QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES – The Philippine Information Agency, the official information arm of the Republic of the Philippines, has taken huge strides to safeguard the youth against the dangers in the online world by aggressively pushing for the promotion of its nationwide cyber wellness campaign.
Nationwide cyber wellness campaign targeting the Filipino youth dubbed #cyberREADI stands for the five (5) ASEAN Core Values on Digital Literacy- Responsibility, Empathy, Authenticity, Discernment and Integrity.
This campaign is part of the ASEAN-Japan Media and Information Literacy (MIL) for the Youth Project which the PIA is spearheading in partnership with the InfoComm Media Development Authority of Singapore and with funding support from the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).
The campaign official logo and branding focused on #cyberREADI – with READI representing the five (5) ASEAN Core Values on Digital Literacy adopted by the ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information in May 2018. These values served as a framework for the digital literacy programs in the region:
CORE VALUES DESCRIPTION
Responsibility - We should think first and be responsible for what we post online.
Empathy - We should be respectful and thoughtful of how our online interactions may affect others.
Authenticity - We should be sincere in our online interactions and prepared to stand by what we post.
Discernment - We should critically evaluate the online information before acting on it.
Integrity - We should do the right thing, stand up for what is right and speak up against negative online behaviour.
After the logo and branding were launched, the PIA has released various multimedia materials and resources developed with the help of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication Foundation Inc. (UPCMCFI). These materials are products of an audience analysis on youth’s level of awareness regarding online safety, using focus group discussions conducted with Filipino youth representatives in different areas in the country.
Also greatly considered in the production of these materials were the insights on the changing media consumption habits of the youth and initiatives and best practices in promoting media and information literacy as discussed by speakers from the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, UNESCO, and Facebook and in group workshops by representatives from public information, media, academe, and youth sectors of the ten (10) ASEAN Member States during the ASEAN-Japan Forum on Media and Literacy: Cyber Wellness for the Youth on March 2018.
o Cyberbullying
o Online gaming
o Online dating
o Online scam
o Online privacy
o Internet addiction
A dedicated webpage for the cyber wellness campaign is also in the works. PIA regional and provincial offices are rolling out their respective activities to further spread the cyberREADI advocacy.
H.E. Kung Phoak, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community stressed that the Cyber-Wellness campaign is a timely project since digital media has increasingly become the primary source of information among ASEAN people. He says: “There is a need to build information resiliency among the youth and protect them from the risk of getting misled by fake news and misinformation. With enhanced media and information literacy, the youth is expected to become smart consumers and responsible producers of online information. Through this project, we hope young people would better understand, inquire, create, communicate and think critically while digitally engaged”.
To know more about #cyberREADI, visit https://web.facebook.com/CyberREADiPH/?_rdc=1&_rdr
About the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund
The Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) was officially established in March 2006, based on a pledge made by then Japanese Prime Minister H.E. Junichiro Koizumi at the 9th ASEAN-Japan Summit held in December 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
JAIF aims at supporting integration efforts to create the ASEAN Community by facilitating the implementation of the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together, which consists of the blueprints for the ASEAN Political Security Community (APSC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), as well as the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan III and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025. JAIF also aims at promoting greater cooperation between ASEAN and Japan.
About the Philippine Information Agency
The Philippine Information Agency is the official information arm of the Republic of the Philippines and is an attached agency of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO). It was created through Executive Order No. 100 signed by President Corazon Aquino in 1986.
Visit the website: http://pia.gov.ph
