Interagency Meeting on Online Safety for Children

On April 8, Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia Mkhitar Hayrapetyan held a meeting with representatives of various departments. The concept of a program aimed at improving online safety and promoting a “phone-free” school environment for children under 16 years of age in Armenia was discussed.

The Minister spoke about the accessibility of the Internet and the development of digital technologies in Armenia, emphasizing the opportunities they create. At the same time, he noted that the untargeted, excessively frequent, and uncritical use of social media, digital platforms, and mobile devices can have a negative impact on children and adolescents, presenting serious challenges and risks.

According to Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, online child protection cannot be considered the sole responsibility of a single department. Only joint and coordinated efforts can ensure meaningful results.

To support sound decision-making in this area, the Minister proposed drawing on the experience of leading countries, as well as research and recommendations from international organizations.

The following topics were at the core of the meeting: mental health issues among adolescents, distraction, addiction to digital communication and social media, the spread of inappropriate content online, and cases of exploitation and cyberbullying.

Reports, opinions, and recommendations were presented by the representatives of the participating departments.

A number of agreements were reached on the next steps to be taken to address these challenges and resolve current problems. It was also decided to establish a working group.

The meeting was attended by First Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry Gevorg Mantashyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Araksia Svajyan, Deputy Minister of Health Armen Gasparyan, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs David Khachatryan, Country Director of the Izmirlian Foundation Armen Chobanyan, and others.

Interagency meeting on online safety for children

On April 8, Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia Mkhitar Hayrapetyan held a meeting with representatives of various departments. The concept of the program was discussed which aims at improving online safety and a “phone-free” school environment for children under 16 years of age in Armenia.

The Minister touched upon the accessibility of the Internet and the development of digital technologies in Armenia, emphasizing the opportunities they create. At the same time, he noted that especially the untargeted, excessively frequent and illiterate use of social media, digital platforms and mobile devices can negatively affect children and adolescents, causing serious challenges and risks.

According to Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, online child protection cannot be considered as a sole responsibility of one department. Only the joint and coordinated efforts can ensure positive results.

In order to make sound decisions in this regard, the Minister proposed to also apply the experience of leading countries along with the research and recommendations from international organizations.

The following topics were at the core of the meeting: mental health issues among adolescents, distraction, addiction to digital communication and social media, the spread of inappropriate content online, cases of exploitation and cyberbullying.

Reports, opinions and recommendations were presented by the representatives of participating departments.

A number of agreements were reached further steps to be taken to prevent those challenges and solve the current problems. It was also decided to establish a working group.

The meeting was attended by First Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry Gevorg Mantashyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Araksia Svajyan, Deputy Minister of Health Armen Gasparyan, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs David Khachatryan, Country Director of the Izmirlian Foundation Armen Chobanyan and others.