21 century is known as the technological era. Today, the whole civilized world is aware of the huge problem of digital technology through massive propaganda in different directions. The Internet has also contributed to the growth of community groups to meet the activities and demands of Internet communities. Generating Internet support and development starts from the 2000s in Georgia. According to internet polls, Internet user growth is constant and it had already reached a total growth of 68.0% in 2017. There are 666 283 Internet subscribers (apart from mobile Internet users) in Georgia. Nowadays, as Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) shows in stats that over 1.5 million person uses mobile service data and half million people are internal network-based consumers; in addition, almost 200 service providers are registered in Georgia. This number for the developing country is high and at the same time dangerous, because the risk of insecurity is challenging and facing these problems can be fatal. The problem outrages itself and proves that Georgia does not have law enforcement, which will regulate the Internet. It has to be mentioned that the number of people who complain about the regulations is constantly progressive as well. According to GNCC’s annual report of 2018, there is by at least 413 complains. Most of the litigations are concerning children and the inappropriate content which they face. On the other hand, there are popular Internet games, like ‘Blue Whale’, which has a fatal outcome. It must be said that Georgia faced several incidents linked with these types of games and all this together raises the feeling of insecurity. This situation proves that the law cannot regulate the free sphere, called the Internet. The users often face problems within the inappropriate content, such as pornography, violence, drug usage, cyber bullying, etc. This is outraged by the fact that none of the governmental bodies or Internet providers regulates the content in internal usage.
In 21-century the Internet plays a big role in people's lives. So, on the Internet, there are many kinds of information. They can be very useful and on the other hand, they can be very harmful. The Internet plays an important role in a human’s life and it is affordable for more and more people around the world. Access to the Internet is free and there are millions of websites. However, many of them contain harmful content for children. This problem particularly has been arisen in the developing countries and one of them is Georgia. Today, there is no Internet regulation in the country. Especially, there is anything that could control it.
Problems Caused by the Internet
There must be some monitoring, which would control websites, detect harmful contents and provide security of personal information. Because of that, a lot of harmful contents, such as:
Violence. When a child is entertaining with the games full of violence, they unconsciously bring these actions into real life, which has a great influence on child psychology and development.
Pornography. Child pornography is one of the most difficult problems in the modern world. Despite the fact countries, organizations or technological companies are struggling with united forces against the problem, production, distribution, and consumption of children's pornographic material is still very common.
Health problem (especially eye problems). According to doctors and psychologists, children’s who are addicted to computers it can cause health problems a two-hour video gambling is enough to lead the disease and overtiring, of the nervous system. Besides, sitting at the computer for hours decreases vision and causes muscle atrophy.
Cyber bulling. Cyber bullying is when a person is deliberately and illegally using an electronic communications application to commit a violent crime of another person. The spread of cyber bullying is connected to the development of the technologies and the Internet. There is no physical contact during the cyber bullying, as cyber criminals primarily use spam methods and various harmful programs. Increasing cybercrime statistics is based on the low awareness of the society on cyber issues, because of that children are in a high risk to become victims, they are not aware on how to avoid the disclosure of their personal information. Sometimes in Internet space, the crime, such as theft takes place. Through electronic procurement and electronic banking, cybercriminals have access to the property and finances of other individuals. They can steal a person's bank data to harm another person's information or programs.
Having no law or barrier to regulate it. The Internet is a very big network space and there cannot be controlled everything, especially in Georgia. The main reason is that in Georgia there isn’t any regulation which could control it. There is not a barrier to regulate it. Currently, in Georgian law we have no one common regulation regarding the Internet, we have only two laws, which are partially used for regulation of Internet space: The Law of Georgia on Electronic Communications and the Law of Georgia on the Protection of Minors from Harmful Influence. The fact that there does not exist one common law in Georgia causes that global problem that we are facing during the years.
Blue Whale
In Georgia as in many countries the main problem is the popular Internet game ‘Blue Whale’. 'Blue Whale' is an Internet game that pushes teenagers to self-injury and suicide. The game lasts for 50 days and during this time the tasks are given to the participants. Reportedly, adolescents who want to participate in the game are leaving their page on social networks on the instruction that looks like a poem and is accompanied by a corresponding hash tag. Then they are associated with some curators, as a rule, from the clients that cannot be identified and given tasks, they also explain the rules that nobody can say anything about this game and always perform any task of the curator; In case of non-fulfillment of the task, the participants are threatened with exclusion and serious consequences. There are 50 assignments. It is suggested that after 50 days the game participant should be killed. Children who are willing to quit the game become victims as they are threatened with violence that ‘they’ pay a visit to the child apartment and kill parents.
For the first time, this Internet phenomenon was widely known in May 2016, after the article published in Russian 'Novaya Gazeta'. The newspaper wrote that in Russian social network 'VKontakte' are closed groups in which teenagers become members of the 'game', receive 'instructions' and 'tasks'. The name 'whale' is supposedly borrowed from the Russian rock band Lumman and 50 tasks, from which the participant must perform one task per day - from the book '50 days before my suicide'. This is Steya Kramer’s novel about a teenage girl who decides to kill herself due to family problems and gives herself a 50-day deadline, but at the end of the story, her character will change her decision and prefers to stay alive.
The interest in this game has increased sharply since the beginning of 2017. Besides the Russian social networks, the game's hashtags appeared on Instagram. Users from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine were actively looking for information on this game. Does this interest have a direct connection with the number of suicides - is unknown. At the beginning of the year, there was such suicide in Russia, but they did not officially identify their connection with the game. In February, in Kyrgyzstan eighth grade teenager jumped out of the window and died. Apart of the version of suicide, there were other versions in media, but law enforcement agencies still do not confirm this fact. Also in early February, one criminal case was launched in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The investigation found that a 16-year-old girl had communication with an unidentified person in a social network who gave her successive tasks and the ultimate aim was to bring her to suicide. It is reported that adults from East European countries, Great Britain and China were also interested in this game. But none of such cases were officially confirmed.
