Protect Children From Online Abuse – CSA
Theophilus Botchway The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has called on the media to intensify public education on online child abuse and help protect children from the growing threats associated Read More... The post Protect Children From Online Abuse – CSA appeared first on DailyGuide Network .
The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has urged the media to heighten public education efforts on online child abuse to protect children from the escalating threats posed by the digital age. With children's increasing reliance on social media, gaming platforms, and messaging applications, they are more susceptible to cyberbullying, grooming, sexual exploitation, harmful content, and privacy breaches.
The Principal Manager of the Law Enforcement Liaison Unit at CSA, Theophilus Botchway, made this call during a two-day media training organized under the National Community Media Cyber Capacity Building Project (NCMCCBP) in Kumasi. The training aimed to equip journalists with the necessary expertise to report on cybersecurity, cybercrime, and child online protection effectively.
Botchway emphasized the media's crucial role in raising awareness about online dangers while ensuring that reporting does not inadvertently expose victims to additional harm. He explained that the rapid advancement of digital technology has presented opportunities for education and communication, but also provided criminals with new avenues to exploit vulnerable individuals, particularly children.
The CSA has provisions under the Cybersecurity Act of 2020 (Act 1038) that criminalize various forms of online sexual exploitation and abuse involving children. These provisions include taking, producing, procuring, publishing, streaming, or possessing indecent images or photographs of children, soliciting or luring a child for unlawful sexual conduct, and cyberstalking in circumstances involving attempts to arrange sexual activity.
Botchway cautioned journalists against sensationalizing child cases, warning that careless reporting could further violate the privacy and dignity of victims. He urged the media to safeguard the identity and personal information of child victims, refraining from publishing details, images, or materials that could lead to further abuse, stigma, or trauma.
Journalists should also adopt preventive journalism by using cybercrime reports as opportunities to educate the public on criminal tactics and protective measures. He called for stronger fact-checking mechanisms to combat misinformation and disinformation, which are increasingly spread through social media, fake websites, manipulated videos, fabricated screenshots, and AI-generated content.
The media must verify sources, independently confirm claims, authenticate photographs and videos, distinguish allegations from established facts, provide affected persons with the opportunity to respond, and promptly correct errors when they occur.
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