Education is crucial. "Internet of Children" report

Education is crucial. The President of the Personal Data Protection Office at the presentation of the "Internet of Children" report

The President of the Personal Data Protection Office, Mirosław Wróblewski, took part in a conference during which the report "Internet of Children. Report on the monitoring of the presence of children and young people on the Internet", issued by the State Commission for Counteracting the Sexual Abuse of Minors under 15 and the "Institute of Digital Citizenship" Foundation. The presentation took place under the auspices of the Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Children and Youth, MP Monika Rosa.

"Education about rights in the digital world is the most important, both for children and adults. It is also a field of activity for institutions that must enforce the implementation of their obligations to protect minors. That is why the President of the Personal Data Protection Office submitted comments on the draft for the Polish Digitization Strategy. We have included the issue of protecting minors from online threats," President Mirosław Wróblewski noted on March 5 during the conference.

Activities for the safety of children on the Internet, protection of their data, including image, are one of the priorities of the Personal Data Protection Office. Examples of these activities can be found HERE .

"To this end, long-term, strategic activities of state institutions are necessary, also at the European level," Mirosław Wróblewski pointed out.

"The Convention on the Rights of the Child is 35 years old. We are constantly running away from responsibility as parents and as creators of the digital world. Banning is not the right way, we are not able to enforce bans and orders. In the digital world, the rules of use are only apparent and there are no sanctions for breaking them. The good of children is the good of the whole society" – said the co-author of the report, Konrad Ciesiołkiewicz Ph D, a member of the State Commission for Counteracting the Sexual Abuse of Minors.

The authors of the report "Internet of Children" indicate which services are used by young people today. They notice the following:

• For children and young people, digital media are a natural environment for  living, developing, building and maintaining relationships, having fun and spending free time.
• The Internet is used by 83 per cent of people aged 7-14. Mostly – through mobile devices. 92 percent use instant messaging.
• Social networking sites are used by 58% of children in the 7-12 age group, despite the fact that according to the regulations, they can be used by children from the age of 13.
• More than half of Internet users in the 7-14 group use pornographic websites.
• Every third child (760,000) has regular access to the TikTok platform, 24% (580,000) to Facebook, and 12% (290,000) to Instagram. Children also commonly use instant messaging (the most popular are Messenger and WhatsUp).