SID 2013 in Armenia: Orange Advocates Safer Internet Use

Today over 100 countries are celebrating Safer Internet Day. This year Orange Armenia, Media Education Center, Internet Society of Armenia launched the “Safer Internet Armenia” project. In frames of the Safer Internet Armenia 2013 over 300 teachers from 150 schools will be trained and over 3000 students will take part in open lessons on Internet safety. This year a special attention is paid to engaging parents, who will take part in numerous workshops held in Armenia's capital city and regions. On the Safer Internet Day 2013 the Best Open Lesson and the Best e-Poster Competitions are announced among school children and teachers. 

“As the major mobile internet provider in Armenia, we care about providing our customers with keys to safe internet use, protecting their information and hardware as well as their children from inappropriate content. However, we are not limiting ourselves to simply offering needed products and solutions and as a responsible company we are happy to join this large-scale educational project,” said Francis Gelibter, the CEO of Orange Armenia.

Orange Armenia has been advocating safer internet use since last year. The company has supported workshops and awareness raising campaigns and provided its customers with Kaspersky Internet Security Labs in cooperation with Kaspersky to protect children from inappropriate content online.  Many Orange customers are already using it.

“More and more children start using internet at an earlier age. Still, children under 12 do not have proper critical thinking skills to make choices when surfing, playing and learning on the Internet, therefore parents are advised to  participate in their internet activities,” Narine Khachatryan, Deputy Director of the Media Education Center, said.

Studies show those teenagers whose families do not set rules for internet use at home are twice more likely to access web sites with inappropriate content. All those concerned about the content their children are exposed to on the Internet can visit www.safe.am  to find necessary information and educational resources in Armenian language.

Safer Internet Day is part of a global drive by awareness-raising partners to promote a safer and better internet for all users, especially young people. It is organised by Insafe and INHOPE in the framework of the European Commission’s Safer Internet Programme, working together to deliver a safer internet, promoting safe, responsible use of the internet and mobile devices to children, young people and their families, and working to identify and remove illegal content online. For further information, see www.saferinternetday.org.