Children in Kosovo have access to all websites

Among social networks, children prefer to use the most networks: Facebook, Instagram and Tictek, according to digital companies. Using Internet and technology today is one of the world-wide trends.

But, according to experts in this area, internet use in children is not safe, since in Kosovo, the internet service provider does not prohibit access to any site or network, unlike other European countries and beyond.

Children, according to digital companies, from social networks most prefer to use Facebook, Instagram and Tictek networks. So says Radio Free Europe, Benjamin Kolenovic, the digital marketing manager, at the company “Health”, the social media agency.

According to him, the social Facebook network estimates that there are about 52,000 children's users, the Instagram has about 56 thousand children, while it says Tiktek is one of the most used platforms, but that there are still no accurate figures.

The use of the Internet has its goods and its bads. The good news is that you've got a chance to get real-time education, the news comes in fast, and information spreads very quickly. At the same time, negatives do come to times when people are not, as an example, unaware of how to protect personal data. Then for kids, the negative side is when parents give their kids 1.5 to 6, they use them to watch networks like YouTube. It should be remembered that the content in front of children is always related to the YouTube algorithm, which is created by the content that a parent looks at”, says Kolenovic.

He says that, even in cases when parents allow their children to use smartphones for Internet research or video viewing on YouTube, they should make equipment available only to children so that their age of vision is limited and that they will not be shown inappropriate videos about their age.

If, for example, the parent sees a video that's a thriller, then the child takes his phone and looks at their YouTube videos, the child shows up videos that Dad watched in advance. Therefore, children's equipment should be only children's, as the algorithm is educated in the way it was created for children”, Kolenovic said.

Teuta Zymer, executive director of the Centre for Advanced FIT Studies, says children in internet use are currently not safe. According to her, for a safe use of the Internet on the part of children, it should be through strategies to be influenced by governance and legislation so that the wellbeing of children in the virtual world can be as secure as possible.

We can actually say that children are not safe using the Internet. We should have a partnership for the good of use, such as children, parents, teachers, stewards, industry, decisionmakers. Each has its own role, with parents and stewards having a key role”, she says.

The teacher can help develop critical thinking so that children can then sail into the digital world and set a positive example on the Internet for their students. Even policymakers, through strategies, influence governance and legislation so that the welfare of children in the virtual world is as high. We can all make a better internet”, Zymer points out.

The belt, a 12-year-old boy, says 3 to 4 hours a day uses the internet. He says that if parents allowed him to stay online longer, whether by playing online games with friends or even social networking. However, he says that he is often controlled by his parents and set the time for him to stay close to the screen.

I stay online until 3 hours a day. It happens even longer sometimes. For example, when I'm playing online Forte, I stay longer. But even in Instagram I've been spending a long time. I get criticism from my parents because they want me to spend less time near the screens, but if I could, I'd spend even longer than I spend”, he said.

How much children may be endangered by their long online stay through information equipment, Teuta Zymer, says there is no newer research and that mainly it is those that were developed earlier.

We haven't done research in this field in two years, but from the research we've done before and during our daily work, it turns out children are not safe in the use of the Internet. Children face numerous risks, whether of privacy, such as distribution of videos and personal photos, meeting with strangers”, Zymer said.

By contrast, according to the Kosovo Statistics Agency on the basis of a poll made about using Information Technology and Communication (TIK) for 2018, it turns out 93.2% of the family economies in Kosovo have had internet access from homes, from any device.