Parental Guidance and Online Safety

Free tools and practical tips to help keep children safe online.

The internet is a wonderful place for children to learn, create and play, but not everything online is suitable for them. To protect you, Microweb already blocks known malicious websites across its network, but it does not otherwise filter or block internet content on your behalf. Every family is different, and you are best placed to decide what is right for your children.

The good news is that there are free, easy-to-use tools that let you control and monitor what your children can access. This page explains the main options and where to find them.

1. Filter adult content for your whole home

The simplest way to protect every device on your Wi-Fi at once is to switch your router to a family-safe DNS service. DNS is the internet’s “address book”. A family-safe DNS service refuses to look up adult and other harmful websites, so they simply don’t load on any device connected to your Wi-Fi.

All of the services below are free. Microweb can switch your home connection over to the family-safe service of your choice: just WhatsApp us or email hello@microweb.africa and let us know which one you’d like. If you manage your own router, you can also change the DNS server addresses yourself to the two addresses shown.

Good to know: the filter covers every device connected to your home Wi-Fi, but not a phone using mobile data, or a device using a VPN or its own DNS settings. That’s why it works best together with the device controls in section 2.

2. Use the parental controls on your children’s devices

Every major phone, tablet, computer and games console has free parental controls built in. These let you filter content, approve app downloads, set screen-time limits and see how devices are being used.

• Android phones, tablets and Chromebooks: Google Family Link
• iPhone, iPad and Mac: Screen Time (in Settings), with Family Sharing
• Windows computers and Xbox: Microsoft Family Safety
• PlayStation and Nintendo Switch: the parental controls in each console’s settings or companion app

3. Turn on safe search and children’s profiles

• Search engines: turn on SafeSearch in Google (and the equivalent setting in other search engines) to filter explicit results.
• YouTube: use YouTube Kids for younger children, or switch on Restricted Mode for older children.
• Streaming services: most streaming services let you set up a children’s profile and lock adult profiles with a PIN.
• Films and games: check the age rating before watching or buying. The Film and Publication Board (FPB) classifies films and games distributed in South Africa.

4. Good habits that make a real difference

Technology helps, but no filter is perfect. Staying involved is the best protection:

• Keep devices in shared family spaces, especially for younger children, and agree on screen-free times such as meals and bedtime.
• Talk openly with your children about what they do online, and get to know the apps and games they use.
• Set social media and gaming accounts to private, and check the minimum age for each app.
• Teach children never to share personal information, photos or their location with people they don’t know, and never to meet anyone they have met online.
• Make sure your children know they can tell you, or another trusted adult, if anything online makes them feel uncomfortable, without fear of losing their device.

5. If you come across child sexual abuse material

Microweb has a zero-tolerance policy towards child sexual abuse material. Using our service to access, store or share it is a criminal offence and a breach of our Terms and Conditions.

If you come across such material, do not download, share or forward it, even to report it. Instead, report it straight away:

• Film and Publication Board hotline: 0800 148 148 or www.fpbhotline.org.za
• South African Police Service: 10111, or Crime Stop on 08600 10111
• Microweb: hello@microweb.africa

6. Need someone to talk to?

If a child is in distress or at risk, Childline South Africa offers free, confidential support on 116, 24 hours a day.

Read our Terms and Conditions.