Kenya launches child online protection portal

Africa/Kenya/12-02-2021/Author: Regina Manyara/Source: www.kbc.co.ke

Kenya has stepped up child online protection system efforts in a bid to curb the rising cases of internet child abuse.

The communications authority of Kenya has launched an online child protection portal that allows users to report cases of child abuse to the authority as well as access help.

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has said the new system will also help detect and monitor cases of cyber-bullying and nab cyber-criminals as political temperatures rise due to the planned building bridges initiative referendum drive.

According to Communications Authority of Kenya statistics for the quarter ending December 2020, the National Computer Incident Response Team Coordination Centre detected more than 56 million cyber threats in the country.

A majority of the threats were malware attacks at 46 million, followed by web application attacks at 7.8 million while 2.2 million Distributed Denial of Service threats were detected during the same period.

Information and Communication Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has urged Communications Authority of Kenya to boost its capacity in detection and monitoring of Cybercrimes in the lead up to the upcoming BBI referendum and the 2022 general elections.

This comes barely a week after the National Cohesion and Integration Commission published a list of a shame of persons propagating hate speech.

Speaking during the launch of an interactive portal aimed at creating a safer online environment for children, Acting Director-General of the Communications Authority of Kenya Mercy Wanjau, noted an increase cyber-threats buoyed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The public is to use the platform to report any cases of child online abuse, which will be directly channeled to CA for necessary action.

At the same time, the public can also access information about other organizations that offer support for children, including Childline Kenya, Kenya Association of Professional Counselors, The Cradle and the Children’s department.

Source and Image: https://www.kbc.co.ke/kenya-launches-child-online-protection-portal/