Digital literacy leads to safe Internet usage

ACCORDING to the Statistics Department, access to the Internet by Malaysian households rose to 90.1% in 2019 from 87% in 2018. The percentage of household access to mobile phones was 98.2% in 2019.

The five most popular activities among Internet users were social networking (97.1%), downloading pictures, movies, music or games (84.7%), finding information on goods and services (83.5%), voice communication over the Internet (77.4%) and downloading software or applications (77.1%).

The Internet certainly brings many benefits. Social media, for example, assists in making social connections, and for many students it is a useful resource in education. But it also comes with risks, such as scams, cyberbullying and cyber predators.

Online criminals tend to capitalise in times of fear and hardship, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic, to manipulate vulnerable and unsuspecting members of the public. The number of online scams increased substantially in the past few months as we were caught in the grip of the pandemic.

Consumers need to be educated on digital literacy, which means knowing the limitations of technology and understanding its attendant dangers.

The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) strongly believes that not enough is being done in this area especially for children and youths.

Digital literacy programmes would ensure optimal use of technology with minimal exposure to the risks and dangers of the online universe.