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Ghana has joined other African countries to mark the 2023 Africa Safer Internet Day with a call on parents to show interest in the online activities of their children. The event which was on the theme: ‘Empowering the African Child on Safer Internet’, focused on creating awareness about the dangers online.

The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) spearheaded the celebration in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, the Ghana Education Service and UNICEF. The Authority sought to build a national understanding on the need for due diligence to prevent the misuse of digital tools among children

The awareness creation event which targeted school children, teachers, parents, and the media also touched on the significance of a free, open and secure internet as a powerful tool for promoting connectivity, enhancing social inclusion and fostering development.

In his address, the Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako stated that "Online safety is a shared responsibility among a variety of stakeholders, including service providers, parents and government, adding that there was the need for all identifiable sectors in the online space of children to define their distinct roles and responsibilities to make the internet a safe place.

According to a CSA survey conducted in 2022 in selected senior high schools across Accra, 35% of female students indicated being blackmailed on social media platforms for money and 18% for sex. As part of measures to address the menace, the Cyber Security Authority has been working since 2018 to strengthen the legal and policy framework for addressing Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Provisions in the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) further criminalises online grooming and enticement of children for sexual abuse. The CSA has further reviewed the National Child Online Protection Framework in collaboration with UNICEF Ghana to address non-accessible formats of cyber hygiene content for children with disabilities, harmful and age-inappropriate content on online games, and extreme online behaviors such as internet-influenced suicide, hate speech, and interest in terrorism and violence.

Later this year, the CSA will develop the legislative instrument for the Cybersecurity Act of 2020 (Act 1038), which will include provisions for holding non-compliant service providers accountable for the collection of children’s data without parental consent and refusing to report harmful content.

In this regard, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako called on the private sector and the media to disclose and report incidents of harmful content against children to the Authority and create awareness to help keep children safe online.

Madam Joyce Odame Mensah, Child Protection Officer with UNICEF Ghana, representing the Chief of Child Protection, Ms. Miho Yoshikawa, has urged the CSA to maintain closer engagement with Telecommunication Companies and Internet Service Providers to filter and remove hazardous content online.

Madam Felicity Ahafianyo, Public Relations Officer, National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations, called for the establishment of a fund to support CSA’s awareness creation and to create safety buffers for the protection of children.

Safer Internet Day is celebrated in over a hundred and seventy (170) countries worldwide in February each year. However, in Ghana, the day has since 2019 been observed under the banner Africa Safer Internet Day (ASID) to align the celebration with the Africa Union’s Cybersecurity Agenda.