Tanzania Reaches 1.8M Children in Online Safety Campaign

Dodoma — MORE than 1.8 million children have been reached with education on online safety, as part of efforts to protect them from abuse, exploitation and other digital risks. This was said yesterday by the Deputy Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Engineer Maryprisca Mahundi while responding to a basic question from Special Seats MP, Lucy Kombani (CCM), who wanted to know measures government was taking to protect children from online violence amid growing social media use. The campaign has covered all 26 regions of Mainland Tanzania, targeting children, parents, guardians and the wider community with education on safe, responsible and child-friendly use of digital platforms. "Through the campaign, more than 1,811,212 children have been reached with education on online child safety," Ms Mahundi said. Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines She said government was working to ensure children benefit from technology while being protected from violence, abuse, exploitation and other digital-related harm. Eng Mahundi said a National Advisory Committee on Online Child Protection and Safety had been established to provide technical advice and support the development of strategies to prevent and address risks children face online. "The committee brings together stakeholders from different institutions, including the ministry responsible for information and communication technology, to strengthen coordination in addressing online risks facing children," she said. In a supplementary question, MP Kombani asked how the ministry was ensuring emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, would not become a source of online violence against children. She also asked what measures ensured devices such as phones and tablets used by children could not access or download content that exposed them to online violence. Responding, Eng Mahundi said the advisory committee would continue discussing ways to manage technology-related risks while ensuring children benefit from digital developments. She said technology could not simply be removed from children's lives, as they were increasingly familiar with digital platforms and, in some cases, more knowledgeable about technology than their parents. "The focus should be on ensuring children use technology safely, while strengthening cooperation among institutions responsible for child protection and technology," said Eng Mahundi. The Deputy Minister called on parents and guardians to take a greater role in monitoring children's use of digital devices, saying they should know which apps and programmes their children access. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "Parents and guardians should remain close to their children and monitor the devices they use, including the programmes and content they access," she said. Eng Mahundi said closer parental supervision was important, as children could unknowingly expose themselves to harmful content or share inappropriate material online, with long-term consequences. Read the original article on Daily News . AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is