Conference warns about online dangers for children

Conference warns about online dangers for children

He this week addressed the National Conference on the Safety of Children on the Internet, organized by the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, and said that 92 people have been detained on pedophilia charges, but that many are still not on trial because of the strike of lawyers.

He stressed that another problem were repeat offenders who already stood trial and were released from prison but then resumed as before, and are now hiding in Kosovo. Zivanovic also noted that it is important to act preventively - in schools and families, and not only repressively.

He warned that one in five children is now online, with some having up to 1,900 "friends" on Facebook, "many of whom they do not know" - while pedophiles may be among them, using the information revealed by children to create their psychological profile and make a plan to approach them.

According to Zivanovic, children do not consider the dangers and need to be warned them that the data placed on the internet "remains permanently recorded somewhere"and can be abused later in their lives.

Zivanovic said that the problem of child pornography was "noted with very small children, only two years of age, so prevention programs should include kindergartens."

He also stated that his department is open 24 hours and cooperates with colleagues around the world, and has the ability to freeze digital evidence wherever it may be located, adding it was "elementary to notify the prosecutor and file charges, to which children should be encouraged."

Special Prosecutor for High-Tech Crime Branko Stamenkovic said that Serbia was among the first countries in the world to, in 2005, have trained personnel in the MUP and prosecutors who deal with these issues, who in 2013 received much greater powers.

According to him, in 2011 47 people were charged and convicted for abuse of minors for pornography, "and there is immediate reaction after receiving reports, because these are very dangerous things." State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Telecommunications Tatjana Matic stressed the importance of the creation of the Safer Internet Center, which should contribute to better inform parents, teachers and psychologists about the dangers that lurk on the internet. The center is supported by the Ministry of the Interior and the B92 Fund.

The Center conducts the campaign "Click Safely", which will be continued, while its website has been redesigned to better serve the needs of children and parents. By June this year, it received 10,000 visitors.

Matic warned that every day there are new forms of digital violence meant to intimidate and humiliate children. This is dangerous, because as much as 82 percent of children up to 10 years of age have a mobile phone, and of these 42 percent also have internet access, while almost 91 percent of 10-year-olds have a computer, she said, adding that in high schools this number is far higher.

Coordinator for Violence Prevention in the Ministry of Education Biljana Lajovic warned that as many as 11 percent of children have at some point accepted to meet with someone they met through social networks.

Children under the age of 13 cannot set up pages on these networks by themselves - "this is instead done by their parents who do not want their children to stand out from society, not thinking about the dangers." Work should be done to inform parents and children, but in a way that will not spread fear, but caution, she said.

All participants of the meeting agreed that another big problem was bullying, which is especially prevalent on the social network "Ask.fm", which was described as "the worst."

Information about the risks and benefits, as well as how to use information and communication technologies safely and responsibly is available at kliknibezbedno.rs, while netpatrola.rs offers an electronic mechanism for reporting illegal and harmful content found online.