To mark World Children’s Day, the Safer Internet Centre in Ukraine initiated an important briefing together with the Cyber Police entitled “Children Online During the War: New Challenges, Threats, and the Search for Solutions.”
The discussion focused on trends recorded by the Cyber Police, including a rise in cases of sextortion, grooming, and online recruitment. It also addressed new challenges faced by the StopCrime hotline, notably an increase in cases where children expose themselves on camera, as well as the nature of children’s requests to the 116 111 helpline.
The briefing highlighted the role of documentary films in helping adults better understand children’s online risks and underlined the importance of training officers and teachers to more effectively address online threats. During the event, the updated composition of the Safer Internet Centre coalition was presented; it now includes six organisations. Photos from the briefing were taken, and the full recording is available online.
In addition, the Safer Internet Centre took part in an information campaign together with the Cyber Police. A large-scale SMS distribution promoted the article “Children in Online Streams – a New Target for Offenders. What Should Parents Know?”, prepared by Safer Internet Centre experts. The campaign was carried out in two stages, on 13 and 20 November, with a total of 66,387,266 SMS messages sent.
The Centre also produced a series of video clips to promote the Safer Internet Centre platform. These videos are currently being shared on social media to further raise awareness of online safety issues.
