Vietnam is one of the countries with the largest number of Internet users in the world. Accordingly, protecting, caring for and educating children in the new context poses many advantages but also many difficulties and challenges.

Early exposure and use of cyberspace helps children learn knowledge to serve their studies, expand and improve their knowledge, but at the same time it also causes many unpredictable consequences. It is worth mentioning that many subjects have taken advantage of and used cyberspace to deceive and seduce children; violating the lives of children.

There are many reasons that lead to children being abused, including the fact that children do not have enough knowledge to fully understand the dangers of participating in the online environment, so there is no way to prevent them. Avoid being easily enticed to commit unethical or illegal acts.

Besides, children have not received close attention from their families and schools in equipping them with knowledge when participating in the online environment. Many parents are still spreading pictures of their children online. This accidentally turns them into "prey" for criminals who specialize in "hunting children".

In particular, when parents access negative, "adult" content, children are also exposed to harmful information through ads appearing on the website. If not prevented in time, children may form distorted thoughts.

According to the Department of Children, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in 2022, the National Child Protection Switchboard (Switchboard 111) recorded nearly 370,000 incoming calls, with nearly 28,000 calls recorded. and more than 1,500 supportive interventions. Of these, there were 419 calls reporting child abuse activities online. In total, the Children's Department has intervened 21 times to handle these cases...

Mr. Nguyen Duc Tuan, Director of the Vietnam Cyberspace Emergency Response Center, Ministry of Information and Communications, said that in Vietnam, about 2/3 of children are regularly exposed to the Internet, even on a daily basis. .

Pointing out 5 risk groups for children when exposed to the Internet, according to Mr. Tuan, about 70 - 80% of children aged 10 - 15 years old play games, of which about 10 - 15% fall into game addiction...

Emphasizing the duality of cyberspace, Mr. Dang Hoa Nam, Director of the Department of Children, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that it is necessary to emphasize the "irreplaceable" benefits of the Internet because We are living in a world where cyberspace and the online environment are an essential part of life and the socio-economy. So, how do we have solutions to maximize the benefits of cyberspace and the Internet and minimize its negative impacts?

Sharing the content and proposing amendments and supplements to laws and policies on child protection in the online environment, many experts emphasized that in recent times, Vietnam has made efforts to continuously improve Improve the legal and policy framework to strengthen the protection of children in the online environment.

However, facing the 4.0 industrial revolution in general and information technology in particular has put pressure on policy makers and law makers. The process of constantly improving laws and policies to create a safe environment for children, a safe space and encourage creativity and interaction in the online environment is a very urgent and long-term requirement. long.

Accordingly, in the process of perfecting laws and policies on child protection in the online environment, it is necessary to pay attention to the following 4 perspectives and approaches:

Firstly, the acts and consequences of violating children's rights in general and of child abuse in particular in the online environment must have sanctions to prevent and handle the acts in real life; Pay attention to assessing its consequences affecting children in the immediate and long term, especially related to psychological, emotional, ethical and mental health issues.

The second is to strengthen the responsibility of protecting children's rights in general and protecting children in particular, preventing and combating child abuse of agencies, organizations, individuals, families, and schools in real life such as How is it similar in the network environment?

Third, we must use sanctions and punishments that are sufficient to deter acts of taking advantage of the online environment to abuse children. Currently, we still lack a legal basis to handle and evaluate the consequences of acts of taking advantage of the online environment to violate children's rights.

Finally, it is necessary to emphasize the responsibility of businesses, organizations and individuals providing services in the network environment and profiting from the network environment. Must block, filter, and remove information and behaviors that are harmful to children in the online environment; They must also be the ones giving gTechnical solutions to protect children in the online environment.

Thanh Minh