Opening the public hearing, the National Assembly Speaker and Chairman of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, MA Nebojsa Stefanovic, said that the modern information age is both an enormous achievement offering numerous opportunities to children and a source of danger to their safety, adding that they need to be protected from various types of abuse on the Internet. Therefore, it is very important to regulate the sphere by laws at the national and global level, said Stefanovic.
Special Prosecutor for High-Tech Crime Branko Stamenkovic briefed the participants on the challenges of computer crime and dangers of child abuse in Serbia, presenting the results of the work, as well as the further steps in the prevention and activities of the state authorities as regards high-tech crime.
Lesley Miller, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Serbia, presented the global challenges and strategies aimed at raising child safety on the Internet.
Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, pointed out that protection of children from Internet abuse should not only be a matter of criminal law, but that children should also be protected from daily exposure to content containing hate, intolerance and calls to violence which influence the formation of young personalities, while the Equality Commissioner, Dr Nevena Petrusic stressed that prevention is essential and that a topic as serious as the dangers of Internet abuse of children should be made part of the curriculum at faculties educating people who are to work with the youth.
Deputy Ombudsman Tamara Luksic Orlandic stressed the advantages the accessibility of digital technology holds for children, as well as the need to educate children how to use technology safely, because things that happen in the virtual world have an impact on the real world.
Ivana Stevanovic, Director of the Child Rights Centre NGO, presented the draft National Strategy on the prevention and protection of children from trafficking and abuse in pornography and prostitution, abuse of IT and communication technologies, the drafting of which included representatives of the ministries, civil society and the media.
Representatives of Telekom, Jelena Stojanovic, and Telenor, Ivana Matijevic, spoke of the responsibility and role of the two providers in the protection of children from Internet abuse and pointed out the services they offer as regards content filtering and limiting children’s Internet access.
The participants of the public hearing, MPs, representatives of ministries, civil society, international organisations, as well as representatives of elementary, high-schools and faculties, agreed that children’s lives in modern IT society offer great advantages for their development, education and quality of life, but also open up numerous challenges and dangers to their safety.
The National Assembly Speaker and Chairman of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, MA Nebojsa Stefanovic, deemed that the participants agree that legal framework and strategies at the national and global level are very important for the protection of children from abuse on the Internet, accompanied by preventive programmes and cooperation between state institutions and parents, educational institutions and the civil sector.