Second NISR report is out

Manama : In accordance with the Government’s policy in the 4th National Telecommunications Plan (NTP4) which was issued in May 2016, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), with support from the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, is working diligently towards carrying out measures to secure Bahrain’s online environment and improve consumer awareness of cyber threats and how to deal with them.

In a continuation of these efforts, the TRA recently published the outcomes of the second National Internet Safety Review (NISR) report. 

This report, which is the only study of its kind in the region, aims to measure the exposure of youth to online risks and the overall awareness of these risks amongst multiple stakeholder groups including children, adults and teachers.

The study has found that since the last review, conducted in 2010, there has been a significant increase in the usage of online services and mobile devices. 

However, the report also showed that there is a growing awareness of the major risk areas in online usage, with a marked decrease in sharing personal data online and an increased confidence in online safety amongst those who participated in the study.

“The TRA’s ongoing efforts in raising consumer awareness regarding cyber safety have shown a positive impact as we can see a significant improvement in consumer awareness in the results of the second safety review,” said Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Engineer Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed. 

“There is still much more to be done in this regard, which will require strong collaboration between government, private entities and individuals in order to ensure that all consumers in the Kingdom are able to utilize all online services with confidence and safety.”

The key findings of the NISR report are divided amongst four stakeholder groups; children aged 7-11, children aged 12-18, adults and teachers. 

The NISR report also includes a number of recommendations to assist stakeholders and decision makers in raising awareness about the ongoing challenges in cyber safety and how to address them.