In the space of a few minutes, I can access the library of an American university to get hold of a book for my research, get an aerial view of what’s happening on any street in Europe, catch up with the latest headlines, and chat with my friends.

With the click of one button, I can also fall prey to a slick scam by perpetrators in a far-flung country pretending to be my local bank, or risk losing my savings after I followed my favourite personality’s trusted advice encouraging me to invest in this lucrative scheme.

The online world offers huge opportunities for learning and creativity, but it also comes with serious risks. How do we sift through all the information that pops up on our social media platforms? 

Are we empowering youngsters with the knowledge to decipher whether what they are reading is the truth or a fairytale?

As the world today marks Safer Internet Day, my appeal to educators, parents and stakeholders is to focus their efforts on media literacy to equip our youngsters with the skills they need to navigate this space responsibly, critically and safely.

Across the world, social media is the go-to source for news and information, and Malta is no different, with the majority of Maltese accessing their news by following links from their Facebook feeds.

The rise of snappy, visually-driven content on TikTok and Instagram stories, coupled with algorithms that tailor our feeds, are also making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction, especially for children who are constantly interacting with digital content.

The rise of snappy, visually-driven content is making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction

A MISCO survey, commissioned by the Malta Foundation for the Well-being of Society in 2023, found that 11 per cent of students aged 11 to 13 spend more than six hours a day online, while 18 per cent of children aged seven to 10 years spend more than three hours connected.

This survey, which forms part of our Promote Online Protection Project − P.O.P-Up − was the first of its kind, and it showed that almost a third of all students aged seven to 15 years received rude or inappropriate messages over their devices, while 15 per cent of children experienced some form of online abuse.

The latest Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study – carried out among 280,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15, from 44 countries and regions in Europe, Central Asia and Canada – also singled out Malta and Romania for the high rate of teenage girls with “problematic” social media use.

The study showed that 28 per cent of 13-year-old girls were considered problematic social media users – associated with signs of addictive and compulsive behaviour –compared to an international average of 16 per cent; while boys had problematic gaming behaviour.

One study after another exposes the vulnerability of our youngsters and the urgent need to empower children to be safe and resilient in today’s digital world. 

The Malta Foundation for the Well-being of Society is taking the lead in this and, in collaboration with the UN ITU, will be distributing more than 100,000 flash cards to parents and guardians in the coming months. 

We would have also visited 10 state colleges and 29 Church schools by end of March; we will also start offering accredited training on child online protection to the public as part of our efforts to increase awareness and knowledge on the matter. 

But we cannot do it alone. The role of the industry, apart from policymakers, is also critical and must play a proactive role. Collaboration with technology providers, social media platforms and content creators is crucial in creating a safer digital environment for children.

We also need to have the resources at hand to educate youngsters to think more critically before posting a photo that can come back to haunt them; to be bold enough to critically question the source and purpose of what they read; and to think twice before sharing content that is either unbelievable or harmful.

Here, I have to stress against portraying the web as the enemy for our children. The digital world offers multiple opportunities for our children and isolating them from it is not and should never be the solution we opt for. 

What we should all work towards is collaboration – operating in silos only weakens the impact of our efforts – so that together we can build a safer digital world; one where every child is given the opportunity to thrive.

As technology continues to change the landscape and present new risks and challenges, we have to remain agile and ensure our efforts are not just about protecting the present, but also about securing the future.

President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca chairs the Malta Foundation for the Well-being of Society and is Eurochild president.