Google on Tuesday announced the launch of a $1 million pan-African Google.org safe internet fund to support innovative ideas around privacy, trust and the safety of children, young people, and families online across sub-Saharan Africa.
The grant is intended to support training by non-profit and social enterprises focusing on privacy, trust and safe internet in Africa as well as providing organisations with funds to support the online safety efforts for children.
Google is helping children practice smart safe internet tactics for analysing and evaluating information, sharing media with care, protecting and securing private data, and handling cyberbullying.
In August 2019, Google began collaborations with local NGOs and stakeholders to run face to face online safety training reaching 36,000 students, parents and teachers, helping children learn how to be safer online.
Google is aiming at expanding programs around internet literacy through its landmark program for kids; Be Internet Awesome which launches in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
Children are more than 30 percent of Internet users and the fastest-growing online demographic. By 2022, another 1.2 billion new users will be added to this figure.
This is why Google launched the online safety roadshow to expand its online safety program for high schoolers which has so far trained over 100,000 children and educators as well as launching an online safety program for parents.
The World Economic Forum report, states that more than 50 percent of the world’s children experience violence every year and mobile use is rising as well as internet access in Africa.