Internet Providers sign Code on Protecting Children from Internet Ill-Treatment

A Memorandum was signed on Monday of Cooperation in introducing a Code on Protection of Children from Ill-treatment on the Internet.  The first signatories were the companies MTC-Ukraine; Kyivstar and Ukrtelecom.

The Code took several months to draw up. The initiative came from  the La Strada Ukraine Human Rights Centre who worked on the Code, together with the President’s Children’s Ombudsperson, Yury Pavlenko and NGOs including the international NGO ECPAT International (which fights child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes).

At a press conference to present the Code, the President of La Strada – Ukraine Kateryna Levchenko and Yury Pavlenko called the situation with child pornography in Ukraine critical. According to the Internet Watch Foundation, Ukraine occupies 7th place in the world for circulation of child pornography on the Internet.  Interpol says that the Ukrainian market is worth 100 million USD per year.

The hotline for reporting such material www.internetbezpeka.org.ua has received 192 calls reporting such material.  La Strada’s Anti-Domestic Violence line has received 144 calls relating to child pornography.

The Code sets out the principles of work for IT companies in various directions.  The main idea is to observe the interests of the child, to fight child pornography and also material propagating ill-treatment of children. It also aims to popularize methods of fighting negative content and Internet safety rules, as well as parental control.

The companies who have signed the Memorandum would seem to already be working on Internet security and apparently run courses for children on save online behaviour, etc.

Much abridged from a report here http://osvita.mediasapiens.kiev.ua/material/4620