MTN partners IWF to roll out child online protection project
In line with the “We’re good together” campaign which it rolled out in October, the MTN Group has announced its collaboration with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK based NGO, on the rollout of a child online protection project.
In a statement on the partnership, MTN explained that the agreement would offer support services from IWF to MTN, including alerts to the MTN Group if a domain under its control was found to be hosting child sexual abuse content so that such domains could be blocked immediately.
The Group went further to encourage its customers to use IWF’s confidential reporting portal to report online Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) anonymously.
On its part, the IWF stated that the project/campaign was designed to show how collaborations could help boost digital inclusion for the greater good of society, adding that MTN was the very first African telecoms firm to join forces with it on the project.
An online platform, www.itwebafrica.com, corroborated IWF’s commitment to investigating all reports and work with partner hotlines or even international law enforcement agencies to make sure that all confirmed cases of online child sexual abuse content were removed at source.
Rob Shuter, MTN’s Group CEO and President noted that the free nature of communication and information technologies, while benefitting society, could also create opportunities for predators to develop online relationships with children and share sexually-abusive material involving children.
He said that as MTN continued to expand the digital sphere, it was essential that consumers of the Group’s products and services were impacted positively, including children.
The Group boss explained that the telecom giant was also a member of the United Nations Global Compact and the GSMA Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse.
It would be recalled that while launching its campaign in October, MTN Group, through Rob Shuter, disclosed that the initiative was aimed at “demonstrating how we can change lives by improving digital access, driving financial inclusion, empowering and enabling SMEs and broad community development, among many others”. He added that “As a pan African company with roots that are deeply anchored in the continent, MTN is telling its story that doing good business extends far beyond corporate social investment initiatives”.
Shuter had also said: “To harness the potential of Africa and ensure our youth are productively employed we need affordable, safe and relevant digital services which are matched with the required digital skills. This in turn will support the global development agenda and national priorities; and as one of the major infrastructure investors across Africa, MTN through partnership and collaboration, can accelerate this digital inclusion.”
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.