The Deputy Majority leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, is advocating a comprehensive Online Child Protection policy to regulate the use of social media among children.
The present and future of children, he said, are in grave peril if efforts and measures are not scaled up to protect them from the dangerous hazards of early social media use and consumption.
He averred that though Social Media sites on the internet can serve as valuable platforms for both adults and children to acquire crucial knowledge, learn new and vital skills, consume valuable news content, and even earn a living, the unfortunate reality is that they have become very dangerous and destructive tools and platforms used by perverts belonging to the evil fringes of society to target, victimise, radicalise, and destroy the present and future of innocent or curious or unsuspecting children.
“One study identified some of the main negative implications of the use of Social Media by school children as: “distraction of pupils’ attention from their studies, frequent use of Pidgin English as well as unnecessary fashion consciousness.”
“However, more deadly dangers are flowing from Social Media consumption by children that demand urgent attention: (a) exposure to inappropriate or upsetting content, like mean, aggressive, violent or sexual comments or images (b) uploading inappropriate content, like embarrassing or provocative or nude photos or videos of themselves or others (c) sharing personal information with strangers – for example, images, date of birth, location or address (d) cyberbullying (e) exposure to too much-targeted advertising and marketing, including those meant for adults (f) and exposure to data breaches like having their data sold on to other organisations.”
In a statement he read on the floor of Parliament on Friday, February 17, the Effutu legislator argued a robust response from parents and lawmakers needs to be put in place to protect and rescue children despite passage of the Cyber Security Act 2020 (Act 1038), setting up the Cyber Security Authority and empowering it to among other things ensure the safety of children online.
He recommended Parliament to direct the Ministries of Interior, Communications and Digitalisation and Gender, Children and Social Protection to expedite work on developing a comprehensive Online Child Protection Policy for adoption and implementation within the immediate future.
The House, the Deputy leader said, must lead an amendment to the Cyber Security Act 2020 to impose an obligation on the Cyber Security Authority to submit SEPARATE bi-annual reports for consideration and subsequent action on detailed measures it has taken to specifically safeguard Ghanaian children from the harmful effects of Social Media use and consumption.
“Thirdly, this House must draft and pass a new law, through the efforts of private members, prohibiting Ghanaian children under 16 from irresponsibly consuming and or using Social Media.”
“In that law, offending parents or guardians – through whose negligence and or acquiescence children consume or use harmful Social Media content or become owners of Social Media accounts – must face punitive fines. Liability for the offence will be strict, and it is enough that a person under 16 is seen consuming Social Media or using or opening a prohibited Social Media account,” he said.
Hon. Afenyo-Markin stated that while the state does its part, parents need to step up and adopt self-help measures to protect children including regular discussions with them about online dangers, encourage children to report abusive conversations and critically examining children’s online profiles as frequently as possible and many other measures.
He warned there is no way to avoid all the risks that come with children using the web or online applications with evil people lurking around the opportunities offered by the internet but stressed the nation cannot throw her hands in the air.
“We must confront the problem by taking proactive steps, including formulating appropriate policies and creating responsive legal frameworks to tame or defeat such evil minds.”
“Mr. Speaker, I pray that you lead this House to adequately respond to the dangers I have highlighted here by referring this statement to a joint Committee made of the Committees on Gender, Children, and Social Protection, and Communication and Digitalisation for consideration and a report that will guide subsequent legislation and policy response,” he added.
