NCC Management and COP Ambassadors Emphasize The Importance Of Child Online Safety In Africa

The management team of Nigeria’s telecoms sector regulator, which includes directors and heads of units, as well as the Commission’s Child Online Protection (COP) Ambassadors, have emphasized the importance of Child Online Safety for improved consumer experience in the country’s digital realm.

The Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission NCC) and the Commission’s Child Online Protection (COP) Ambassadors have spoken and stressed the importance of Child Online Safety on the African continent as part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to sensitize parents, caregivers, and telecoms consumers in general about the need to ensure the safety of the young population in cyberspace.

According to ConsumerConnect, some of the NCC’s top executives, including directors and heads of units, took turns in a film to contribute to the ongoing public awareness and sensitization on the security of young Internet users in this digital era.

The management team of the telecoms sector regulator recently issued audiovisual material titled ‘NCC Child Online Protection Advice To Parents And Caregivers’ on the Commission’s corporate Web site.

African children’s views of child online safety

Likewise, the Commission’s COP Ambassadors have given their perspectives on what the concept of child online safety means to them.

The topic is: ‘African Children’s view matters – What is Child Online Safety to you?’

The NCC stated that the Commission, in partnership with Child Online Africa (COA), Ghana, distributed the above question to children across the continent, including Nigeria, in honor of the African Union (AU) Day of the African Child, which has been commemorated on June 16 every year since 1991.

The Commission stated, “This was posted to collect comments from different youngsters from diverse cultures and backgrounds regarding their views on Child Online Safety.”

The youngsters highlighted the need for stakeholders to boost child internet safety initiatives, particularly among children who have access to current digital tools, in their written comments.

“Simply the protection of children and even teenagers from lurking hazards online,” said Eminence Majesty, one of the children and a Senior Secondary School (SS3) student.

‘African Children’s View Matters – What Does Child Online Safety Mean to You?’ is a collage shot of some of the children’s written responses to NCC’s question: ‘African Children’s View Matters – What Does Child Online Safety Mean to You?’

Others included “Internet fraud (Yahoo-Yahoo in local vernacular),” “hacking of private accounts,” and “cyberbullying,” among other crimes done on the Internet.

The following 11 sample comments were chosen from the many sent from around the West African country, according to the telecoms regulator, to highlight the Nigerian child’s perspective on online safety in the country’s digital ecosystem.