The Kenyan branch of the giant search engine Google in partnership with Code-IP have launched an online child safety campaign in a bid to promote responsible and positive use of digital technology for young people.
Code-IP will be designing a Child Online Protection Kenya campaign which led to the launch of the Kenya Webrangers. This is a peer-to-peer mentoring club on child online safety in secondary schools.
According to Google, internet users are 23.3 million by December 2014 given that the internet connections have become better. The telecommunication infrastructure as of now includes four submarine fibre optic cables and a massive investment in metro fibre connectivity making internet affordable and high-speed internet.
With the openness the internet under age internet users are at risk of being exposed to cyber threats which included bullying, e-0threats, harassment and the like; and for this reason it is important to protect children who have internet access.
Alex Gakuru, Executive Director Protection – Kenya said: “We intend to achieve this by localising online safety materials, giving it the Kenya context. We want to get the students involved in coming with the solutions. It is not for us to tell them how to go around it, but the youth to tell us.”
In Kenya, the mobile phone still is the main medium of internet access.
