Better Internet for Kids

ChildSafeNet is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to making digital technology safer for children and young people. We work to raise awareness on cyber safety and to promote digital literacy, to protect children and young people from internet addiction, online sexual abuse and exploitation, cyberbullying, phishing, gaming addiction and other online threats. 

ChildSafeNet is the country coordinator for Safer Internet Day in Nepal. We are also the national curator of the global cyber safety awareness campaign STOP.THINK.CONNECT in Nepal. ChildSafeNet is a global network member of ECPAT International, a CSO member of the WeProtect Global Alliance and a member of End Violence Against Children and NetSafe. ChildSafeNet is a member of the Global Research Advisory Group of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). 

ChildSafeNet is a portal partner of the Internet Watch Foundation reporting portal to eliminate online child sexual abuse images and videos. ChildSafeNet also collaborates with the International Justice Mission and Justice Ventures International.

Vision: A safer internet for children and young people.

Philosophy: Together, we can, and will, make the internet safer for children and young people.

Approach: Partnership, cooperation and sharing of technical and financial resources for the protection of children and young people, making their use of technology safer. We work with children, youth, families, the government, police, the media, private sector duty-bearers and other partners.

Strategy: Advocacy, awareness, capacity building and partnership

• Advocate with duty-bearers on making children's use of technology safer.
• Raise social awareness of parents, teachers, children's caregivers, children, youth, social workers, police, lawyers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and media companies.
• Train groups of child and youth digital leaders to raise awareness on cyber safety and provide support to children and young people.
• Partner with schools, child/youth clubs, parent associations, teachers, ISPs, media, I/NGOs, UN agencies and other like-minded individuals and organisations.

Programme areas

• Research: ChildSafeNet conducts research studies to understand the behaviour of children and young people, their vulnerability, awareness levels as well as the magnitude of the problem affecting them from harmful uses of digital technology.
  
  In collaboration with the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), ChildSafeNet conducted a nationwide research study on online intimate partner violence (IPV) against teens and young people in Nepal. The project also included the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to detect online IPV.
  
  ChildSafeNet conducted a study on Enhancing Parental Roles in Protecting Children from Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, in collaboration with Safe Online. 
  
  In partnership with UNICEF, ChildSafeNet conducted a study on generative AI and its impacts on children.
  
  The organisation conducted a research study on children and young people's online behaviours, what risks they face, and their level of cyber safety awareness in 2019. 
  
  We conducted a thematic research study on live streaming of sexual abuse and exploitation of children and young people in late 2019 and 2020.
  
  ChildSafeNet, in collaboration with UNICEF Nepal, conducted an online survey in April 2020 on the protection of children and young people online in the context of the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  
  In collaboration with UNICEF, ChildSafeNet developed a situation paper on child online protection, five technical toolkits for police, lawyers, psychosocial service providers and parents, and a cyber safety booklet intended for the general public. 
   
• Capacity building (training): ChildSafeNet regularly conducts cyber safety training for children, young people, parents and teachers in schools, colleges and community centres. ChildSafeNet has developed three interactive and engaging training modules, tailored to suit diverse types of beneficiaries - children, young people and parents/teachers. ChildSafeNet uses innovative methods to make the training sessions interesting and easy to comprehend, which includes quizzes, videos and discussions.
  
  To expand the training programme, ChildSafeNet conducts extensive training of trainers (ToTs) for developing highly qualified trainers on cyber safety for children and young people.
  
  In 2025, ChildSafeNet organised 20 full-day training workshops for police, lawyers, and psychologists, field workers, teachers, parents and caregivers using comprehensive toolkits developed with UNICEF.
  
  ChildSafeNet, in partnership with TikTok is conducting extensive training sessions on digital safety training for children, parents and young people in 14 schools, spanning seven districts in three provinces of Nepal.
  
  ChildSafeNet also conducts "Parenting in the Digital Age" training workshops to equip parents with the knowledge and skills required to make the internet safer for their children.
   

• Awareness raising: ChildSafeNet uses innovative and creative approaches for the protection of children and young people in the digital age. In order to reach focused beneficiary groups, ChildSafeNet produces and disseminates awareness and advocacy videos, motion graphics, radio programmes, animations and publications.
  
  Since the majority of people in Nepal use the internet on mobile devices, ChildSafeNet extensively uses digital and social media to reach children, young people and their parents. ChildSafeNet raises awareness on cyber safety through its website, social media pages and YouTube channel. The organisation continued to raise awareness to protect children and young people from online harm through the dissemination of infographics, blogs, and videos.
  
  ChildSafeNet contributed to the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence as well as the campaigns against hate speech, trafficking in children, and mis/disinformation.

  ChildSafeNet facilitated the filming and dissemination of the MyVoice#MyFuture film on young people's experiences with the use of digital technology, produced by the WeProtect Global Alliance. The video was premiered at the WeProtect Global Summit in Abu Dhabi to amplify youth perspectives on digital safety.
  
  ChildSafeNet also works with children and young people in schools, colleges and communities. We are developing child and youth-focused programmes in consultation and collaboration with these groups. Likewise, ChildSafeNet collaborates with parents, teachers and other duty-bearers to make technology safer.

• Advocacy: In Nepal, the importance of cyber safety for children and young people has not been well understood by the policymakers, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders. Therefore, ChildSafeNet works to make them aware of the gravity of the issue regarding harmful uses of digital technologies, such as online sexual abuse/exploitation, cyberbullying, phishing, sextortion, internet addiction and child sexual abuse/exploitation materials (often incorrectly referred to as “child pornography”).
  
  ChildSafeNet advocates with the government, police, media, civil society organisations and the private sector, to push for cyber safety for them to take more seriously, and to remind these stakeholder groups of their responsibility to make the internet safer for children and young people. ChildSafeNet urges duty-bearers to allocate adequate financial and human resources towards developing and implementing effective mechanisms to protect children and young people online. ChildSafeNet uses its knowledge base, evidence from cases, and research findings to explain the trends and magnitude of the issue related to internet safety in Nepal.
  
  ChildSafeNet works with the global bodies and networks and participates in international events, such as TrustCon, the SVRI Forum and the Meta AI Literacy and Safety Summit.