Strengthening child protection online

Attending the event were representatives of the Department of Children, the Center for Counseling and Media Services (Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs), the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information (Ministry of Information and Communications), Plan International in Vietnam and reporters from press agencies in the North Central region.

Speaking at the opening of the training session, Mr. Dang Hoa Nam - Director of the Department of Children emphasized: The Month of Action for Children 2023 aims at many messages such as: Preventing accidents and injuries for children is to ensure children's right to live; listening to children with the heart, protecting children with actions; the law strictly punishes all acts of violence and child abuse...

Thereby, in order to mobilize the whole society to join hands with the Party, State and Government in the work of protecting and caring for children, continuing to build a safe, healthy and friendly living environment for children. In particular, propaganda and communication work needs to continue to focus on raising awareness of ensuring that children fully exercise their rights and principles of ensuring the implementation of children's rights and duties; issues of knowledge and skills in child care and education...

At the training session, reporters were informed by Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Oanh - Head of the Faculty of International Relations, Academy of Journalism and Communication about reporting skills, information security and communication on child protection for journalists and press agencies, and at the same time, exchanged journalism skills on child protection.

Plan International is a non-governmental, non-religious, non-profit organization with over 80 years of working for a brighter future for children in 75 countries around the world. In Vietnam, Plan International began operating in 1993 with the goal of helping children, adolescents, and young people, especially disadvantaged groups and girls, to be born and grow up in a society that is safe and respects their rights.

Reporters were also briefed by representatives of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, Ministry of Information and Communications and Plan International in Vietnam on strengthening management of businesses to protect children in the online environment; and shared international experiences on protecting children in the online environment.

The representative of the Department of Children also shared that, in recent times, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has implemented many measures and specific actions to protect children in cyberspace, such as: Coordinating with the Ministry of Information and Communications to submit to the Prime Minister for signing and promulgating Decision No. 830/QD-TTg dated June 1, 2021 approving the Program "Protecting and supporting children to interact healthily and creatively in the online environment, period 2021 - 2025"; Submitting to the Prime Minister for signing and promulgating Decree 130/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021 regulating sanctions for administrative violations in the field of social protection, assistance and children, including the content of administrative sanctions for protecting children in the online environment; jointly issued Decision No. 05/QC-BCA-BLDTBXH-BTTTT on the coordination regulations between the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Information and Communications in receiving information, investigating and handling acts of child abuse, and monitoring data related to child sexual abuse on the Internet.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in 2 years (2021 and 2022), there were 877 calls to the National Child Protection Hotline 111 with content about child protection in the online environment (an average of 1.2 calls/day).

Of these, there were 820 consultation calls (252 consultation calls on child sexual abuse; 23 calls on sexual exploitation; 97 calls on children being subjected to violence and bullying; 109 calls on children being lured and solicited; 301 calls on instructions on how to use the Internet safely, etc.).