For Safer Internet Day
Tuesday 10 February 2015
“Let’s connect for a safe, empowering and inclusive
Internet”
GENEVA (9 February 2015) – Top United Nations experts on
children’s rights and on freedom of expression join the voices of children,
parents, teachers, policymakers, law enforcement, industry and civil society in
their call to create a better and safe Internet.
Speaking ahead of the global Safer Internet Day, the Special
Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta
Santos Pais; the Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of
children, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio; and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of
expression, David Kaye, call on States and the IT industry to tackle head on
online child sexual abuse and exploitation, while protecting the right to
freedom of expression of both children and adults.
“Information and communication technologies evolve and
spread at phenomenal speed. This evolution represents an amazing opportunity
that more and more children are using to learn, play, create, socialize, and
express themselves, in particular through the Internet. Indeed, through their
access to Internet, children can exercise their right to access to information
and to freedom of expression, their rights to be heard, to participate in
public debate and develop a critical thinking.
However, without determined and coordinated action, millions
of children will continue to be excluded from the benefits of the Internet,
child victims of on-line violence, abuse and exploitation will continue to
multiply, and impunity for these offences will continue fueling criminality.
Openness and accessibility are fundamental aspects of the
Internet − but therein also lie some of the greatest risks. New technologies
are easing the production and proliferation of child abuse material, with new
exploitative activities appearing such as the live streaming of child sexual
abuse on demand. The quantification and identification of cases are made
difficult by the possibility of concealing illegal activities on the Internet.
The harm caused to child victims is amplified when images of abuse and
exploitation go viral.
Exposure to harmful information or abusive material,
grooming by predators, breaches of privacy, cyber-bullying, and production and
distribution of exploitative behaviour cannot be the price to pay for
innovation and freedom.
As communications technologies evolve, some States have
adopted disproportionate restrictions on freedom of expression on the Internet,
presenting them as measures to protect children from harm while, in effect,
they limit the rights of children and adults. Child protection and freedom of
expression must not be addressed as opposing goals.
On the contrary, the challenge of creating a safe online
environment for children lies in developing a range of responses that strike
the appropriate balance between maximizing the potential of new technologies to
promote and protect children’s rights while minimizing the risks and ensuring
children’s safety and well-being. Rather than curtailing children’s natural
curiosity and sense of innovation for fear of encountering risks online, it is
critical to tap into their resourcefulness and enhance their capacities to surf
the internet with safety.
Considerable progress has been made in recent years in
addressing risks and harms while maximizing opportunities offered by new
technologies to prevent online abuse and empower children, through awareness
raising, education programmes and specialized training, focusing on schools,
and supporting parents and care-givers, among others.
It is high time to scale up these efforts by connecting
through a truly global alliance to develop an empowering, safe and inclusive
digital agenda for children.
We call on States to establish a clear and comprehensive
legal framework ensuring explicit prohibition of all forms of violence, abuse
and exploitation against children, including in the cyber space, as well as
promoting and protecting children’ rights to freedom of expression and access
to information. States also need to invest in prevention programmes and secure
effective protection, recovery and compensation of child victims.
We call on States, the industry and civil society to create
child-friendly detection and reporting mechanisms, including helplines to seek
advice and applications to report violent incidents and suspicious behaviour.
Internet service and content providers and technology companies should assist
in the identification of victims and offenders, and in the removal of child
abuse material from the Internet.
We also call on States to ensure, through effective
transnational cooperation mechanisms, the investigation and prosecution of
offenders wherever they are, and to strengthen capacity to tackle online child
sexual abuse and exploitation.
Evidence shows that by protecting children’s rights and
adopting measures to tackle online exploitative behaviour against children, a
reduction of harm and a safe online environment can be achieved for children to
fully exercise their rights online and offline, including their freedom of
expression.
We need an empowering, inclusive and safe Internet for all
children, wherever they are. Let us all connect safely to make it happen!”
ENDS
Safer Internet Day is celebrated globally to help promote
the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and
young people. The day offers the opportunity to highlight positive uses of
technology and explore the role that all stakeholders can play in helping to
create a better internet and safer online community.
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on
Violence against Children: http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/
Check the new Study by the Special Representative of the UN
Secretary-General Santos Pais on “Releasing children’s potential and minimizing
risks - ICTs, the Internet and Violence against Children”
Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Children/Pages/ChildrenIndex.aspx
Check the new report on how to tackle online sexual abuse
and exploitation of children by Special Rapporteur de Boer-Buquicchio, to be
presented in March to the UN Human Rights Council:
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Children/SR/A.HRC.28.56_en.pdf
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the
right to freedom of opinion and expression:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomOpinion/Pages/OpinionIndex.aspx
Check the last report on children’s right to freedom of
expression by the Special Rapporteur Kaye presented to the UN General Assembly:
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/69/335
For further information and media inquiries, please contact
Ms. Nekane Lavín (+41 22 917 94 02 / nlavin@ohchr.org /
srsaleofchildren@ohchr.org) and Ms. Elda Moreno (+1 917 5305561 /
emoreno@unicef.org).
For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917
9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
UN Human Rights, follow us on social media:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/UNrightswire
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/UNOHCHR
Storify: http://storify.com/UNrightswire
Nema komentara:
Objavi komentar