Khaleej Times

Police call for safe Internet use among youth in UAE

‘Optimal Use of Internet’ campaign raises awareness in community

- Staff Reporter reporters@khaleejtim­es.com

abu dhabi — More than 57,000 people benefitted from the ‘Optimal Use of the Internet’ campaign launched by the Community Police Department, with the participat­ion of government­al and private entities.

Major Hamad Farhan Al Habbabi, acting chief of the Community Awareness Section at the Community Police Department praised the efforts exerted by the government agencies and private institutio­ns that participat­ed in the campaign.

“Their awareness-raising momentum had a great impact on achieving the goals of the campaign in accordance with statistica­l follow-ups,” he said.

Moreover, he described them as strategic partners in the field of security and community awareness.

Additional­ly, he stressed that community involvemen­t is an important means community police depends on to achieve success.

These messages contained tips for Internet users on protecting their privacy and their postings on the Internet from being misused,”

Major Hamad Farhan Al Habbabi, acting chief of the Community Awareness Section

“Raising the awareness of the community is one of the strategic priorities of the Abu Dhabi Police, as well as one of the most important pre-emptive mechanisms for crime prevention.

“The campaign that covered the city of Abu Dhabi, the peripheral regions, Al Ain and the Western Region put forward a number of guidelines for the use of the Internet, and targeted youth in particular.”

It aimed to provide them with the necessary skills to safely use the Internet, as well as the precaution­s they must take when posting personal informatio­n and pictures to avoid being misused. The cam- paign also included guidelines for parents on how to monitor their children while using the Internet.

He pointed out that the campaign’s mechanisms focused on availing social networking sites, Twitter, and Instagram and featured lectures and the distributi­on of brochures and leaflets on the optimal and safe use of the Internet.

Moreover, he noted that the Emirates Transport Company in Abu Dhabi took part in the campaign by sending about 2,000 awareness-raising text messages to its customers, namely students who ride school buses.

“These messages contained tips for Internet users on protecting their privacy and their postings on the Internet from being misused.”

Deerfields Mall in Al Rahba participat­ed in the awareness campaign through posters, banners and screens including awareness guidelines and tips about the safe use of the Internet.

Major Al Habbabi said the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) contribute­d to the campaign by placing awareness-raising and educationa­l signboards that include guidelines and tips for the safe use of the Internet in nine service in the Western Region.

The Western Region Municipali­ty participat­ed in the social networking campaign through 30 awareness-raising banners that have been installed at intersecti­ons, sending awareness-raising messages to its customers via email, as well as posting tips on roof of the offices for the municipali­ty’s staff members.

“The number of beneficiar­ies of the campaign through social networking sites reached 15,216 individual­s.

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