Your child might be a victim online

Dar es Salaam. Collaborative efforts are needed to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse in Tanzania, according to the government.

While it is estimated that about 200,000 children are subjected to online exploitation and crimes, stakeholders were of the view that an all-hands commitment was required to reverse the situation.

They say powers of government policies, innovations and efforts of the community especially parents, guardians and civil society organisations will provide permanent solutions to the vice facing children.

The Police, mandated with enforcement of the law and maintenance of order in the country, said they were committed to preventing crimes against children and help the victims to bring offenders to justice, according to Assistant Commissioner of Police David Misime.

“The major thing is awareness and education of what abuses are taking place online, means of detecting when children or youngsters are groomed or coerced into an exploitative crimes and how the situation could be addressed,” said Mr Misime who doubles as the Tanzania Police spokesman.

He said proper understanding of the problem would enable police officers, society, parents, guardians and children to jointly tackle the online crimes.

“Our gender desks have been helpful in taking stern measures against perpetrators. We also observe the regional and international regulations against exploitation of children,” he said.

Tanzania also passed the Cybercrime Acts and an Online Content Regulations in a move to monitor and regulate citizens’ use of digital media, in particular, and tackle issues like hate speech, disinformation and inappropriate contents.

However, apart from police and regulators like the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), parents still need to be accountable for limiting access and the chances of their children being exposed to online abuse, says a source from TCRA who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Police would do their part in apprehending offenders, institutions like Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) would monitor harmful content, but parents are now facing the challenge to effectively monitoring behaviours of their children, interactions and time spent on various online spaces,” said the source.

Ms Naima Kadangi, a mom of three said while parents can encourage or limit digital technology to children, these latter can still access them from other caregivers, family and friends.

“So, I think the best thing is to educate our children. It is impossible to limit digital technology to children these days, if he/she doesn’t get it from you he/she will get it from somewhere else. We need to sit and talk to our children to increase their understandings of these exploitations,” she said.

What stakeholders say

Innovator and tech enthusiast Jumanne Mtambalike said there was also a need for online content consumers to be aware of safety features in the platforms they browse to filter unwanted or harmful contents.

“Some platforms have kids’ settings where they allow users to turn off normal accounts and only allow kids’ versions of the platform; this helps in limiting the access and children exposure to harmful materials,” he said.

Mr Mtambalike said these preventive efforts should be coupled with more emphasis into local content production.

“We must also encourage local content that aligns to our ethical and societal values as Tanzanians, content that educates, informs or entertains appropriately driving our own agenda to the future generations,” said Mr Mtambalike.

On government and its institutions, he said they must make sure that there are specific regulations against child exploitations at the same time advocacy and awareness campaigns should be increased.

Media Convergence Company’s chief executive officer Asha Abinallah says tackling the issue of online child exploitations first would require serious discussions among stakeholders and that every single individual must play part in protecting children against online dangers.

This she said includes government, community and private sector engagement through civil society organisations that spearhead movements against child abuse being it online or physical.

“We need to have serious conversations, first to identify threats and how they unfold. Secondly, everybody must know how they will take part in protecting children and eventually hold each other accountable,” she said.

Ms Abinallah says the country needs to set and observe firm standards and principles to address online child abuses including policies, privacy, consensual agreements, and data protection.

Her views align with recommendations contained in a study titled: “Disrupting Harm in Tanzania”, that was conducted by the End Violence against Children, with the assistance of Interpol and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

The report suggests that further legislative action is needed to criminalise all online child sexual exploitation and abuse-related acts.

While naming Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as common platforms for online abuse against children, the study revealed that 4 percent of internet-users aged 12–17 in Tanzania were victims of grave instances of online sexual exploitation and abuse.

This they say includes being blackmailed to engage in sexual activities, someone else sharing their sexual images without permission, or being coerced to engage in sexual activities through promises of money or gifts.

And regardless of many efforts the study states in Tanzania there are still gaps in the awareness, capacity and resources of the law enforcement, justice and social support systems that should be addressed.