Session 1:

Opportunities
&
Risks:
 Children and
digital technologies
 Globally, out of every 3
CHILDREN AS internet users, one is a child.
INTERNET
Overall, young people have
USERS greater ICT skills than adults.

Are children in Ethiopia using

the internet?
Children's internet access in Ethiopia
Disrupting harm research findings
•1 in 4 children between the ages of 12 and 17 surveyed was an
internet user (2021).

• Older children - 16- & 17-year-olds- were more likely to be

internet users compared to the younger children

• No major difference between genders

•
 Children's internet access in Ethiopia
Disrupting harm research findings
• There is a clear a rural-urban divide

• 40% of internet-using children were low frequency users

• Barriers - slow connection or a poor signal, high costs

 Children’s most
popular online
activities in
Ethiopia were:
Using social media,

Instant messaging
&
speaking to family
and friends

Disrupting harm research findings

Internet and the digital world is like a double-edged sword
when it comes to children.

One side = opportunities (+)

On the other side = risks (-)

 Online opportunities

1. Access to information,

2. Access to platforms to express themselves,

3. Opportunities to interact, play and learn.

4. Opportunities to create;

5. Opportunities to earn money etc

 Online risks

Access to digital technologies

exposes children to risks despite
the opportunities.
 Classification of Online Risks
CONTENT RISKS CONTACT RISKS
.

Examples: Examples:
Exposure to:- Contact with an adult soliciting a
- Sexual or pornographic content child for something negative e.g.
- Violent images - Sexual purposes,
- Hate speech material; - Radicalization
- etc
 Classification of Online Risks
CONDUCT RISKS CONTRACT RISKS
.

Examples: Examples:
Children Gambling,
- creating hateful materials about Identity theft,
other children,
- inciting racism Fraud,
- posting or distributing sexual images, Scams, etc
Access versus risk
More access
More digital skills
More exposure to risks
If more access leads to more exposure, does this mean we
deny children access to digital technologies?
If denied
access to - Children miss out on the opportunities
digital
technologies:-
- Fail to develop their digital skills

- May lead to forms of marginalisation

 Risk does not
automatically lead
to harm

Risks can be
mitigated to minimize
chances of harm.
 1. Educating children & caregivers
Safety about risks and safety tips:
measures
to avoid risk 2. Using filtering software
-
Examples
3. Developing tech solutions.

4. Having laws in place to deter

perpetrators.
 Are children and
caregivers aware of
online risks in
Ethiopia?
Children’s and caregivers knowledge
(Disrupting Harm research findings)

Two-thirds of 80% of
children not caregivers had
taught about never used the
online risks internet
 Sharing of their personal information online
Risky online

behaviours of Meeting someone face-to-face after first

encountering them online
children in
Exposure to sexual images or videos online
Ethiopia

Sharing of naked pictures or videos of

themselves with someone else online
Disrupting Harm research findings