By our Reporter
The Federal Government has announced plans to regulate internet access for children below 16 years, citing the need to protect their safety, dignity and wellbeing in the digital space.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Thursday while addressing students and other stakeholders, saying the government supports expanding digital access but wants to ensure children are exposed only to safe, credible and age-appropriate content.
Alausa warned that providing children with internet access for educational purposes should not amount to unrestricted access to every platform claiming to be educational.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as we expand digital access, however, we must remain focused on quality. Zero rating should not mean indiscriminate access to every platform that describes itself as educational,” he said.
“The content made available to our children must be appropriate, credible, safe, and aligned with our educational objectives and our curriculum.”
Giving what he described as a sneak preview of the forthcoming policy, the minister said security officials would provide further details in the coming days or weeks.
“At this point, I’m just going to give a sneak preview to what will come. That will be announced by the security people in the next coming days or week. It will be regulating internet access to children below 16 years old,” Alausa said.
He added that the forthcoming measures would outline how the government intends to protect children from the potential dangers of unrestricted internet access.
“Further announcement on this will be coming from our security staffs and they will roll out how this country will protect the dignity of every child in this country,” he said.
The proposed regulation could significantly change how Nigerians below 16 access online platforms, particularly as the country continues to expand digital learning and internet connectivity in schools.
