Digi to educate Malaysian public on safe internet at all of its retail outlets
SUBANG JAYA, 13 February 2019–In conjunction with the recent Safer Internet Day 2019, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) has committed to further protect its customers through promoting safe internet practices to all Malaysians. In line with this year’s theme, Together for Better Internet, Digi will feature an exclusive full series of Public Service Announcement (PSA) videos across 30 Digi Stores nationwide on 14 and 15 February, and followed by related materials on safe internet to be shared across its social media platforms.
Philip Ling, Digi’s Head of Sustainability said as much as the internet opens up more avenues for people to connect and socialise with old friends and new acquaintances, it is the responsibility of all to be able to discern between what are of use and those that posed potential risks. They must be able to avoid from putting themselves in a vulnerable position through their digital footprint, and to constantly be aware that not everyone will love and like what are shared and posted online.
“Digi is obsessed with our vision to create a safer internet experience for all and at the same time strengthen the digital resilience skills for all Malaysians against online dangers. We are hoping that having the awareness and the right knowledge will empower more parents to have an active role in their children’s online experience, including the ability to identify the multiple types of cyber risks. Hence, the decision to showcase all of our Yellow Heart educational PSA videos in our retail stores for these two days, on top of other activities to be carried out via our social media channels,” said Philip.
To date, through the various programmes organised under its Yellow Heart initiative with various partners, Digi has reached out to more than 650,000 children across the nation. It is Digi’s ambition to connect to at least 1 million children by end of year 2020.
The Internet and Malaysia Today
According to a survey by We Are Social1 , Malaysia is ranked fourth globally and made the top spot in Southeast Asia for mobile social media penetration, with 75% of the population being active social media users last year. The same study revealed that Malaysians spent an average of 8 hours on the internet daily, with at least 3 hours on social media.
So it is of no surprise that cyberbullying, one of the most common online risks has become more rampant where children who are oblivious to the online risks tend to overshare their personal details or posting certain information in public, making them vulnerable to cyber predators. Malaysia was recently ranked sixth globally in a survey measuring the feedback of parents from 28 countries on their children who have experienced some form of cyberbullying2.
This also correlates with the results of Digi’s latest online safety survey, Digi Yellow Heart Cyberbullying and Youth Disposition Survey3 to understand how youth stay safe online and to gain a more in depth look at cyberbullying. The 10-month long survey revealed that 20% of youth in Malaysia attested to being bullied online for more than a year, and at least 42% knew of someone who had undergone the same experience. However, on a positive note, the survey also showed an overall increase in awareness among youths towards digital resilience and they demonstrated the ability to stop or mitigate the issue.
1https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2018-malaysia
2https://www.comparitech.com/internet-providers/cyberbullying-statistics/
3http://www.digi.com.my/sustainability/digital-resilience.html#cyberbullying-survey
“There is still much that needs to be done to ensure that the youths in our country today are equipped with the sufficient skills and knowledge to be resilient in the face of the fourth industrial revolution where technology will be disruptive and when the internet and smartphone becomes all-pervasive in our lives. On that note, we would like to call all parties to come together and do our part in creating a better, safer internet for the generation to come” added Philip.
Driving Change through Action
Digital Resilience is a key pillar in Digi’s Yellow Heart initiative. Since 2011, Digi has actively engaged schoolchildren and youths through various programmes and campaigns aimed at nurturing responsible digital citizenship and safe internet use by instilling awareness of the internet risks facing children, and educating them on how to navigate the internet ecosystem sensibly.
In 2018, Digi collaborated with UNICEF to raise awareness about bullying in school and online with the #ENDViolence Youth Talk that saw the likes of YB Nurul Izzah Anwar, MP for Permatang Pauh and UNICEF National and International Ambassadors Lisa Surihani and Siwon Choi discuss ways to make the internet a safer place.
Digi also partnered with Google Malaysia to launch a fun, educational 5-part video series, the Yellow Heart Cyber Series as part of its annual CyberSAFE in Schools Competition. Each one-minute video covered pressing issues such as cyberbullying, online scams, online security and cybergrooming. Students were then given the chance to make their schools proud by participating in quizzes based on the videos – which was a learning opportunity for them as they had to find out ways to overcome such challenges and also be a source of support for friends who were being bullied.
A series of awareness campaigns and cybersafety workshops were also carried out in Klang Valley and Penang in collaboration with Miss Universe Malaysia 2018 Jane Teoh to fight cyberbullying. The 21-year-old beauty queen, who is also an advocate for her cyberbullying awareness campaign YellowHeart #DareToShout shared her experiences with the youth and created a space for discussions on the topic so they could then effect change wherever they were.
Watch Digi’s Safer Internet Day video message HERE.
For other Safe Internet PSA videos, please click HERE.
For more information on Digi’s efforts to build digital resilience, visit http://www.digi.com.my/sustainability/yellow-heart.html
About Digi
Digi is a mobile connectivity and internet services provider enabling 11.8 million Malaysians on our advanced 4G+ network. We have an ambition to provide relevant, personalised, and engaging digital products and services that will fully enable our customer’s digital lifestyles. Listed on Bursa Malaysia, Digi is part of global telecommunications provider Telenor Group, and is a leader in driving responsible business practices. For more information, visit www.digi.com.my.
For more information, please contact:
Nur Azlyn Abdul Rahman |Mobile: +6016 336 3327 | nurabdur@digi.com.my
Fariza Zaharullaili | Mobile: +6012 390 2423 | digi@voxeureka.com