overloaded due to lack of human resources and technical equipment to store evidence, images, analyze data, connect to handle cases, and are not yet able to connect internationally...

To overcome the limitations and promote the effectiveness in protecting children in cyberspace, the Department of Children, Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed a number of solutions as follows:

Firstly , state management agencies continue to improve and supplement details of legal regulations on child protection, data protection, and personal information about children online, paying special attention to establishing a CSAM database, strengthening communication to raise awareness among children and parents about protecting children's privacy and protecting children in the online environment. Implement the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on child protection in the online environment (in the dialogue session with Vietnam in 2022).

Second , media and press agencies need to pay special attention to protecting the privacy and personal secrets of children when publishing news and articles about children.

Third , businesses need to encourage the development of applications, software, platforms, and online games that are useful playgrounds for children, helping them interact healthily and creatively in cyberspace.

Fourth , children themselves need to increase their knowledge and skills to protect themselves, protect personal information and interact healthily and creatively in cyberspace.

Fifth , strengthen inspection, examination and inter-sectoral coordination to protect children in the online environment more effectively.

Thus, despite some difficulties due to limited resources, the work of protecting and supporting children to interact healthily and creatively in the online environment has achieved many remarkable results, clearly demonstrating Vietnam's efforts in ensuring and promoting children's rights.

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