Ghana will join the rest of the continent in celebrating Africa Safer Internet Day (ASID) on February 6, 2024, under the theme ‘Empowering Minds, Protecting Rights: Creating a Safer Digital Africa’.
The event aims to raise awareness of Child Online Safety in Africa and empower young people, especially children, to use digital technology safely and positively and a call on parents, educators, NGOs, the media, and the business community to foster a culture of safe and positive digital engagement among the youth
ASID champions the cause of online safety and child protection in the digital sphere across Africa, aiming to cultivate a secure digital landscape for the younger generation.
Alarmingly, a UNICEF Ghana report from 2022 revealed that over 13,000 instances of child sexual abuse imagery were detected online in Ghana during 2020.
Furthermore, Interpol’s Global Crime Trends Report of 2022 identified Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA) as a top threat, with a worrying trend expected to rise. These statistics highlight the critical need for concerted efforts in Ghana to shield its future generations from online dangers.
The celebration in Ghana is thus expected to create awareness of child online provisions in the Cybersecurity Act 2020, (Act 1038), raise awareness of current cybersecurity trends which affect children, share safety tips and acceptable online behaviours for children and young persons as well as discuss channels for seeking redress.
The government through the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has put in place measures to demonstrate its commitment towards a safer internet for all users especially children, some of which include the passage of the Cybersecurity Act 2020 (Act 1038), which has provisions that criminalise child online abuses, the National Child Online Protection Framework which is aimed at tackling the incidents of Child Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse including child sexual abuse materials, online harassment, and cyberbullying against children, and the Cybersecurity/ Cybercrime Incidents Reporting Points of Contacts that allow for the coalition of reports and is a platform for enquiries.
The CSA is also committed to organising regular sensitisation programmes across the country to educate children and parents on how to ensure safety online.
In 2022, the Authority launched the National Cybersecurity Challenge for Senior High Schools across the country to educate students on the subject to further conscientise them on cyber hygiene practices and prepare them to become cybersecurity professionals.
Despite the efforts of the government to completely make the Internet a safe place for children, some gaps need to be filled by the private sector; technology companies, Civil Society Organisations, parents, teachers, and the media, among others, to improve awareness on child online safety issues across the country.
The CSA will once again lead the annual Africa Safer Internet Day celebration in partnership with UNICEF Ghana, the Ghana Education Service (GES), and other stakeholders through sensitisation events in schools, outreach programmes on child digital safety for churches and mosques, media engagements and social media campaigns.