WIC emphasizes protecting the minors online

Concerted efforts are needed to build an Internet governance system that ensures safe cyberspace for minors, Wang Jiarui, chairman of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, said on Oct. 20 at a sub-forum "Protection of Minors Online and Governance of Internet Ecology" during the 2019 World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province.

Gao Anming, vice president of China International Publishing Group, also noted at the forum that creating an Internet environment that is clean and conducive to the protection of physical and psychological health of juveniles is a global goal.

According to Liu Liehong, vice minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China, 93.7 per cent of Chinese children under 18 had access to the Internet, of which 30.3 per cent had reported encountering illegal and/or inappropriate content such as sites promoting violence, drug taking or pornographic information.

To address this issue at the legislative level, the Cyberspace Administration of China introduced the Provisions on the Cyber Protection of Children's Personal Information on Aug 22. New regulations on the governance of the Internet ecology are under discussion.

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Omar Abdi commended Chinese government's continuous efforts to protect children, adding that, "we need to put children at the center of Internet governance".

According to Abdi, beyond the policy sphere, the ICT sector should take on greater responsibility to uphold child rights online and bring innovative solutions to the table, and educational as well as empowerment activities are necessary to better prepare children, parents, and teachers to ensure children's online safety and their responsible use of the Internet.

Representatives of Internet companies attending the forum, such as Ren Yuxin, Tencent's chief operating officer, and Zhou Yuan, founder and CEO of Zhihu (China's Quora), also shared their views on protecting minors from harm online from the perspective of corporate responsibility.

Ren Yuxin said Tencent had heavily invested in ensuring cybersecurity and had launched relevant systems to help protect children who lack self-protection awareness and ability, such as Tencent 110 and anti-addiction health system.

According to Zhou Yuan, Zhihu has launched a system called Wukong to combat traffic cheats and false advertising. Later on, a robot called Wali was introduced to precisely detect and deal with inappropriate contents online.

Zhou said he believed Internet enterprises must not only adhere to the principles and shoulder responsibility, but also serve as the driver of social development.

This forum was co-hosted by UNICEF, the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, China Children and Teenager's Fund, and with China Internet Information Center and Tencent as co-organizers.