State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman had begun an analysis into the lack of protection for minors online, as part of his view that social issues should be part of his office's purview.
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Englman is looking into what defenses are in place to shield minors online from a variety of threats – bullying, shaming, ostracizing, violations of privacy, exposure to offensive content, the dissemination of sexual images, and sexual predators.
The examination of these issues is being conducted mostly through the Child Online Protection Bureau, the Israel Police, and various government ministries, with special emphasis on Education Ministry activities to help students operate safely online.
According to 105, the statistics on online harm to children from January-June 2021 indicate that 13-year-olds, both boys and girls, were the most frequent targets. In those six months, over 6,000 incidents of harm to minors online were handled, with 34% of incidents reported by parents; 22% having to do with sexual offenses or sexual images and/or videos; and 16% related to the dissemination of embarrassing images and video clips, shaming, and cyberbullying.
The statistics revealed that 23% of the incidents handled from January-June 2021 took place on Whatsapp, while 19% occurred on Instagram.
As part of the State Comptroller's Office probe, a team met with the National Students Council to hear their stories about what they and their cohort experienced online.
In the meeting, which took place in early August, the students described a wide range of online attacks that children experience. The first issue raised was sexual harassment, which takes place in many forms on the internet.
"There's no one who hasn't been sexually harassed virtually, and a lot of the time they don't know how to handle it," the students said.
According to the children, other common online offenses include ostracization and shaming, as well as exposure to "disgusting" videos. Recently, children have also been targeted for online gambling sites and apps, with some becoming addicted, as well as sites that make it easy for them to purchase alcohol and drugs.
The students stressed that the root of the problem lay with the amount of time children and adolescents were spending online, exposing themselves to harm, with little if any protection in place.
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