For the protection of minors, from 1st of July Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must provide access to filtering software free of charge. As it was announced by the Minister of State for Public Diplomacy and Relations of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice in Budapest today; the Ministry has already launched a campaign in order to draw the attention of parents to the importance of filtering software.
Monika Balatoni pointed out at the press conference that the Parliament adopted the legislative amendment last year which makes minor-accessed web-content filterable . Point of the law is that minors using computers at home or anywhere else may not have access to content which is harmful and illegal for them. The Minister of State said that the easy-to-use content filtering software will be available for download on the website of ISPs. ISPs are required to give information on the availability and the use of software via their website and must send quarterly reports to users on the innovation and development of the software.
Monika Balatoni stated that from 1st of September, the use of filtering software will be mandatory for public libraries and schools. She said that the Government does not want to forbid young people’s Internet usage or advice against it, but as the latest survey of Google showed, Hungarians are the most addicted to Internet in the Central European region, so it is important to ensure whether children are safe in the “infinite world of the Internet”.
As she reminded, the law obliged the Hungarian National Media and Infocommunications Authority to set up an online roundtable mostly to help in the determining of conditions and consideration schemes of filtering software and also give out recommendations. According these, “fine-tuning” will be possible, so that the software’s filtering will be based on keywords and that the parent or the age of the child could determine for example, how much time he or she may spend on social networking sites or when violating the filter settings, the software will notify the parents via email.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Justice launches a promotional campaign called “Quiet but safe?” to draw the attention of parents and teachers on the possibility of download of free software.
Monika Balatoni also announced at the press conference that as part of its Child-friendly Justice Programme, the Ministry has developed a mobile application featuring KIMI, the mascot of the programme to guide children through tracks of varying difficulty and the condition for advancement of young people in the game is to answer the questions regarding conscious Internet usage well.
(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)
