Illustrative photo of an internet cafe (photo credit: CC BY SA, by McZusatz, Wikimedia Commons)
The Communications Ministry on Monday levied heavy fines on two Internet service providers for failing to protect minors from the dangers of web browsing.
According to ministry directives, all cellphone operators and Internet providers are required by law to supply customers with information about the dangers the Internet poses to minors, and to offer solutions — free of charge — for filtering and blocking potentially dangerous material.
According to a Communications Ministry press release, Cellcom was instructed to pay NIS 298,630 ($87,790) and Bezeq International was fined NIS 168,440 ($47,260) after the ministry found that both companies failed to comply with several aspects of the directives.
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (photo credit: Gideon Markowicz/Flash90)
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan said “the Internet environment and social networks are saturated with… content that can be harmful to minors. We must educate [Internet users] to browse responsibly.”
Erdan added that all Internet providers “must offer solutions for filtering content, to be given at no cost, that prevent exposure to harmful material,” and he urged the public to take full advantage of these services.
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