The Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked the public to ensure that children are safe while holding online classes.
“Report any irregularities or unwanted incidents during online classes to the appropriate enforcement agencies,” read the advisory issued by the DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime (DOJ-OOC) on Tuesday.
The DOJ-OOC urged the public to report to it or any other law enforcement agency like the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) if “a participant encounters or obtains actual knowledge of any facts or circumstances of incidents of harassment and/or abuse, or commit harm against another.”
It said the advisory was issued “to prevent similar incidents from happening and to ultimately protect children from online abuse and harmful contents during online classes.”
“While video conferencing services open doors to new opportunities that make access to education easy, application of information and communication technology in the conduct of online classes can cause many security risks, such as loss of confidentiality, availability, and integrity of computer data, as well as the exposure of students to abusive strangers and harmful online contents,” it said.
In the advisory, the DOJ-OOC told schools not to leave students alone in virtual classrooms.
“Make sure that a school administrator is always present to supervise the activities in a virtual classroom,” the DOJ-OOC said.
The department also advised schools to “never share meeting room credentials, both the ID and Password, to the public.”
“Make it a habit to provide the information only to registered students and their parents. Another good practice would be sending Meeting ID and Password in a separate communication,” the DOJ-OOC advised.
The DOJ-OOC reminded schools to always update the application used in online classes to its latest version.
“Every service/application connected to the internet is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. It is crucial that users regularly update their apps once they are available. These software updates usually include patches to the app’s reported vulnerabilities,” it added.
The DOJ-OOC also encouraged the promotion and implementation of "proper netiquettes to be observed by children under their supervision.”
“Parents and guardians should conscientiously guide their children and wards, respectively, in their online activities, especially online classes. This includes their capacity to teach them how to discern information online and to provide guidance on how to implement safety measures to prevent becoming a victim of cybercrimes,” the DOJ-OOC stated.
“It is, thus, incumbent upon the parents and guardians to instill in their children and wards, respectively, the exercise of due diligence in their online dealings and activities,” it added.