Kenya Banks on an Online Game to Create Awareness on Cyberthreats - allAfrica.com
Nairobi — In a bid to promote safer cyberspace in Kenya, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Tuesday launched a "Cyber Soldjas" online game that seeks to educate children on the dangers and realities of being on the internet.
The game which was launched during the official opening of the national Safe Internet Day 2022 celebrations was developed by Usiku Games and is aimed at teaching children how to protect their identity, personal data, recognize sites containing harmful content, and develop a critical approach towards information found on the Internet.
It targets children aged between 4 to 14 years old and has five levels based on vulnerabilities and risks on the Internet, including cybercrime, cyberbullying identity theft, fake news, and catfishing.
Speaking during the launch of the program, the authority's Director, Legal Services Mercy Wanjau said the game development was informed by increased cyber threats in the Kenyan online space and is aimed at encouraging people's role in creating a safer online space.
"Impacts range from threats to protection of personal data and privacy to harassment and cyberbullying, harmful online content, grooming for sexual purposes, and sexual abuse and exploitation," Mr. Chiloba added in a speech read on his behalf by Ms Wanjau.
Usiku Games Chief Executive Jay Shapiro, who was also in attendance assured that the game was designed and built by Kenyans in partnership with educators who ensured the content is age-appropriate and educational.
Maureen Mwaniki, Director, Women in Technology at Huawei-Kenya urged all private sector stakeholders to collaborate in order to forge the availability of a safer Internet.
"To provide digital skills at a large scale requires efforts from all stakeholders in society and we are committed to working with partners from CA, government, industry, non-profits, and academia to do this," noted Mwaniki.
According to data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), 20.6 million Kenyans aged three and above own a mobile phone.
Most of these gadgets are in the hands of youth aged between 25-34 who hold 6.1 million handsets. They are followed by those aged between 18-24 with 4.6 million mobile phones, while another 44,777 mobile phones are in the hands of children aged between three and four.
Read the original article on Capital FM.
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