Children Rights in the Digital Era

Libya is a country in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north and other African countries around having an overall population of around 7million.

The humanitarian situation of children in Libya remained precarious with significant protection concerns and child rights violations continuously reported. The protracted conflict over the past seven years has left an estimated 1.3 million people, out of which 439,000 are children, in need of assistance. Insecurity, economic downfall, and violence across the country have created unsafe living conditions and damaged critical infrastructure, placing vulnerable children at heightened risk of harm and disrupting access to public services. Libyan children suffer from the risks of migration as they make the perilous journey from sub-Saharan Africa into Libya and across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe

In the current digital world, Libyan children face huge child rights violations, including online recruitment by armed groups and sexual gender-based violence which have been widely reported since the onset of the civil conflict in 2011. In Libya, digital violence against children is another catastrophic issue which takes many forms, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and may involve neglect or deprivation.

In Libya, malicious people can easily, engage digitally with vulnerable children by using unprotected social media profiles and online gaming forums. New technologies like dark web portray child sexual abuse and other streaming media like live violence on children to increase their ratings for money. Efforts to protect children need to focus particularly on vulnerable and disadvantaged children, who may be less likely to understand online risks, including loss of privacy, and more likely to suffer harms. While attitudes vary by culture, children often turn first to their peers when they experience risks and harms online, making it harder for parents to protect their children. Although most children who are online, view it as a positive experience, many parents and teachers worry that immersion in screens is making children depressed, creating internet dependency and even contributing to obesity.

In Libya, children rights can be sustained by systems building, coordination, and engagement with local municipalities. The local municipalities can be utilized to advocate for the release, rehabilitation, and reintegration of vulnerable children affected by armed conflict. The awareness among parents should also be provided so that they know the potential vulnerabilities among children that can be exploited by adversarial people in the digital era. All children have the right to protection from violence, regardless of the nature or severity of the act and all forms of violence can cause harm to children, reduce their sense of self-worth, affront their dignity and hinder their development.

Recommendations

1Refugee and migrant children: Including e-registration, rehabilitation, and protection.

2Safe E-Participation Facilities: Including secure internet access and restricted content.

3Capacity Development: Including training and technical assistance Government Infrastructure: In Libya children rights can be sustained by systems building, coordination, and engagement with local municipalities. The local municipalities can be utilized to advocate for the release, rehabilitation and reintegration of vulnerable children affected by armed conflict.

5E-Training: Provision of training to the parents to train them about the potential vulnerabilities among children that can be exploited by adversarial people in the digital era.

6Kaspersky Safe Kids: Deployment of anti-spam tools specially designed for kids for the safe web experience.