As the pioneer web safety advocate in the Philippines, we are happy that GMA 7 embraced our advocacy and has taken the cyber wellness campaign we started last year to mainstream media with their “think before you click” campaign.
When online threats linger and the danger silently creeps to our home, Web Safety PH recognized the need and launched last year watcha webtrap! A cyber wellness roadshow originally intended for parents. Since then, the training module evolved and new programs were rolled out that included youth, professionals, nannies and corporations. As we end the 1st season, we have been to different schools and organizations and conducted a total of 20 seminars, educating our citizens of the online threats, precautionary measure and responsible use, with Yahoo! Philippines partnering with us on the early part of this year with their Yahoo Safely service.
As the 2nd season starts, a wave of high profile crime emanating from the use of Facebook has hit the local headlines. We lamented the lack of a comprehensive cyber wellness program and cyber crime laws and called on our gov’t., media and private corporations to do their share. Thankfully, GMA 7 found value in what we started, using the tools at it’s disposal to educate the citizenry. Last March, Philippine Daily Inquirer also did a similar campaign when they hosted a forum and used it’s broadsheet to educate it’s users.
I hope other groups will not wait for another high profile crime before taking action. We at Web Safety Philippines, is looking forward for other media groups to do their share; the local government to pass an ordinance incorporating our suggestions; and the private sector to consider cyber wellness in their CSR program.
The more people and groups that will embrace and share with our advocacy, the better for our society. Let’s support GMA 7.
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