Facebook is partnering with Save the Children to deliver an online safety campaign in the Pacific Islands.
The ‘I Am Digital’ Facebook campaign is running in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga until March in an effort to empower teens and young people to have a safe and positive experience online.
Kiwi-Pacific personalities including Samoan producer Jawsh 685 and comic artist and pro-wrestler Michel Mulipola are backing the campaign.
“It’s essentially just about us giving advice to Pasifika youth about how they can navigate those digital spaces, what to do if they’re feeling unsafe or feeling uncomfortable in those spaces and how they can navigate that, and also if there is something quite major or very upsetting, how they can report to either the social media platforms or to trusted adults and people in their lives,” says Mulipola.
Fiji’s Online Safety Commissioner, Anne Dunn, said they receive reports nearly every day from Fijians who feel they have suffered harm online.
“The existing tools at our disposal make it difficult to ensure that social media users from different backgrounds and who use different languages are protected,” said Dunn.
“We know that at earlier stages of development, cyber bullying and online abuse have dire consequences in the real world. We need a culture shift towards a safer, more inclusive, and more empowering online environment, and this partnership with Save the Children is an important step.”
Mulipola considers himself lucky to have grown up in the analogue world, being introduced to the digital world at a later stage in life.
“Our youth are now entirely digital, and one of the things I hope they understand is that the digital world isn’t the real world, and it’s OK to step away from that.”
Watch John Pulu’s full interview with Michel Mulipola above.
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