A recent global survey The Child Online Safety Index (COSI) ranked Thailand last out of 30 countries selected for the research project. The study, conducted over 3 years collected data from 145,426 children and collated scores based on a wide range of online activity and metrics. The country fell particularly short in the Cyber Risks and Digital Competency categories, scoring the lowest points on the list for Cyberbullying, Critical Thinking and Privacy Management.

Cyber Risks, for example, received a score of 3 out of a possible 100. This category included Cyber Threats, a measure that “exposes risks such as phishing or hacking based on a percentage of children and adolescents who experienced cyber threats”.

Childline Thailand director Ilya Smirnoff said “The 2020 COSI report is very concerning, right now children in Thailand are experiencing an online pandemic and are at a high risk from cyber threats. Childline Thailand are working on projects to educate youths about online safety but the scale of the problem is vast”

The research was conducted by international think-tank The DQ Institute and the data it publishes is a real-time measure for each country’s child online safety. COSI will be automatically updated as the countries progress with their child online safety and digital citizenship initiatives and the results help to identify priorities for improvement. According to Dr Yuhyun Park, Founder of the DQ Institute “The Child Online Safety Index should serve as a wakeup call to everyone about the safety of the world’s children online.” 

All of us have a responsibility use technology responsibly and protect our children. The COSI report should be a catalyst for change.