The Nauru Police Force (NPF) will educate all students on the dangers of the internet as the first step to a community-wide cyber safety campaign which has been initiated by the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police and developed by the Australian Federal Police.

The campaign, called Cyber Safety Pasifika, has been developed to highlight the risks of online bullying, predatory behaviour and crime, and will be valued in Nauru given the high usage of the internet in the country.

“The internet has been a massive benefit to small nations like Nauru due to our isolation, but with this comes risks that are of great concern, particularly as our people are traditionally very trusting of others,” NPF Commissioner Corey Caleb explained.

“Nauru introduced cyber security laws in 2015 for the first time, but we are still concerned about issues like grooming of children, exploitation of women and children, and fraud.”

The NPF will start this education process by visiting every school, so that students understand the core principles of staying safe, including only talking to people on the internet that are known and trusted, not sharing personal information online, not sending personal or intimate photos, and maintaining secure privacy settings on accounts.

Nauruan President, His Excellency Baron Waqa, has strongly endorsed the police initiative, warning people to be vigilant online.

“The Government has worked hard to protect people from cybercrime and exploitation, and Parliament moved quickly to put a temporary hold on Facebook until the cyber security laws were passed.

“But there is only so much government can do; we now need our people to protect themselves,” he said.

Cyber Safety Pasifika is about “looking out for ourselves, our family and friends, so that we all stay safe online”.

The NPF has established a specialist cyber safety unit to oversee the program, and following the rollout to school students, aims to educate the entire population.

Information can be found HERE