As part of its corporate social responsibility to help society live a healthier and safer way of life, MSV Life, Malta’s largest life insurer, is supporting Magic Malta in its 20-week awareness campaign, ‘Think Before You Click’.
The campaign, designed to empower parents carers to guide children to protect themselves against the risks they may encounter on digital and social media platforms, is being held in collaboration with The Office of Commissioner for Children and the BeSmartOnline! project, managed by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA).
“As a life insurer, MSV Life feels responsible to support initiatives that empower every member of the community it operates in to make good choices to live a better life, physically, mentally and socially,” said MSV Life’s CEO David G. Curmi. “It is a reality that every one of us, young or not so young, spend a significant time of our day online. While we embrace every development in technology, we are also aware that the digital world and social media pose risks, particularly to those who are most vulnerable, like children. We are honoured to have been approached to support this initiative to raise awareness among parents and carers on how to educate children to protect themselves against dangers they may be unaware of.”

Think Before You Click’s main messages
• Refrain from being hurtful in messages posted online
• Report cyberbullying – to avoid cyberbullying, it is advised to keep personal information – such as phone number and email address – private; familiarise yourself with privacy settings and make proper use of them
• Be aware that what is uploaded remains in the public domain forever and may be abused to harm you or others
• Your digital footprint also determines your public profile, based on information available on the internet
• Say ‘no’ when asked to carry out something on the internet which you are not comfortable with
• Do not feel bad or intimidated to stop a chat thread or refuse a friend request from someone unknown
• Be aware that profiles may be false, showing they share friends in common to convince you they are trustworthy
• If you become a victim of cyber abuse, it is strongly recommended not to retaliate, but to stop communicating with the person, keep a record of all the instances of abuse including copies of emails and messages as content can be taken down and inform the authorities concerned at once
• If you need to talk to someone about online safety you can call the Helpline 179, send an email to 179.appogg@gov.mt , or visit www.besmartonline.org.mt
For more information about the campaign and its content, log on thinkbeforeyouclick.eu.