On the morning of May 24, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Vietnam organized the workshop "Children in the digital world - Addressing risks and promote opportunity” in Hanoi.

The Party, the State and the entire political system of Vietnam have strongly focused on strengthening protection of children on the Internet. Vietnam has paid attention to building a legal system on protecting children in the online environment, creating legal basis for this field, such as the Law on Children, the Law on Cyber Information Security, and the Law on Access to Information.

The Vietnamese Government and the Prime Minister have issued a number of important documents to protect children in the online environment. In particular, the Prime Minister approved the National Action Program for Children for the period of 2021 - 2030 and the program entitled "Protecting and supporting children to interact healthily and creatively in the cyberworld in the period of 2021 – 2025”.

However, it is a fact that the development of information technology and the Internet brings many benefits, but also makes a lot of risks for children, especially in the age of digital technology, digital age, and digital citizens.

Children spend more time on the Internet, for many different purposes such as studying; watching movies; using social networks, following public figures; searching for information; chatting with friends and relatives…

While using the Internet, children face many potential risks. They can be abused on the cyberworld, which is no less dangerous than real life because the content and images distributed on the online environment can appear at any time, causing lasting harm to children.

On the morning of May 24, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Vietnam organized the workshop entitled "Children in a digital world - Addressing risks and promoting opportunities” in Hanoi. The event is among activities to respond to the Action Month for Children 2023 with the theme "Joining hands to reduce harm to children".

At the workshop, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha affirmed the deep concern and strong involvement of the entire political system in protecting children on the Internet. The legal system on protecting children in the online environment has been developed by Vietnam, creating an important legal basis related to protecting children in the online environment.

She hoped that the workshop would be an opportunity for delegates to exchange and share experiences as well as efforts of relevant parties to protect children in the cyberspace and resolve risks that children can encounter and promote healthy development opportunities for children in the digital world.

Recently, the MoLISA has implemented many specific activities to protect children in the online world. The Ministry has coordinated with relevant agencies to develop a network to protect children in the online environment; build and integrate online notification channels on issues related to children in the online environment with Switchboard 111.

In particular, the MoLISA has joined the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Ministry of Public Security to check and timely handle content posted on e-newspapers and social networks with toxic content that affects the healthy development of children and from people's feedback through the Switchboard 111.

The ministry has strengthened the implementation of technical measures to filter and remove content inappropriate for children. Besides, it has used the online environment to enhance creative interaction on the cyberspace, raising awareness of parents and children.

Ms. Lesley Miller, Deputy Representative of UNICEF in Vietnam, said that it is time for us to take urgent action not only in Vietnam, but also in the whole world. Let's unite to protect the safety of children in the online environment. She believed that it is necessary to put children as the center and care for children comprehensively, both physically and mentally.

At the workshop, delegates discussed a number of key issues such as: online child abuse and exploitation: emerging forms and trends; initiatives and challenges in the world; online abuse and exploitation of children in Vietnam; Vietnamese laws on protecting children on the cyberspace and solutions in the future; the coordination and implementation of Decision No. 830/QD-TTg and solutions to promote and develop an ecosystem of child protection products and services in the online environment, and initiatives of information and communication technology enterprises.

The workshop also conveyed the message of calling for the participation of the entire society to create a safe real and digital world for children, enhancing the ability to prevent and respond to risks to children in the cyberspace.

Quynh Nga - Le Thanh Hung - Pham Thu Huyen