MTN Nigeria has announced that it will work with all stakeholders to introduce parental control service to protect children from cybercrime as well as set defined rules that will determine the level of internet content children/wards have access to on their phones.
The General Manager, Planning and Customer Management at MTN Nigeria, Odunayo Sanya, disclosed this at a workshop titled: “Child Online Protection: Consumer Awareness on Cybercrimes,” held at the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI).
The two-day training, hosted by the DBI, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the GSMA, also had in attendance participants drawn from the private and public sectors as well as multinational agencies including representatives of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), UNICEF, and Information Technology Service providers.
“Understanding how to traverse the potential pitfalls online and shield yourself from cybercrime are critical skills even today, much less for the future workforce.
“It should be incorporated into our educational curriculum. To be successful in securing future success, government, regulators, service providers, and parent teachers associations need to work together to create the much needed controls, awareness and education for the protection of our children online,” Sanya said.
He noted that there is need for collaborative initiatives aimed at protecting children online.
He further added the telecom giant is currently collaborating with Kaspersky to provide parental control service, which allows parents and guardians to set defined rules that will determine the level of internet content their children/wards have access to on their phones.
Participants at the event however agreed that there’s need for a deliberate approach to providing adequate online education and protection for potentially vulnerable user groups, including teaching children how to use mobile services safely.
