Round table “Safety of children on the Internet”

On September 20, 2005 has taken place a round table “Safety of children on the Internet”, organised by the UNESCO Information for All Programme National Committee of Russia and Microsoft Corp. branch in Russia and CIS at support of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) and the International organisation of a criminal police (Interpol). Nowadays information & communication technologies (ICT) give unprecedented opportunities for children's training and creativity. At the same time, a serious problem all over the world became abusing fruits of ICT and their use for fulfillment of crimes against children. First of all it is necessary to solve problems of distribution through Internet of a children pornography, use of hate speech, propagation of racism, xenophobia and instigation to violence. In the same line questions of propagation of drugs, prostitutions and other socially dangerous phenomena stand. For effective counteraction to these challenges, it is necessary to adjust dialogue of representatives of authority, scientists, lawyers, philosophers, psychologists, experts in the field of education, cultures and communications, and other areas, concerning the given problematic. The Deputy Chairperson of the UNESCO IFAP Russia Alexei Demidov has noted opened round table, that the organisations of the United Nations family pay significant attention to protection of the rights of the child, including in cyberspace. The purpose of the UNESCO Information for All Programme is both promotion of universal access to the information, and restriction of distribution of the illegal information, in particular, menacing to interests of children. The President of Microsoft branch in Russia and CIS Olga Dergunova has emphasised, that the corporation, being one of leaders in creation of software products for the Internet, pays the big attention to a safety issue of use of the Network in the widest sense of this word. In particular, the corporation supports to seminars on enforcement in the field of crimes against children made with use of ICT, spent ICMEC and the Interpol worldwide. One of such seminars goes now in Moscow, and all in them have participated more than 500 employees of law enforcement bodies from more than 100 countries of the world. Vice-president of ICMEC Board of Directors of Mary Banotti has highly appreciated efficiency of these seminars and has informed on the first results of application of the knowledge received in their course by employees of law enforcement bodies. One of examples - arrest of group from South Africa, engaged manufacturing and distribution of a children pornography. Banotti also has expressed concern in connection with that all is far not the countries have entered an interdiction on creation and distribution of similar materials. Chief of “cybyrpolice” department of Russian Interior Ministry Boris Miroshnikov has reminded gathered, that the Criminal code of the Russian Federation is added by article “Manufacturing and a turnover of materials or subjects with pornographic images of minors”, providing punishment till 8 years of imprisonment for manufacturing, distribution and storage of a children pornography. Miroshnikov also has informed, that the majority of the children pornography placed in the Russian segment of the Internet, has a foreign origin. Director of Department of Strategy of Building of an Information Society of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications Oleg Byahov has noted, that technical regulators are necessary for effective counteraction in the illegal purposes for use of ICT not only legal, but also. According to Byahov, Ministry actively cooperates on these questions with the foreign colleagues and has the certain technologies ready to introduction. UNESCO IFAP Russia pays the big attention to expert discussion of legal, ethical and social dimensions of ICT. The questions lifted during a round table “Safety of children on the Internet”, will find the reflection in discussions during the VII International conference “Right and the Internet” which will take place in Moscow on October 27-28, 2005. Source:UNESCO

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