The Sharjah Child Safety Department (CSD) is raising awareness among children about the importance of cybersecurity and securing their online accounts during its participation at the ongoing Sharjah Festival for Culture and People. The festival is organised by the Cultural and Media Office of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) and is taking place from February 23-26 at Al Qarayen park 2.

At the festival, the CSD platform will educate children and parents on how to create strong passwords to ensure that children’s accounts on various social networking sites are safe and secure. This would safeguard the integrity of their personal information and content, including photographs and messages, against the risks of unauthorised access and malicious exploitation.

Throughout the festival, CSD will highlight the dangers associated with the unsafe use of various internet applications, as opposed to the benefits of safe internet usage. This is to encourage children to comply with guidelines that provide the highest standards of security and promote positive digital habits, safe and responsible browsing of the internet, and to take advantage of its benefits, including access to educational materials and development of digital skills that will benefit children in the future.

The CSD platform is actively monitoring statistics of the use of social media in children and young people, including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter. This is part of the Department’s ongoing efforts to keep track of children’s trends and usage of social media applications, in addition to identifying the platforms where children may encounter harmful situations. The statistics gathered can assist the department in developing studies and interventions to ensure children’s highest level of protection and strengthen their digital safety.

Nahla Al Saadi, Deputy Director of CSD, said, “The department strives to establish a continuous relationship with our target audience, including children and parents, to keep them aware of the best preventive measures to stay safe online. In conjunction with the Safer Internet Day, we have intensified our digital safety awareness efforts to highlight the importance of internet safety and children’s online privacy protection.”

Through its participation in various community events, CSD aims to reach a broader audience and raise community awareness on child safety. At the Sharjah Festival for Culture and People, the department focuses on children’s cyber safety and the importance of securing their social media accounts to protect them from online extortion and cyberbullying and help them maintain their privacy online.