Internet must serve for sake of society
By Rashid Shirinov
The Internet is a global source of knowledge and it must serve for the sake of society, Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan Elmir Valizade told reporters on February 6.
He said that every Internet user should have the necessary knowledge to protect himself in the virtual environment from violation of ethical norms and any other ill-natured aspects of the global network.
“That is especially important for the rising generation. A Safer Internet Day is celebrated in Azerbaijan today. The use of the safe internet plays a vital role in the development of society and country,” Valizade noted. “From such perspective, every member of society must possess proper knowledge to be safe online.”
The deputy minister added that the number of Internet and especially social network users is steadily increasing, and each of them should take into account that along with its advantages, the global network, unfortunately, has certain negative aspects.
“Together with the development of internet services and expansion of network access, equal attention is paid to security issues and Azerbaijan takes complex measures in this direction,” Valizade mentioned.
He said that these efforts are aimed both at ensuring network security and availability of broadband internet for everyone.
“Complex measures are being taken in this direction and we believe that as a result, the use of internet in Azerbaijan becomes more and more safe,” the deputy minister noted.
He also said that the Ministry’s studies on citizens’ appeals concerning problems related to low speeds of Internet access show that these problems are often of local nature and can be solved within the home network.
“The reason may be related to the home network, incorrect modem configuration, virus infection in computer and other aspects of technical nature,” Valizade mentioned.
The official also said that the incoming international IP traffic fully covers domestic needs and the country uses the most advanced technologies for accessing the global network.
Addressing the conference at the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industrial University dedicated to Safer Internet Day, Valizade noted that the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies has launched an initiative to include aspects of Internet safety of children and adolescents in the school subject “Knowledge of the World.”
The deputy minister said that protecting children from the negative impact of the Internet is an important problem, and the measures taken in the field of education in this area are of particular importance.
“To protect children from harmful information, the relevant article has been included in the Law on the Rights of the Child. Appropriate changes were also made to the Law on Telecommunications,” the official mentioned.
These amendments oblige telecommunications operators of Azerbaijan to provide users with protection and secure access to the Internet on the basis of their request.
From this perspective, Valizade noted, Secure Internet services have been launched by the Ministry’s structures Aztelekom and Baktelecom, through which each user can independently restrict access to certain websites.
The Secure Internet service gives users the opportunity of filtering unwanted Internet content. This allows to protect the younger generation from the influence of inappropriate websites by restricting access to them. These are web pages with adult content, gambling, profanity, information that promote violence, and other unwanted content.
The user can at any time activate and deactivate the filtering of Internet content. It is also possible to create “white” and “black” lists and include relevant content in them.
---
Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz