Mijbil Alayoub

KUWAIT: Ooredoo Telecom, the first to introduce innovative digital services in Kuwait, in association with the Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) has launched a new campaign entitled 'Safer Internet for Kids', the first of its kind. The campaign tackles YouTube Kids application, comes under the umbrella of Ooredoo Kuwait's social responsibility program, and aims to raise public awareness, encourage parents to take positive role in offering their children with a safer online experience through YouTube Kids' parental control options.

YouTube Kids is a filtered version of YouTube, designed only for children to explore their talents and interests in a contained, age-appropriate experience. Yet, not all content is manually reviewed by YouTube, thus, there might be inappropriate content that may impact the child's behavior. Children by nature are recipients of information, they accept everything they hear and translate them into actions.

We are all responsible for our children, and through YouTube Kids, parents have the authority to approve or decline what their kids can watch. Childhood is a precious time in which children should live free from fear, safe from violence and protected from mishandling and exploitation.

YouTube Kids has a full suite of parental controls in the app so parents can customize their children's online experience. Parents can create individual profiles for each of their children, decide what content to make available for them, set a timer to limit screen time, see recent videos their kids have been watching, and so much more. Hence, YouTube Kids is specially designed for children under the age of thirteen.

In this context, Mijbil Alayoub, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, Ooredoo Kuwait, said: "Through this campaign, we aim to nurture public awareness and shed light on the importance of raising children in a safe environment including a safe online experience free from any disturbing scenes. Children, as users of technology, may be at risk through their contact with others or being exposed to inappropriate content."

"We are fully aware of how hard parenting children in the age of social media and screens could be, and what kind of real dangers children can face and deal with if applications were not monitored by parents. Child's online experience must be safe, fun and educating.

Ooredoo is committed to supporting the community, raising public awareness and educating both; parents and youth on the risks and responsibilities they may encounter when using YouTube Kids and the internet," Alayoub added. The multimedia campaign aims to reaching out to millions of parents, through TV, and social media posts under the slogan #Safer_Internet_for_Kids, as well as printed press, and outdoor advertising.