Awareness Archives - Online Safety Commission Fiji

Safer Internet Day 2024

Rashika Chandra — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 22:44:43 +0000

Objectives

The objectives of Safer Internet Day Event:

Raise Awareness

Increase awareness about the significance of Safer Internet Day and its role in
promoting online safety.

Collaboration and Harmony

Emphasizing the need for collaboration locally as well as internationally for a safer digital environment.

Online Safety Commission present and future Initiative

Introduce initiatives such as Youth Champions and Swipe Safe program to stakeholders, enhancing their understanding and involvement in online safety.

Reflect on Achievements

Portray achievements of the OSC through the support of other stakeholders.

Demo Training

Conduct practical training on online safety and cybersecurity, equipping attendees with the necessary skills and knowledge.

Industry Collaboration

Showcasing support from GOSRN, TikTok and META Australia.

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Online Safety Champions Pilot

Rashika Chandra — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 09:00:01 +0000

A pilot programme to help us stay safe and secure online.

The Commission embarked on an online safety champions programme to help community members, parents, advocates and university students learn more about how they could be safe online during this lockdown period.

We can all feel how quickly we had to adapt to our “new normal” after the April wave of this pandemic. Many of us find ourselves working from home, helping our children with their online learning, and even picking up some new dance moves through these Tik Tok videos.

And it’s all fun and exciting but there are some things that seem to make us wonder about how safe we really are on these digital platforms. That is what this seven week programme was all about. Introducing participants to various topics such as image based abuse, gaming online, abhorrent content, keeping our children safe online and much more.

Throughout the programme, participants had the opportunity to engage with the Commission more effectively, meeting virtually once a week to learn or explore various topics, discuss their experiences, share information on the OSC Facebook page, and learn how to report to the OSC.

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Fiji and Australia Sharing Insights

web_admin — Mon, 10 May 2021 23:13:53 +0000

In the spirit of the Vuvale partnership Fiji’s Online Safety Commission (OSC) and Australia’s Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OESC) have been working together in having lead roles in the online safety space in the Pacific.

In this video, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, and Fiji’s Online Safety Commissioner, Anne Dunn-Baleilevuka, had a vibrant online discussion on the partnership and online safety in general.

The Partnership is rooted on information sharing, research in the realm of online abuse and online safety materials thus paving the way in regulating the different online spaces and ultimately providing redress for online abuse for our citizens.

It is encouraging to see women taking leading roles in keeping our online space safe in a time where there is a rapid shift towards “being online.”

The Commissioner to Commissioner talk is a testament of this initiative from both the organizations through their respective Governments with the discussion ranging from producing online safety material in the different languages reflecting the multilingual nations and contextualizing online safety content specific to the two countries.

The Australian Commissioner Julie Inman Grant also address the issue of online bullying and how extensive its impact on mental health. Fiji’s Commissioner Anne Dunn-Baleilevuka stressed further how online bullying disseminated from the school setting well into early hours of the morning which could be devastating to a child. As pioneers into the field of online safety the lessons learnt would be the stepping stones for other nations as a way forward.

The spirit of Vuvale was emanating from the lively discussion thus strengthening the ties and ensuring that the respective organizations are adamant to work to better their nations as they move towards cultivating a safer, more inclusive, more respectful online experience. In the words of Julie Inman Grant (Commissioner OESC) “my home is your home.” Let’s all be safe online.

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New Regional Partner

web_admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 14:00:18 +0000

17 February 2021

New Australian Alliance For A Safer Online Environment

Fiji’s Online Safety Commission has recently formed an allegiance with Australia’s Office of the eSafety Commissioner to tackle the growing concern of online abuse.
Supported by the Vuvale Partnership between the two nations through Australia’s Cyber Cooperation Program, the partnership will kick off with a Commissioner-to-Commissioner conversation about online safety and its impacts between the two nations.

