The Director General of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako has said the Authority in collaboration with Internet Watch Foundation under the Child Online Protection Reporting Portal would hold service providers accountable for failing to report or remove child sexual abuse materials being accessed from Ghana but hosted outside the country.
According to him, the CSA as part of the legislation will have provisions to hold non-compliant companies accountable for the collection of children’s data without parental consent and for refusing to report harmful content on their websites.
He made these statements last Tuesday, February 7, 2023, as part of Ghana’s celebration of this year’s Africa Safer Internet Day in line with African Union’s Cyber Security Agenda.
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako said this has become necessary because a report from UNICEF Ghana indicates that more than 13,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse were reportedly accessed or uploaded from Ghana in 2020.
He added that Interpol’s Global Crime Trends Key Findings in 2022, also revealed that Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse was ranked among the top ten crime trends perceived to pose a ‘high’ or ‘very high threat to countries.
The Director-General added that a recent study published by the BBC disclosed that children, as young as nine years old, have been exposed to pornography on the internet while studies from other western countries have recorded even younger ages.
“This is not too far from home, as a survey conducted by CSA in 2022 in selected senior high schools across Accra, revealed that male students were active on betting and pornographic sites and the female students also reported a high incidence of being blackmailed with their nude pictures for either money or sex on social media platforms.
Speaking on the theme; ‘Empowering the African Child on Safer Internet” focuses on strategies to empower children in the digital environment where schools, civil society organisations, service providers, lawmakers, the media, and relevant stakeholders get to promote a safer internet for children across the world.
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako said free, open, and secure internet is a powerful tool to promote connectivity, enhance social inclusiveness and foster development, however, due to the misuse of digital tools, the lack of proper safeguards, and their vulnerability, children continue to experience violence, exploitation, and abuse every day from perpetrators and ruthless criminals online.
A representative from UNICEF Ghana, Mrs. Joyce Odame said to ensure child safety on the internet, in 2020, UNICEF supported the Cybercrime Unit of the Ghana Police Service to establish the first of its kind dedicated digital forensics lab to investigate online child sexual abuse materials.
Mrs. Odame added that UNICEF is currently working with the CSA to initiate the development of legislative Instrument to outline detailed processes and procedures for the implementation of the child online protection-related provisions in the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038).
Another rep from the Department of Children under the Ministry of Children and Social Protection, Mr. Christopher Lartey said research estimate that 750,000 individuals connect with children online for sexual purposes. This leads to less outdoor activity for children, reduced their sleep quality, increased symptoms of anxiety and unhealthy eating habits.
“What we must do is to help our children become aware and build their capacity to handle the challenges inherent in the digital world and must be given the necessary information at the appropriate time and equip them with the tools they need to keep themselves and others safe in these environments.