About 58% Zim children consume pornography, betting content on the internet
By Staff Writer
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) says at least 58% of children at national level are at risk of accessing explicit and harmful content on the internet.
In Zimbabwe, the highest visited online sites include pornography and betting sites, with children being the most viewers and consumers of the adult content.
According to Potraz, the overall adoption rate of social media in the country is 93%.
This was revealed in the Child Online Safety Survey (2024) released by Potraz this week indicating that at least 44% of children admitted to have accessed adult content intentionally or inadvertently.
The regulator said this had impacted parenting or guidance to child behaviour due to heavy consumption of improper and harmful content.
“Advocate for tighter legislation regarding the hosting of age-inappropriate content online, particularly sexual content. Potraz through the cyber incident response team, in collaboration with national and international stakeholders should continuously monitor and restrict the distribution of such content to minors.
“Despite the undeniable benefits of internet access, the survey also identified harms that children were exposed to. The survey revealed that the main threat to Zimbabwean children online was exposure to sexual content, either intentionally or inadvertently.
A considerable 44% admitted that they had seen sexual content online at least once, whether messages, images, or videos. Exposure to content instigating hate and violence was prevalent,” the report said.
It added: “Exposure to content instigating hate against certain people or groups (such as tribes, races, religion among others), violence, fake news, consumption of drugs and other elicit substances, information about committing suicide was also prevalent.”
