Thai kids keen on audio, video content

‘‘ Children should be educated to help them recognise inappropriate content.

YEO SIANG TIONG General manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky

Children in Thailand are mostly interested in video and audio content online while an interest in computer games appeals to fewer than 10%, says the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.

In 2020, 45.31% of children in Thailand frequented websites with video and audio content. In second place at 26.06% were communication tools such as WhatsApp and Telegram, Facebook, Instagram and other sites in this category.

Third place went to e-commerce websites with 11.35% showing an interest while computer games only attracted 9.93% of all children.

The data was collected by the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) from users of Kaspersky Safe Kids, a software solution that safeguards children from accessing unwanted content on the internet on both Windows and macOS platforms.

Kaspersky Safe Kids scans the contents of a webpage the child is trying to access. If the site falls into one of 14 undesirable categories, the model will send an alert to KSN.

The tracking works only on computers, not mobile devices.

“Children have started interacting with technology at an early age and do not know a world without the internet, computers and mobile devices,” said Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.

“With the onset of the pandemic, their exposure and the intertwinement of technology in their lives is now more so than ever — be it for learning or leisure.”

According to Kaspersky, last year it blocked attempts by some Thai kids to get onto websites containing perilous content, such as pornography (0.28%), hate and discrimination (0.05%), weapons (0.05%), internet gambling (0.04%) and drugs (0.01%).

“We will not be able to eradicate the existence of vices on the internet, such as pornography, gambling, content around hate and discrimination and even weapon or drug use, nor can we completely prevent children from being exposed to them as they continue to grow independent,” said Mr Yeo.

Apart from applying appropriate cyber-safety measures for children, he said kids should be educated to help them recognise inappropriate content so they can learn how to browse safely.