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UAE to sign declaration to protect children from online crime, abuse
The UAE government highlighted its commitment to further progressing interfaith dialogue and action.
- PUBLISHED: Mon 24 Sept 2018, 8:00 PM UPDATED: Wed 26 Sept 2018, 2:21 AM
- By:
- Jasmine Al Kuttab
The UAE will sign the Abu Dhabi Declaration to protect children from abuse and sexual assault online, revealed authorities at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Monday.
To combat crimes against children online, the UAE announced it will be hosting its very first 'Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities: Child Dignity Online' forum, bringing together the world's religious leaders to tackle the world's most pressing social challenges.
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The interfaith alliance arose from a congress on 'Child Dignity in the Digital Age' and its resulting 'Declaration of Rome' in October 2017, which was accepted and endorsed by Pope Francis.
It was during the congress that the UAE government highlighted its commitment to further progressing interfaith dialogue and action. A year after the Declaration of Rome, the UAE is convening the world's faith leaders at the summit, which will take place on November 19 and 20 with over 450 religious leaders.
The UAE will sign the Abu Dhabi Declaration after the summit, supported by various child protection organisations, aiming to combat crimes against youth online, from sexual abuse to radicalisation and extremism.
Brigadier-General Mohammed Humaid bin Dalmuj Al Dhaheri, secretary-general of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, explained that online child abuse is a global epidemic, which requires urgent action.
Major Dana Humaid Al Marzouqi from the Ministry of Interior said faith leaders are often the first line of defence in supporting community members during crises, and world religious leaders must address the issue of online child abuse.
A law to protect online users
Professor Hany Farid, creator of PhotoDNA and eGlyph, told Khaleej Times that the EU is considering a legislation that will fine companies who are aware of the offending content and do not take down the content which is longer than one hour.
"Germany has just passed this legislation - the fine is up to 50 million euros." He said that he hopes more countries will adopt the same law, including the US and the UAE. The "father" of digital image forensics, stressed that child abuse is complex, which is why he helped develop technologies that can put an end to the phenomena.
He said that he had been meeting victims for over 10 years, stressing that it is not just the victimisation, but the re-victimisation that continues to haunt them and control their lives. "The videos and images of them continue to be shared millions of times, so they never really get out of it. This continues to strip away their dignity, it never goes away."
He pointed out that social media platforms are evidently turning a blind eye to the issue. "Since the late 90s-early 2000s, social media companies knew this problem existed and they have chosen profit over protecting children
"The US made laws protecting copyright - music and movies - before making laws to protect children, this is not only shocking, but it shows you where the priorities really are. Google, Microsoft and Facebook know that their platforms are used to affect young children and they are profiting from it and have been far too slow to act, despite their knowledge."
Shocking figures of online abuse
It was revealed that with the advent of digital communication, more than 800 million children and teenagers are exposed to criminal behaviour online.
Moreover, the range and scope of child abuse and exploitation online is alarming, with cases measured in millions on a daily basis.
The Interfaith Alliance said that nearly one billon children and youth use the internet and around one in eight young people have been bullied on social media in 2017.
Moreover, while social media platform is connecting more than 2.8 billon people, there were 10.2 million Cybertip reports received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last year.
There are 99,703 webpages with images of 7-10 year olds, which were seen overall by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), and there are 513 identified child abuse material distribution brands, which are "controlled by eight top level distributors."
Furthermore, 27 per cent commercial websites were identified to host child sexual abuse material by the IWF in 2013 and there are 10 top brands for child abuse material, which are "controlled by a single top-level distributor."
The estimated annual revenue of the child abuse maturely industry has reached between $3-$20 billion, which is also linked to the whopping 100 per cent increase in the number of 'cyberlockers' being used to host child sexual abuse material.
As per FBI, there are 200,000 members registered on a popular website for child abuse material on the Darknet, 50 per cent of whom accessed the website in a 12 day period last year.
Law enforcement officers also revealed that 10 per cent of child sexual abuse material online is commercialised.