Vigilance cell to protect children from online exploitation

The National Commissioner for Child Protection, Meriem Charfi, announced, on Wednesday, in Algiers, the establishment of a national vigilance cell to protect children from exploitation through information and communication technologies during the current year, which will be responsible for detecting violations against children and intervening in a timely manner.

In her speech during a study day entitled “Abusing children in cyberspace,” organized by the Algerian Judicial Council in partnership with the National Authority for the Protection and Promotion of Childhood, Charafi confirmed that “the regulatory decree governing and regulating the National Authority for the Protection and Promotion of Childhood has been initiated by establishing a cell.” A vigilance whose members will be inaugurated during this year,” adding that it is composed of “specialists from the National Authority for the Protection and Promotion of Childhood, as well as representatives of the security forces and experts in the field of modern technologies.”

She added during this meeting, which was attended by the Attorney General of the Algerian Judicial Council, as well as the President of the same council and a number of judges and lawyers, that this cell, which will work 24 hours a day, “will give a broader scope for timely intervention in everything that affects children through information and communication technologies.” In order to ensure effective protection.

In the same context, Charafi stated that the authority began last November to “prepare a national plan for childhood 2024-2029, in coordination with the relevant sectors, experts and civil society activists,” pointing out that “Algeria has important mechanisms to protect children, as well as a strong legal arsenal, the most important of which is The Constitution, to protect this vulnerable group from all dangers.”

For her part, lawyer Fatima Al-Zahraa Ben Braham warned of “the danger of paid influencers who are active on the Internet and who promote bad morals.”

In turn, the juvenile judge at the Sidi M’hamed Court, Mrs. Iman Ben Ladgham, called for “the importance of rationalizing the use of the Internet by children,” calling on parents to “monitor the content that their children view in order to address the risks that may target their children through the Internet.”

At the conclusion of this school day, the participants recommended encouraging the adoption of digital safety behaviors, by providing parents and educators with practical guidance on how to protect their children in cyberspace.

They also called for “encouraging family communication by opening continuous dialogues with children about their digital experiences and potential dangers, as well as urging them to immediately report every lure attempt to which they may be exposed.” The participants also called for “strengthening international cooperation in the field of collecting and exchanging information in the field of combating cybercrimes against children, taking into account the principle of national sovereignty and reciprocity, as well as psychological care for children who are victims of cyberviolence,” in addition to “including special lessons in educational institutions provided by specialists for children.” On the topic of cyber violence and teaching them digital security tools and applications.”