Skopje, 10 February 2025 (MIA) - Minister of Digital Transformation Stefan Andonovski told journalists Monday he expects students and parents to make use of the Ministry’s guideline delivered to schools two weeks ago, which aims to protect children from harmful content on the internet.

At an event marking Safer Internet Day in a primary school in Skopje, the Minister said the guideline also includes a section intended for parents, which is available online.

“It clarifies which resources the schools can and should use when talking to students and what their attitude should be. The second part of the guideline consists of recommended apps that parents can use to ban their children from accessing certain websites or content on their phones, smart devices and TVs. I hope they’ll make use of it. We also added certain topics which I think should be discussed in schools,” Andonovski said. 

Asked if a ban on TikTok is being considered in response to certain viral challenges, Andonovski said the app would be banned if some incidents were to grow into a regular practice.

“If we note that some incident is becoming a regular practice, as was the case with the illegal online casinos, then we will proceed to ban it. But I don’t want to make different statements each week and change my position based on what kind of social media challenge has appeared and where it has appeared. When we see that this is becoming a practice, the mechanism to ban it will be available to us,” Andonovski said. 

Andonovski attended a Safer Internet Day event at the “Dimitar Makedonski” primary school in Skopje, where students presented the benefits of the internet and cautioned about the hazards. The event is aimed at raising awareness among young people about the importance of staying safe when using the internet, social media and other modern tools. 

Photo: MIA/MIA Archive