Safer Internet Day 2020, Nepal: Together for a Better Internet

The Safer Internet Day (SID) is celebrated globally in February every year in over 150 countries. It is done with the objective of promoting the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people and inspire a national conversation.  This year, the Safer Internet Day 2020 will be celebrated on 11 February 2020 in Patan Durbar Square at 2 pm. As participation in the digital platform increases it is important for people to know its pros and cons. With the ever-increasing participation, cybercrime has also risen which has impacted the lives of many people. With the slogan “Together for a better Internet”, ChildSafeNet has been working to make the internet a better and safer place for children and young people.

ChildSafeNet has been serving as the coordinator of Nepal Safer Internet Day (SID) Committee since 2019. They have been working to raise awareness on safer use of the Internet and digital devices to protect children and young people from Internet addiction, online sexual abuse and exploitation, cyber-bullying, phishing, gaming addiction and to promote digital literacy. Although, 11 February 2020 will be the main day for celebrating the activities for Safer Internet Day 2020 will be conducted throughout the year.

On the main day of celebration (11 February 2020), there will be Debates on Cyber Safety Issues, Interaction, and Discussions, Quiz, Standup Comedy, Drama on Cyberbullying and more activities to make the event informative as well as entertaining.

The actions planned for Safer Internet Day (2020) are:

1. Cybersafety training of trainers 4-day course (23-26 January 2020).
2. Cybersafety training sessions in schools, colleges, child/youth clubs.
3. Awareness-raising in the national CAN Info-Tech, organized by the CAN Federation of Nepal
4. SID public event on 11 February 2020 with fun and informative activities (music, quiz, debates, stand-up comedy, drama, games, etc).
5. Cybersafety awareness activities in schools and colleges.
6. Raise awareness on reporting portal to report online child sexual abuse/exploitation materials.
7. Launch a research report on children and young people’s behavior and risks for them online.
8. Conduct research on live streaming of online child sexual abuse/exploitation.
9. Multimedia cyber safety awareness-raising (using video PSAs, social media posts, TV, radio and print media).
10. Conduct parenting in the digital age workshops.

With this initiative, the SID has been working to highlight the positive uses of technology. Also, they help to spread awareness on the role we all can play to help create a better and safer online community.