Digi hosts exhibition on cyber safety at Petrosains
KUALA LUMPUR: Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd ( Digi) together with Petrosains, The Discovery Centre (Petrosains) recently launched Digi’s ‘Digital City @ Petrosains’ – an exhibit built on the basis of interactive edutainment to educate and engage children in positive digital behaviours and create awareness of various Internet risks including cyber bullying and cyber-grooming.
Digi has been actively advocating Internet safety through its ‘ Digi CyberSAFETM’ initiative focusing on schoolchildren, parents and teachers, the company said a statement yesterday.
In the course of six years, Digi has collaborated with various partners to carry out a holistic digital citizenship programme in ensuring a safer online environment for children.
Digi chief executive officer Albern Murty said: “This collaboration with Petrosains is one of the examples on how Digi continuously innovates new ways of engaging the target audience with the help of partners, who share the same beliefs and values as us in ensuring that our children are able to develop positive lifelong digital behaviours.
“It is part of Digi’s ‘ Empower Societies’ initiative, which we feel is key to our business in helping customers get the full benefit of being connected. As we enable Internet for more people in Malaysia, Digi has the responsibility to ensure that it is safe especially for our children.
“Being forward-looking and proactive when it comes to providing a safer Internet is part of our journey to being our customer’s favourite partner in their digital lives.”
Malaysia has over 20.1 million active Internet users, with 16.8 million active on social media.
With the rise of Internet usage in this country, the risks of Internet abuse from cyber bullying to cyber- grooming have become more prominent.
Petrosains chief executive officer Tengku Nasariah Tengku Syed Ibrahim said: “We are very grateful to Digi for the opportunity given to Petrosains to be part of the Digi CyberSAFETM programme through the hosting of the Digi’s
This collaboration with Petrosains is one of the examples on how Digi continuously innovates new ways of engaging the target audience with the help of partners, who share the same beliefs and values as us in ensuring that our children are able to develop positive lifelong digital behaviours.
Digital City exhibition here.
“Through this very important exhibition, we are able to address and present to our visitors a very current and relevant social issue important to society and one which deals with our main target audience – young children aged between 10 and 15.”
According Digi CyberSAFETM principal Philip Ling, Malaysian schoolchildren are vulnerable and easily exposed to online risks.
The findings of Digi CyberSAFETM National Survey 2015 involving 18,000 schoolchildren across Malaysia showed the following:
a) Most children disclosed that they were very uncomfortable with cyber bullying, with 37 per cent of the schoolchildren admitted to being bullied online.
b) Many children also said they were uncomfortable with seeing sexual images on the Internet, with one in 10 schoolchildren having been asked to upload intimate photos of videos of themselves on the Internet.
c) One out of four schoolchildren had admitted that they would consider meeting a person whom they first made contact via the Internet.
“The Internet is fast becoming ubiquitous in our younger generation’s daily lives, where it is almost a certainty that they will, one way or another, face multiple types of cyber risks or even unknowingly become a victim,” Ling said.
“What is more worrying is that more than half of these children do not consult their parents when they encounter these difficult situations.
“All the key highlights at Digi’s Digital City @ Petrosains showcase were built based on these fi ndings, where we are certain on the urgent need to ensure that all our children are digitally resilient to these growing risks.”
One of Digi’s Digital City threepart showcase includes taking its visitors through a digital journey that simulates different types of digital risks such as cyber bullying, and how to overcome these encounter on various social media platforms.
Visitors will also enjoy the interactive games that allow children to play different characters and personas within the game, enabling them to become more mindful of their actions.
Young visitors will learn to safeguard themselves through proper etiquettes and privacy protection when navigating the online ecosystem.
At the end of the experience, the children are encouraged to make a digital citizenship pledge, actively contributing towards creating a positive, safe and responsible future digital space.
Parents and teachers who are looking for new ways to educate their children and students on Internet safety can head to Suria KLCC and learn more about the Digi’s Digital City exhibit.
The showcase at Petrosains has been open to public since last November.
Learn more about Digi’s CyberSAFE initiative via https:// digi.cybersafe.my/.
Albern Murty, Digi chief executive officer