The Online Safety Commissioner, Anne Dunn, said “Fiji and Australia share a commitment to creating a safe and empowering online culture among our citizens. In the absence of real-time content regulation from the social media companies, Fiji has taken on the responsibility of tracking online abuse and instituting a cultural shift towards safe online environments, and we are very keen to strengthen that effort with support from the Australian office of the eSafety Commissioner.”

As the country continues to rapidly increase in accessing technology and the online world, we must also take heed of extending the Bula Spirit we offer within our borders to the online communities we are a part of.
Australia’s High Commissioner to Fiji, John Feakes, said this partnership is an example of Australia’s strong commitment to its vuvale in Fiji to work together to keep our citizens safe while connecting with the online world.
“Working together to enable a safe and inclusive online environment will ensure that everyone can benefit from the opportunities digital connectivity provides.”

The aim of this cooperation is to utilise the wealth of experience of the Office of the eSafety Commissioner in online safety and best practices in collaboration with the Online Safety Commission to deliver specific initiatives with local content to help build and nurture online safety strategies that would strengthen our responses to online abuse.

End

For more information, contact (679) 9980231 or email info@osc.com.fj

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Pacific Law Enforcement Training

web_admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 22:01:59 +0000

Earlier this month, the OSC joined Fiji Police in a Cyber Safety Pasifika training.

The one day seminar was officially opened by Fiji Police Force Director SSP Serupepeli Neiko and helped participants understand the safety tools available for agencies to better cater for their respective citizens.

Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform and Fijians are no stranger to using the application daily. The platform helps us connect with family and friends around the world, communicate with loved ones about our daily activities and even share our thoughts on hot topics such as politics, education and more. The recent pandemic highlighted how technology, especially social media apps have become an integral part of our everyday lives.

It is important to be aware of simple security checks and privacy check up that you as a social media user can use to make sure that you are safe online. Although there is no 100% safeguard to the ills of being online, setting up important safety checks can help.

Some routine tips to keep in mind include:

Changing your passwords to your accounts and not sharing them with anyone;
Log off your social media account when you finish using is; and
Being cautious of adding friends or following people you may not know offline.

Photo Credit: Fiji Police Force

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#Stopthespread of online bullying

web_admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 17:25:58 +0000

Online bullying has some of the most devastating effects on children and teens around the globe:

only 38% of children admit to their parents/guardians that they have been bullied online;
33% of teens say they have sent explicit photos to someone else;
more than 60% of children that have been harassed online have mental health issues; and
more than 60% of female victims feel powerless because of online bullying

On a global level we see how such online abuse effects children of all ages. Across the central division in Fiji many students have also indicate experiencing online bullying at least once this year.

Children may not want to tell you if they are being bullied but here are some signs to look out for:

Rapid increase or decrease in weight;
Severe mood swings;
Losing interesting in being around family and friends;
Not wanting to go online anymore;

These changes are often subtle but vigilance is key. And having open dialogue about online safety and responsibility with your child is important.

What can I do to help?

Remember to remain calm and have an open conversation with your child. Let them know that they are not alone. Set up screen time and allow them to only use the devices in a common area such as the living room.

Fijians value community and we can express this same value in our online communities. Social media apps like Facebook give us an opportunity to build virtually any community we like. And this starts at home, stop the spread of online bullying by talking to your children today.

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Be Safe Online During Covid-19

web_admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 13:49:37 +0000

Reporting Image Based Abuse

If someone shares or threatens to share an intimate image or video of you, Online Safety Commission can help remove the content or stop the threats. If you’re being blackmailed, don’t pay or give them more – stop all contact with the blackmailer.

What you can report to Online Safety Commission

The intimate image or video you are making the report about can show, or appear to show:

you nude or partly naked – such as a naked selfie
your genitals, bottom or breasts – even if you have underwear on (this includes upskirt shots)
you during a private activity – such as undressing, using the toilet, showering, having a bath or getting sexual
you without clothing of religious or cultural significance, if you would normally wear it in public (such as a hijab or turban).

The image or video can be:

real
altered or faked to look like you
shared in a way that makes people think it’s you, even when it’s not (such as a nude of someone else tagged with your name).

