How is Turkey Protecting Children from Social Risks through the 'Digital Shield'?

SadaNews - Since the school violence incident in Kahramanmaraş province, Turkey has been witnessing an increasing debate over the dangers of the digital space on children, prompting the enhancement of government policies to regulate this area and protect vulnerable groups.

The concept of "digital shield" has emerged as a new framework for protection, relying on monitoring tools and social data to detect risks early, aiming to integrate the roles of the state and the family to mitigate social threats.

Turkish Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş explains to Yeni Şafak newspaper that by restricting the use of social media for those under 15 years old, Turkey has established a digital shield for families.

While the legal age for obtaining a driver's license or voting is 18, the average age of entry into social media is around 6 years, according to Göktaş.

The Danger in Our Home

In the past, danger was in the streets, but today the real danger - as the minister points out - is inside our homes, as phones are now accessible to everyone.

Göktaş summarizes the main digital challenges identified by the ministry as follows:

Most children spend between 3 to 5 hours daily on platforms.

Children's attention span drops to about 8 seconds only.

The biggest danger is the elimination of age barriers, as some children may think they are playing with their peers, while they are actually facing adults.

Children prefer the more violent characters in games, and while these characters give children a false sense of confidence, the obsession with obtaining views drives them towards social isolation.

The minister also emphasizes the necessity of declaring a community alert to protect children digitally, adding: "We cannot leave our children in the middle of a dark corridor."

Preventing Risks

To ensure early detection of risks, the ministry has been working for a year and a half on a social risk map by analyzing social, economic, and psychological indicators to create assessment points for social risks at the level of provinces, neighborhoods, and families.

These maps serve as an early warning system to monitor phenomena such as violence against women and youth delinquency, aiming for early intervention, with the ministry tracking the results of the maps through the "Family Guide" for adults and "Children Safe" for children.

Göktaş also mentions signing a project supported by artificial intelligence with the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries, aimed at real-time monitoring of institutions such as rehabilitation centers and children's homes, activating an early warning system in negative cases, and managing security risks.

Source: Turkish Press