Safer use of the internet is the main aim behind the multimedia educational campaign that was launched yesterday, the week of the European Internet Safety Day.

This campaign is being coordinated by the Investment, Industry and Information Technology Ministry and Agenzija Appogg, within the Family and Social Solidarity Ministry.

Co-funded by the European Commission, this campaign is aimed towards children, parents and educators alike, and includes the collaboration of other stakeholders such as the Cyber Crime Unit of the Malta Police Force, the Education, Youth and Employment Ministry, the Commissioner for Children and the local Internet Service Providers, among others.

It will be spread over the coming weeks and will focus on providing information about internet safety and its positive uses. This multimedia campaign will consist of TV and radio advertising, interventions in TV and radio programmes, press articles, direct talks, sessions for students in schools and much more.

Minister Austin Gatt stressed the launch of this service through the support-line is to provide a central point where children and parents can report abuse and illicit content which can harm children. This is one of various initiatives that the government took through his entities to provide safety for children, given that 80 per cent of our children use internet on a regular basis and 67 per cent use this for things related to their studies.

Minister Gatt referred to the setting up of the Task Force for Child Protection over the Internet, an agreement with Childnet International and also an eSecurity Working Group. The latter brought together a number of organisations with the intention to have a safer environment on the internet. Minister Austin Gatt said the government is at present working on an eSecurity Strategy to address problems related to safety over the internet.

Dolores Cristina, Family and Social Solidarity Minister said that children are a priority for her ministry and in view of this, she greatly welcomed this new cyber tool which is of vital importance for the protection of children over the internet.

“We must, however, remember that parents occupy a major role in the formation and protection of their children. A healthy relationship is based on understanding and the more interest parents take in what their children are doing, the stronger this relationship can be. This is all the more so in this day and age when chatting on the internet has become such a reality in the lives of many youngsters,” Minister Cristina continued.

“The internet is an important source of knowledge but without the proper parental guidance, it might be harmful to the unsuspecting child. This is why today we are here to witness this joint effort as we come together in another initiative placing children on the forefront of our national agenda,” she said.

Joe Gerada, chief executive officer of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services said that all the stakeholders worked well together towards a common objective. He said that social welfare initiatives should always follow this integrated approach.

Agenzija Appogg also launched an online reporting system whereby the public can now report specific child abuse cases over the internet through the official Appogg website www.appogg.gov.mt.

This new service is complementary to the Supportline 179 (24-hour service). A new leaflet about the Supportline 179-Hotline service was also launched.