The Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior praised the new modifications that Facebook has made on its website. The recent amendments to the company’s site are part of a significant initiative that focuses on banning any abusive images or offensive comments that describe provocative acts.
Major General Dr. Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior, said: “These modifications are an erudite step towards morally protecting children and preserving the values and morality of society. As one of the world’s leading social networking sites, Facebook has garnered a high number of Arab users, hence such an initiative is necessary. In this regard, I do hope that the rest of the social media sites follow suit and adopt Facebook’s new policies.”
The Secretary General explained that the MoI, based on its keenness to redouble its efforts in child protection, has implemented several global initiatives that contribute to making the Internet a safer place. He pointed out that the Higher Committee, under the patronage of Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, had previously organized a joint training in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, to monitor child pornography on B2B networks. He said that the training focused on raising public awareness regarding the risks that modern technology pose and additionally provided support to all efforts made by the participants to protect their children.
He reiterated the keenness of the Committee to “follow-up with the initiatives and projects related to achieving the vision of HH Sheikh Saif in making the UAE a cultural beacon and a center of excellence in child protection; for children are wealth of the present and the pillars of tomorrow.”
He added that the Higher Committee renewed its full commitment, through a recently organized legislative workshop, to achieve the goals of the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), to make the Internet a safer place for the children who are prone to exploitation, and to bring criminals to justice. The workshop was held with the attendance of a number of specialists and strategic partners from inside and outside of the UAE. Such efforts and international cooperation reflect the keenness of the UAE in the field of child protection. And in this regard the UAE will host the second edition of the Global Summit on Ending Online Child Sexual Exploitation, expected to be held in the UAE by the end of 2015.
Major General Dr. Al Nuaimi also pointed out that the majority of smartphone users are children and teenagers, and “this event will help to protect them by raising their awareness about the various illicit and harmful content and behavior they may encounter and it also provides them with proper methods of fighting against such crimes. Most importantly, these youth will be better protected from those with a criminal agenda to lure and seduce minors into partaking in unethical activities.” Such efforts are carried out throughout the year alongside other awareness and initiatives pursued by the MoI.
For his part, Major Dr. Mohammed Khalifa Al Ali, Director of the Ministry of Interior’s Child Protection Centre, welcomed the Facebook initiative in its prohibition of offensive public images. He said: “This is an important step towards protecting the children of our society from anything that may be harmful to the values and morals that their families and their educational, social, and security institutions work very hard to instill and to promote. This step also importantly protects children from the overall dangers of the Internet in general.” He continued by pointing out the keenness of the Centre to continue its efforts in such regards and to making the Internet more safe for children, and for every member of society, through participating in activities and events all year-long. Major Dr. Al Ali said such efforts will include: participating in “Safer Internet”, awareness lectures to children and students, participating in various exhibitions, distributing awareness pamphlets, sending guidelines through social media, and organizing awareness events and activities in public places, such as markets and malls.
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The Arabic-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the Arabic-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.
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