Mobitel initiative to combat 'child abuse content'

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel in collaboration with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and GSM Association embarked on a venture to combat the prevention of 'child abuse content'.

The alliance's role is to obstruct the use of the mobile environment by individuals or organisations wishing to consume or profit from child sexual abuse content.

Through a combination of technical measures, co-operation and information sharing, the alliance seeks to create significant barriers to prevent the misuse of mobile networks and services for hosting, accessing, or profiting from child sexual abuse content.

With the proliferation of internet usage, the content displayed on the net has become a growing concern for many.

The IWF facilitates a list of international child sexual abuse web pages.

The alliance will assist Mobitel to block access to content deemed as abusive.

The IWF works internationally with INHOPE Hotlines and other relevant organisations to encourage united global responses to the problem and wider adoption of good practice in combating child sexual abuse images on the internet.

Assuming its role as the National Mobile Telecommunication Services Provider, Mobitel strongly believes in its responsibility to provide child safe internet to the young generation.

Therefore, despite the investments made, Mobitel took an admirable initiative by introducing a free-of-charge web content filtering service. The objective of this service is to reduce threat posed to children as a result of unrestricted access to the unfavourable.

"We welcome Mobitel to the Mobile alliance and are delighted that they are joining our initiative which aims to stem, and ultimately reverse, the growth of online child sexual abuse content, maintaining a safer mobile environment for all of our customers. With the ubiquity of technology, an increase in illegal content displayed on the net has become a growing concern and this initiative assists service providers in eradicating any inappropriate content related to child abuse," said Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer, GSMA Tom Philips.

Mobitel previously partnered the GSMA in a bid to empower Sri Lankan women. The 'mWomen' Program, which was launched in Washington by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last month, was an indicator of Mobitel's commitment to uplift Sri Lankan women through offering special programs and services.

Mobitel strives to infuse their lives with Mobile ICT in pursuit ushering the nation towards an infocom and knowledge rich society.

CEO Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel Suren J. Amarasekera said, "As a national corporate we are privileged to become a member of the IWF, in a battle to combat content abusive for children.

In our effort to nurture Sri Lanka towards becoming an info-com and knowledge rich society, we hope to propel society in the right direction through our endeavour in facilitating a safe environment for browsing."

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, the National Mobile Service Provider and the Official Sponsor of the National Cricket Team, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom.

In January 2004, the company launched its fully-fledged 2.5G GSM network that is EDGE/GPRS enabled and designed to operate on dual band. In December 2007, the company launched its 3.5G HSPA network - the first Super 3.5G network in South Asia. Further, Mobitel successfully demonstrated HSPA + MIMO technology with down link speed up to 28.8 mbps for the first time in the South Asian region. Investments committed to date in the 3.5G/2.5G networks and service offering amounts to over US$400 mn.