ESET: About 92% of children aged under 15 years are Internet users in Azerbaijan

17:03 - 17.05.2019


May 17, Fineko/abc.az. According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), more than 175,000 children go online for the first time every day. Already, every third Internet user is a child.

According to experts of anti-virus company ESET, the tendency to increase in the number of young people involved in the digital space is also observed in Azerbaijan — currently about 92% of children under 15 years are using the Internet.

At first glance, the presence in the network brings good: the child receives knowledge, learns news, communicates with age mates, makes friends, expresses himself, demonstrates his talents (blogging, posting songs or dances).

However, uncontrolled use of the Internet often leads to trouble — for example, there is a risk of running into inappropriate content, becoming a victim of Internet bullying or harassment. The recommendations of the antivirus company ESET say how to protect your child from online threats.

To begin with, a harmless search for information can lead to sites with violent or pornographic content. Viewing such images or videos adversely affects the psyche - often what happens on the screen is perceived as the norm and makes the child immune to cruelty.

Trying to gain new knowledge or imitate their age mates, children can become members of groups where radical ideas and appeals (including terrorist ones) or destructive "fun" are discussed.

In the process of growing up, children often follow the example of their family members, sometimes — the example of famous actors and musicians. However, in recent years, video bloggers have become the heroes of children, who do not always produce acceptable content. Often videos abound with curses, contain advertisements of bookmakers or demonstrate dangerous actions.

In addition to the hidden threats that parents do not realize, there are obvious ones - children spend too much time on the Internet, forgetting about important things because of social networks or online games. For example, children stop paying attention to homework or sports.

Another danger in the Internet space is anonymity, which allows strangers to impersonate not who they really are. Taking advantage of the naivety of children, attackers can try to make friends with them and gain confidence. Acting on the fragile psyche, they begin to blackmail or manipulate — for example, ask to send pictures or tell private information.

A serious threat to the emotional state of your child can be cyberbullying, which does not always end with insults or mockery — sometimes aggressors steal personal data. For example, your child may click on a malicious link and infect the system, giving the attacker access to private information.

Experts have long sounded the alarm because of privacy violations — often a child shares information voluntarily or data leak as a result of hackers. But sometimes the services themselves publish important information about the user (for example, its location).

Good example, when the United States popular service of short videos was fined $5.7 million. The reason was a violation of the law on the protection of children's privacy: for registration it was necessary to indicate mail, phone, and other personal information. At the same time, profiles and videos - including profiles of children and adolescents - were publicly available.

The desire to protect your child from the above-listed threats sometimes leads to a complete ban on the use of social networks, but we do not recommend doing this - the child may stop trusting you. Nevertheless, a number of measures should be taken.

Discuss the rules of security on the Internet: tell your child about the privacy settings in social networks, the use of complex password combinations;

Warn about the danger of opening suspicious files and clicking on links. This can lead to system infection and data access;

Tell the child that he should not share data with strangers (provide address, phone, school number or send photos);

Be vigilant if the child receives threats or offers of face-to-face meetings. In particularly suspicious cases (data theft, publication of correspondence, blackmail), contact law enforcement bodies;

Talk about the time spent in social networks — it will help focus on learning, but at the same time give the child the opportunity to relax online (listen to music, watch a movie or chat with peers).

An additional measure to protect children online can be the installation of anti-virus with parental control

First, you will always know where your child is — the settings allow you to determine the location. Secondly, children will see only acceptable content thanks to the settings of safe search and control of sites and applications. In addition, you can set a limit on the use of applications, including video games.

Modern technology combined with a trusting atmosphere in the family will save the nerves of parents and teach the child to strike a balance between school, home duties and entertainment.

 

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