Most of the Vietnamese children access the internet and using digital device from their early ages. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam has some 24.7 million children, with two-thirds accessing the internet and using digital device from their early ages. The average age at which Vietnamese children begin to use the internet is 9 years old, while the global average is 13.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications’ Vietnam Cybersecurity Emergency Response Teams (VNCERT), over 48% of Vietnamese youth reported that they were victims of cyberbullying, and over 13% of the children were exposed to unwanted online pornography.

Kids lacking self-protection skills in cyberspace

That children lack knowledge and skills to safely navigate the internet is the main reason of online child abuse. Not being fully aware of the risks that the digital environment provides them with, they could become the victims of online fraud, sexual abuse and cyberbullying.

A report from the Management and Sustainable Development Institute (MSD) showed that seven out of ten kids use the internet for more than an hour a day, 43.4% of the children go online from 1-3 hours a day, 80.8% said parents know they use the internet, 54.4% share their internet access with parents, and 30.4% reported that their parents or relatives control their use of internet.

Meanwhile, the national report “Disrupting Harm in Vietnam – Evidence on online child sexual exploitation and abuse” revealed that 23% of children aging 12-17 said they sometimes saw sexual images or videos online by accident, and 5% received unwanted sensitive images.

Furthermore, 8% of internet-using children said they had been subject to sexual comments about them that made them feel uncomfortable, and 2% were asked to talk about sex when they did not want to. However, 43% did not disclose to anyone as they did not believe anything would be done about it.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, competent authorities have launched investigations into more than 380 cases related to child abuse and the spread of depraved cultural works, with over 550 people allegedly involving in, over the past three years. The police have blocked 30,000 pornographic websites, and disabled tens of thousands of links with harmful contents.

The national children protection hotline 111 is launched in 2017. (Photo: VNA)

The national children protection hotline 111 managed by the Department of Children’s Affairs (DCA) under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), has received 1,500 calls about children’s issues in the online environment, including 419 on child abuse.

the internet coverage rate is increasing in mountainous and ethnic minority inhabited regions, but the protection of children from those regions on the cyberspace has not received due attention.

Leo Thi Lich, a standing member of the National Assembly’s Council on Ethnic Minorities

According to Leo Thi Lich, a standing member of the National Assembly’s Council on Ethnic Minorities, the internet coverage rate is increasing in mountainous and ethnic minority inhabited regions, but the protection of children from those regions on the cyberspace has not received due attention.

Director of the DCA Dang Hoa Nam underscored that as children are prone to fall into the traps of the cybercrimes, it is urgent to complete legal regulations on child protection in cyberspace.

In the meantime, schools and families, he said, must equip the children with sufficient knowledge and skills to use the internet safely, ensuring that they know how to protect themselves from the attacks of cybercriminals.

Harmonious coordination to create safe environment for children

Under a draft decree on revising and supplementing the Government’s decree on the management and use of internet services, the Ministry of Information and Communications underlined that protecting kids and youngsters in the cyberspace is an important measure to develop the internet.

Regulations on the management of social networks and children’s time spent on the sites as well as warnings of harmful information for children, and the responsibility of education establishments in the supervision and protection of children in the online environment will be added, he said.

The Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long holds an online cybersecurity contest for local children in 2023. (Photo: VNA)

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of the DCA Nguyen Thi Nga stated that Vietnam has worked to complete its legal system to safeguard children in the cyberspace, including the Prime Minister’s Decree No.56/2017/ND-CP dated May 9, 2017 stipulating the details of several articles of the Children Law, Decision No.830/QD-TTg dated June 1, 2021 approving the programme on protecting and supporting children’s healthy and creative interaction in the cyberspace, and Directive No.23/CT-TTg dated May 26, 2020 on enhanced measures to ensure children’s rights and child protection. 

Regarding international cooperation, Vietnam has joined hands with other ASEAN member states to adopt the Declaration on the Protection of Children from all Forms of Online Exploitation and Abuse in ASEAN in 2019.

Three years ago, Vietnam passed the Declaration on the Elimination of Bullying of Children in ASEAN, comprising cyberbullying.

The MoLISA has worked closely with competent organisations to arrange communications campaigns on child protection in the cyberspace, as well as develop documents and make videos on child safety guide which were sent to cities and provinces nationwide, and posted on the DCA’s website.

Experts said close coordination between agencies, organisations and communities to build a safe online environment for children which, they said, is a leading priority amidst escalating cyber threats.

Equipping children with appropriate cyber knowledge and skills is seen as a “digital vaccine” for the “little digital citizens”./. VNA