Towards a safer internet
ON THE back of the international Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, February 5, Microsoft has announced councils of young ambassadors for digital civility in the Middle East and Africa.
South Africans are among the most at risk for exposure to negative behaviour online, according to Microsoft’s 2019 Digital Civility Index (DCI).
The annual study examines the online behaviour of internet users in 22 countries and its release coincides with international Safer Internet Day; a call to action for all stakeholders to join together in creating a better internet for everyone, especially younger users.
It gauges the attitudes and perceptions of teens between 13 and 17 and adults between 18 and 74, about the state of digital civility today, and also measures people’s safety online and exposure to risks such as cyberbullying, unwanted contact and harassment as well as exposure to hoaxes and scams.
This year South Africa ranked 21st out of 22 countries surveyed for exposure to online risks.
“South Africans in general were found to suffer significant pain from online risks, with the most common hazards being unwanted contact from sources attempting to collect personal information, internet hoaxes and fake news, bullying and offensive name-calling and receiving unwanted sexual imagery – all of which were more prevalent in South Africa than the rest of the world,” says Kethan Parbhoo, the chief marketing and operations officer at Microsoft South Africa.
South African millennials and teenagers – particularly teenage girls – are most affected by online risks such as receiving offensive or obscene content, internet hoaxes and fake news, and bullying and offensive name-calling.
South African teenage girls suffer more than their global peers, with 68% reporting moderate to severe pain from online risks compared with 61% in the rest of the world. However, there has been an increase in South African teens asking for help: 54% say they will ask a parent for help as opposed to 42% globally, while 37% will approach another adult for assistance compared with the global average of 28%.
There was also a higher incidence of South Africans being called offensive names, with 56% having experienced this as opposed to 51% globally.
Perhaps the biggest risk that emerged, though, was receiving unwanted and unsolicited sexual images or messages. Seventy-eight percent of South Africans have been sent these types of images or messages, which is markedly higher than the 67% global average.
In January 2017 Microsoft launched its inaugural Council for Digital Good, a pilot programme where young people and their parents can engage in fruitful discussions with Microsoft and other industry experts, non-governmental organisations and policymakers.
The longer-term vision was to assemble young people from various regions to create local and regional councils of Digital Civility Ambassadors to help raise awareness of digital safety and to offer insights to stakeholders from young people in each region.
Microsoft launched its African Council for Digital Good, as well as an Arab Council for Digital Good. After receiving more than 750 applications from across the Middle East and Africa, 23 candidates were chosen to become ambassadors of digital civility for their region.
The members of each council – along with their parents – will come together for the first time at the African Council Summit in Johannesburg on February23 and 24 and at the Arab Council Summit in Cairo on March 2 and 3. Here, Microsoft will look to build their capacity and raise their awareness around topics relating to digital civility and internet safety, to better equip them to be ambassadors themselves.
Following the event, monthly virtual calls and webinars will be scheduled to provide council members with further knowledge on the topic, as well as to suggest activities and events that they can run in their schools and communities. |