info@businessghana.com
Stakeholders have converged on Accra to make inputs into a Legislative Instrument seeking to integrate targeted interventions on online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA) into the Cybersecurity Act 2020 (Act 1038).
The move is to ensure that online CSEA is incorporated into National Child Protection systems and the wider cybersecurity agenda.
The stakeholders included representatives from the Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ghana Police Service, UNICEF, Attorney-General’s Office, WILDAF, Child Rights International among other agencies and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
The L.I has become necessary to among others, clothe District and Circuit Courts with the jurisdiction to trial cases under the Act and also to tackle the undue delays and difficulties faced by prosecutors in prosecuting online child abuse cases.
The L.I seeks to expand the level of protection offered to individuals under the Cybersecurity Act, in particular children.
The Regulations, therefore ropes in social media companies and search engines in addition to owners of critical information infrastructure in the regulatory framework to protect children and other persons from the potential risks and harms that may be encountered in using Internet-enabled devices.
Key Highlights of the draft (L.I) to the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) include a proposal for systems that use age verification technologies to identify a child user, or the age group a child user falls under.
It also proposes the use of technical solutions including artificial intelligence to detect, block and prevent harmful content or illegal content from being accessed by a child while detecting and preventing online grooming.
The Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, explained that the consultative meeting was to promote joint partnerships among CSOs and seek their collective inputs and concerns in the development of the L.I.
“I am optimistic that our objective to facilitate networking and collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including CSOs, UNICEF, the media and representatives from other countries to encourage country-based experiences and best practices with lessons learned would be achieved,” he added.
Chief of Child Protection at UNICEF, Lucia Soleti, said despite the numerous strides made by the country, reporting and prosecution of cases and victims support needed to be enhanced.
“Much more is required to reach every single child, parent and caregiver in Ghana to better understand and prevent any risks for children online,” she said.
She, therefore, called for stronger collaboration among key government service providers and law enforcement agencies as well as ICT companies.
“Now more than ever, it is important for Ghana to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,” she added.
For her part, a Child Protection expert, Afrooz Kavani Johnson, who provided a global perspective on the issue, said there was the need for continuous efforts from key actors in order to stay ahead of the risk children faced online.
“We need to be vigilant in the area because we do not have a crystal ball of the situation,” she said.
While calling for the draft of legislations to align with the ever changing world of technology, Ms Johnson said child-centred approach needed to be adopted by actively considering their views in drafting legislations seeking to protect them.