On May 28, Georgian media reported that 'the game' was also in Georgia. The victim was also named - 12 years old girl who jumped from the 5th floor indicated by the 'curator'. she was taken to the hospital with multiple injuries. The investigation has begun on the case. On May 31, in Tbilisi, it was reported that seven13-14 years pupils, allegedly the participant of the 'game' were self-inflicted. Law enforcers questioned pupils. Children had scratches on the body, which was committed by themselves. The Ministry of Education also confirmed that fact. On September 1, in Tbilisi, the teenager jumped out of the 13th floor and died. In the interview, the family suspected that the child became a victim of 'Blue Whale'. Earlier on May 31, Due to public interest the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an investigation into the 'Blue Whales' case which should determine whether the game spread over the Internet is related to the Georgian Internet service.
Child Control/Protection
So, contents like these often cause harmful results, especially; it has a very bad influence on children’s mental conditions. At the same time, in Georgia, children have no information about how to deal with such dangerous contents and how to avoid problems with it. Especially, children can’t get information about Internet security and dangers existing on social media and other networks, because there aren't lessons or pieces of training about these matters in Georgian schools. Accordingly, children and their parents are vulnerable because they don’t know how to solve the problems. Moreover, there is no parental control software in Georgia and because of that, parents can’t control using the Internet by their children and can’t protect them from the harmful contents. In developed countries there are elaborated programs by means of it they can control their children on the Internet. The more connected we become the more we need everybody online and that means trying to ensure that our children aren't exposed to the very worst content, ideas and behavior that exist online. That's why parental control software is so important. Software can't do everything, of course, and there's no substitute for being there supervising your kids directly online. The parental control software has its uses though, and can help to make parents' lives much easier – particularly once your kids are a little older and want more independence. It has to be mentioned that some international organizations have already focused on these dangerous issues throughout of the world; for instance, by raising society’s awareness about the importance of Internet security and confidentiality. However, many problems still remain acute and much more effort is needed to be put in this. The issue itself is very sensitive because nowadays the whole world is connected to the Internet and it is the easiest and fastest way to take steps in this modern era. The issue is complex because we are talking about the biggest network nowadays but some countries like Germany, Netherlands, and the USA managed to secure their internal network throughout raising awareness and advocating processes. In order to improve the situation in Georgia, one should successfully address their needs. The absence of information negatively reflects on their security. As mentioned above in Georgia law cannot regulate the free sphere, called the Internet, but in many European countries and in the USA, there are some Internet regulations which are regulated by laws, acts. A federal law, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) helps protect kids younger than 13 when they're online. It's designed to keep anyone from getting a child's personal information without a parent knowing about it and agreeing to it first. COPPA requires websites to explain their privacy policies and get parental consent before collecting or using a child's personal information, such as a name, address, phone number, or Social Security number. The law also prohibits a site from requiring a child to provide more personal information than necessary to play a game or enter a contest”. So, it is important that certain rules or actions are taken to protect Georgian children from the disaster of the 21st century.
Conclusion
Nowadays, life without the Internet is unthinkable for all of us. It needs to mention that humanity has existed for millions of years and has been developed without a computer. Modern technologies are the largest and the greatest achievement in our society. Of course, the technologies have a lot of positive features, they help us to make any case faster, but no matter what the positive sides we're talking about, we can’t ignore the problems that are causing them to exist. Sadly, we must note that the Internet and the computer can cause a lot of damage and cause many problems that have become more visible in recent years and more people are affected. The problem is getting worse and if it does not take any measures, it will lead to disastrous results. Spending time is probably one of the main things that can’t be restored, many people live only in the virtual world, which is really horrible, such people’s minds and psyche are so close that they do not understand what they are doing. Social networks are like drugs, if you are educated on it, you can’t live without them. Such personalities, of course, need psychological assistance and relatives to stand by, they need to understand and analyze how dangerous it is for them and their lives. People do not even realize how much they care on social networks, they are dependent on it, and one day they realize that they can’t live without them, so this is the negative side that effects on psychics. We must admit that the Internet is the fastest way to disseminate information, life in the 21st century is unimaginable without Internet space. It gives the opportunity to spread information in the whole world. The main thing which needs to learn is how to manage time and only look for essential and important information's. If it is in this case, the problems by which almost every country suffers will be partly solved.
Especially we must be very careful with children, control them and do not allow them to spend most of the free time on the Internet, otherwise, they will lock up, and the nervous system will be damaged. If the child has a problem from childhood, the solution to this problem will be complicated over time and may even come with an irreversible result. It's a mistake, children's life is changing radically, they never have to be alone, it seems that everything around is a waste of mind and the only thing that children make a happy is a computer. No longer understands people around them, it seems that everything is a waste of mind and the only thing that people make happy is a computer. people especially children like these need help and support, first of all, it is necessary to interfere with specialists and psychologists, without them it is not able to eradicate those mental disorders. No matter how difficult it is to be mentioned but such individuals are ill, it is a 21st-century disease that is getting worse. Modern technologies should not be used in a dishonest manner, humans should not waste time in vain. If every person who is 'ill' will try to change something, the parents will understand and take care of their children's dependence it will be a step forward, with support and unity all problems will be solved.
Finally, the solution can be very few. We should increase the consciousness of children and show real faces, but in this case, the right approach is vitally necessary because the incorrectly provided information may lead to a worse result. We should plan activities together, in cooperation with children, as trust is of crucial importance and without confidence, success cannot be achieved. Only in this way, we will be able to avoid all the problems we are facing in this century.