Tanzania can now report online child sexual abuse
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania internet users can now report online images and videos of child sexual abuse through a new online Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reporting portal that goes live Tuesday, October 3.
The initiative is supported by CSema Tanzania, the Tanzania Police Force and taskforce for child online safety in Tanzania. It is funded through a grant from the Fund to End Violence against Children.
The IWF reporting portal will help to keep web users safe online and ensure child sexual abuse victims do not have to suffer the torment of having images of their abuse shared.
IWF boss Susie Hargreaves Obe said the government will now provide a reporting portal to protect Tanzania citizens, a statement to the media showed.
“We currently have 17 international reporting portals across the globe. Tanzania will bring that number to 18 and will be the fourth portal to be launched in sub-Sahara Africa,” she said.
National Child helpline manager Thelma Dhaje said he global initiative will have a positive impact on the development of the internet in Tanzania and in the long-term help protect children.
She said by working closely with internet companies and countries worldwide, the IWF helps internet users who stumble across online child sexual abuse images and videos to report it anonymously.
They provide an online reporting button which feeds directly to IWF expert analysts in the UK, who assess reports and remove illegal content.
Explaining, she said if the public uses the web, and stumbles across an image of a child being sexually abused, the portal enables them to pass on the information to a specially trained analyst, working in the IWFHotline.
They can assess and take action on any illegal content. The process is completely anonymous and takes seconds.
If the image or video is illegal, the analyst will use a global network of partners to get that content taken down. This means internet users are kept safe from this material online and the victim in the image is not further victimized.
She said web users in Tanzania can help protect child sexual abuse victims by reporting images or videos when they stumble across them.
Having a dedicated online reporting portal which can be used completely anonymously, gives people the confidence to report these horrendous images without fear.
