Children and Online Safety in the Pacific
With the upgrade of the submarine, fibre optic cable in the Pacific, access to affordable and fast digital connectivity in the region is set to rapidly expand, opening up unprecedented opportunities for children in the Pacific, but also potentially exposing them to a new range of risks of harm. With children expected to use technology more than ever before, online safety in the Pacific region stands at a critical juncture. To successfully mitigate potential risks of harm while nurturing the opportunities for children in the region, this project aims to map the challenges and opportunities children’s technology use in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea. The second phase of the project will include insights from Fiji.
Qualitative data-gathering workshops with three participant groups – children, parents and adults – explored key themes relating to each group’s perceptions and experiences of children’s digital media use and online safety, with the overall aim of generating an evidence base for ChildFund Australia and Plan International’s future child protection interventions and programs in the Pacific region.
Researchers
Funding
Period
October 2019 – March 2020
