She is only 15 and she has had sexual intercourse with a bus conductor she had only met on the Internet before. Her parents considered her as a ?model daughter?. They were miles away from imagining that she was chatting with a perfect stranger on the Internet and had been invited for a meeting in a bungalow in Bain-Boeuf. This story points at the potential dangers of Internet use without proper control. Although some shy initiatives have been made in recent years, the sector still appears out of control by the authorities.

Ammar Oozeer, of the State Law Office, who is specialised in cyber law, is clearly in favour of the adoption of a legislation to control child access to the Internet. ?Such laws exist in countries like the United Kingdom or Canada and have helped make child abuse through the Internet a penal offence.?

Although the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act 2003 helps fight such issues to a certain extent, the need of more comprehensive legislation for Online Child Protection has been felt. According to Ammar Oozeer, this act ?covers the investigative aspects ? the police can take action according to this law ? but there is a need to create the penal offence?.

This is how an inter-ministerial committee chaired by the minister of Information technology was working on the advisability of introducing such a bill in 2005. However, it appears no follow-up has been done afterwards. The former government had also called upon an international expert, Nigel Williams, to come and lead a four-day Internet safety programme in 2001. Nigel Williams and his team from the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Childnet International submitted a report in 2003 with evaluation and recommendations to the government.

The report ?gives an overview of the current situation in Mauritius with regard to children online and Internet safety policy, highlighting the need for a comprehensive policy on child protection on the Internet in Mauritius? and ?40 or so recommendations for actions that can be taken to adopt a child protection policy on the Internet in Mauritius?.

This report was made at a time when the government was starting to encourage computer ownership/access and Internet use in Mauritius as part of the programme to turn Mauritius into a cyber island. ?With more and more children going online more often it is clearly the right moment to consider and adopt a comprehensive Internet safety policy. It is essential that the policies are in place in order that children can get the best out of this medium and ensure that they are safe while using it,? states the executive summary of the report. ?To date, however, little has been done in this area.?

Apart from the legal aspect aimed, according to the report, at taking action ?before any sexual activity takes place where it is clear that this is what the adult intends?, the report also points at the necessity for the industry to agree on common standards and for an extension of the existing Code of Practice to include more of a child focus.

Krishna Thirapathi, who is in the sector of Internet technologies and involved in the NGO Pedostop, has his own idea about that. ?Other countries have used quite a simple system that could easily be implemented in Mauritius, which is the parental control software to filter pornographic or dangerous sites. We could work on open-source software that would be free but we must also make sure all citizens know about its existence.?

He thinks Internet service providers could supply 100,000 CDs with the software so that all their subscribers would receive their CD for free ? possibly in collaboration with other organisations. ?A manual should also be included so that everyone understands why it is so important to protect children on the Internet.?

Ammar Oozeer also highlighted the importance of raising awareness on this issue. ?Parents have an important role in making sure their children do not access anything on the Internet. If the computer is in the child?s room, for instance, it is harder to check what he or she is doing.? Schools may also have a major role to play in ?putting Internet safety on the curriculum at school when IT is being taught,? as recommended by the international expert. But teachers should, of course, be trained first.

Ensuring safety on the Internet appears as a real challenge because it appears difficult to control access from a technological point of view. Even filtering software is not 100 % foolproof. But with the growing importance of the media, control is becoming a necessity.