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The Ministry of Communications through the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) has launched the Online Child Protection Reporting Portal to enhance the country’s preventive and reactive interventions to address child safety issues online.
Similarly, the Ministry of Communications through the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) has also revised the National Framework for Child Online Protection.
Speaking at the launch of this year’s National Cyber Security Awareness Month in Accra on Thursday, October 1, 2020, the Minister of Communications, Ms. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said that children and youth make up a significant percentage of Internet users in the country and around the world. .
The portal
That, he explained, the use of the Internet has led to children and young people becoming increasingly threatened by child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), whereby children are exposed to online sexual abuse through cyberbullying , sexting, commercials and games. Applications.
He said the launch of the Online Child Protection Reporting Portal would help to receive reports on child sexual abuse materials available on the Internet.
Ms Owusu-Ekuful noted that the Online Child Protection Reporting Portal would also allow the National Cyber Security Center “to report cases to the appropriate organizations, such as Facebook, to ensure the images are removed.”
“The portal, which will complement the Points of Contact (PoC) will provide a secure platform for people to report suspected child sexual abuse materials,” he said, adding: “I strongly believe that the national CERT will find collaboration with the IWF is beneficial in responding to cybersecurity incidents involving children. “
The National Cyber Security Advisor, Dr. Albert Antwi-Bosiako, for his part, said that the National Cyber Security Center will continue to play the role it has been playing since its inception; continue to implement measures aimed at securing Ghana’s digital travel.
“The government of Ghana has already partnered with the government of the United States through the Security Governance Initiative (SGI) and collaborated with the Council of Europe to implement various capacity development initiatives in the fight against cybercrime and to enhance Ghana’s cybersecurity, ”he said. explained.
He added: “It is important to ensure that cybercriminals do not infiltrate systems to cause further damage to global economies.”
Minister of Gender
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), Ms Cynthia Morrison expressed her happiness for the Online Child Protection Reporting Portal and said that the portal would help protect the country’s children from scammers and abusers of Internet.
He said that due to COVID-19, many children these days use the Internet a lot for research, for classes and for socializing, making them prone to child sexual abuse materials.
He noted that many of the social media tools many children use were not designed for them, putting many children at risk for cybersecurity problems.
Therefore, Ms. Morrison has advised children not to disclose their personal information to strangers on the Internet, as such information could be misused against them.
UNICEF
He also commended UNICEF and other Ghanaian development partners for ensuring that the country’s children were safe using the Internet.
UNICEF Country Representative Ms Anne-Claire Dufay said that since the emergence of COVID-19, children accessing the internet have increased globally.
UNICEF, he noted, was working with relevant organizations and institutions such as the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to ensure the protection of children on the Internet.
He mentioned the Ghanaians Against Child Abuse (GACA) campaign as one of the interventions in which UNICEF is working together with other development partners and relevant government institutions and NGOs to ensure the protection of Ghanaian children and adolescents.
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