The government has unveiled an online game in its efforts to promote safety for children online as it joins the world to celebrate Safer Internet Day.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) launched the game and said it would empower children to make informed decisions when browsing the internet.
“The game is aimed at guiding children through a maze of potential dangers online and also teaching them how to protect their identity, personal data, recognise sites containing harmful content and finally develop a critical approach towards information found on the Internet,” the authority said in a statement.
The game, called Cyber Soldjas, contains five different levels based on the common vulnerabilities of the internet such as cybercrime, identity theft, fake news and catfishing. Children aged four to 14 will be able to learn and develop critical thinking while playing the game.
Data from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that 20.6 million Kenyans aged three and above own a mobile phone. Most of these gadgets are in the hands of young people between 25 and 34, who hold 6.1 million handsets.
A report from Kaspersky last year placed Kenya at number two in cyber-attacks in Africa after Nigeria. It recorded a total of 32.8 million such attacks, most of them targeting small businesses.
CA Director-General Ezra Chiloba said increased access to digital technologies had also posed a great challenge to children and young people.
“Some of the impacts range from threats to protection of personal data and privacy to harassment and cyberbullying, harmful online content, grooming for sexual purposes, and sexual abuse and exploitation,” he said.
Mrs Maureen Mwaniki, a director at Huawei-Kenya, encouraged the private sector to enhance internet safety.
“To provide digital skills at a large scale requires efforts from all stakeholders in society and we are committed to working with partners from CA, government, industry, non-profits and academia to do this,” she added.
Safer Internet Day, an initiative of the European Union, is celebrated on February 8.