The image or video can be sent, posted or shared using:

an online platform or service (such as a social media feed, online game or other app)
a website, such as an image board or porn site

‘Sextortion’ is when someone blackmails you for money or more intimate content. If you’re being blackmailed, stop all contact and don’t pay the blackmailer or give them more money or intimate content. It’s not your fault and there’s help available.

Who can report image-based abuse?

You can make a report if:

you are the person in the intimate image or video
you are a parent or guardian of the person in the intimate image or video and they are a child under 18
you are a parent or guardian of the person in the intimate image or video and they need help due to a cognitive, mental or physical issue.

Also:

the person in the intimate image or video must ordinarily live in Fiji OR
the person who sent, posted or shared the intimate image or video, or made the threat to share it, must ordinarily live in Fiji.

How OSC can respond

Once you make an image-based abuse report, we will contact you (or the person you reported it for) as soon as possible.

We will check in and see how you are doing first, so we can make sure you have the emotional support you need.
We will usually contact the online platform or service used to send, post or share the intimate image or video or to threaten you. Then we will work with them to get the content removed or stop the threats. This may include removal of the account the other person used.

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Safer Internet Day 2021

web_admin — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 01:21:42 +0000

Safer Internet Day is celebrated around the world to spark intentional conversation around being safe online. This event started in the UK in 2004 and continues to grow as technology expands to our everyday lives. And next year we bring it closer to home with #fijiforsaferinternet.

2020 continues to remind us that the internet is here to stay. And Fiji is no different, individuals across the islands communicate with family and friends through online apps and the internet daily, we share photos, make and edit videos, and even search for some of the best entertainment on our mobile devices.

Safer Internet Day is a call to nations, businesses, NGOs, CSOs, and individuals to create a better and safer internet for all of us by being proactive and learning about the ways we can be responsible digital citizens today.

Join the conversation today and let us know how you are helping make the internet a safer place!

#fijiforsaferinternet #saferinternetdayfiji #fijisid21

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World Mental Health Day 2019

web_admin — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 08:15:33 +0000

It’s World Mental Health Day today! And it is also Fiji day which makes this is a great opportunity for you to check in on your family members.

October 10th is not just any regular day for Fiji and this year we celebrate our 49th year of independence.

We also take a moment to commemorate the importance of mental health. You can use the hashtag #LetsTalk to be a part of a global dialogue today. The theme of the day is “suicide prevention”. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that every 40 seconds, someone completes suicide. The organisation also said “…many children and young people engage in this kind of behavior as a result of violence, sexual abuse, bullying and cyberbullying.”

Last year a new study in the United Kingdom found that online bullying makes young people more than twice as likely to self harm or attempt suicide. According to Lifeline Fiji it is estimated that every 36 hours a Fijian attempts suicide.

These are stark realities show that online abuse has a far reach into our own personal worlds. Let us stand together this Fiji Day for the wellbeing of our mental health. One of the easiest ways to do that is to be safe and responsible when using online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Simple acts like limiting your social media time or eating well can all help to improve your mental health. During this Fiji Day celebration, join the conversation with your family and friends and #LetsTalk.

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FNU Online Safety Outreach

web_admin — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 04:48:16 +0000

Recently, the Fiji National University (FNU) and the Commission organized an awareness campaign around the country for online safety. Last month, the Commission took part in the campaign by speaking to students at different campuses about the Online Safety Commission.

The Commission visited FNU campuses in the central, western and eastern divisions. During the visitation students had the opportunity to discuss their concerns regarding online safety, learn more about the Commission and develop ideas around maintaining safe online behaviors among their peers.

The space provided students, staff and the OSC a change to engage in dialogue on different online trends they noticed on their campus. This included what some considered a rise in online bullying, the need for greater awareness on how to be safe online, developing context definitions of online abuse, positive use of online platforms.

The awareness program brought clarity to the role of the Commission and developed insight into how students from one of Fiji’s leading universities relate to online safety.

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