Child Online Safety, Protection and Reporting of Abuse COSPRA 2022 Presummit Webinar I: Digital Literacy

The COSPRA 2022 Presummit with theme: “Child Online Safety, Protection and Reporting of Abuse in Nigeria” which held as a zoom virtual event commenced at 2:00pm on November 22, 2022. The Webinar attracted participants from various industries from the 6 geo-political regions of the country and was focused on driving profitable and progressive conversations around child online safety and protection; covering the possible relationship between the Digital Literacy of the Nigerian child and their safety online. The moderator gave a brief introduction of the theme- posing issues such as how sustainable, penetrative & quality Digital Literacy programs for Nigerian children across all levels including the grassroots communities can be ensured. The webinar session revolved around Digital Literacy conversations and allowed for a round table discussion between all panelists. Webinar Session: Child Online Safety, Protection and Reporting of Abuse in Nigeria Moderator:

• Rotimi Olawale – Executive Director/Co-founder, YouthhubAfrica, represented by Halima Sarki – Program Assistant, YouthhubAfrica.

Speakers:

• Arinola Akinyemi – Chief Executive Officer, DigiSphere Limited
• Bashir Yusuf – Chief Executive Officer, Etijar.
• Khadijah El-Usman – Program Officer, Anglophone West Africa, Paradigm Initiative.

Rapporteur:

• Igonor Oshoke – Program Manager, Nigeria Internet Governance Forum

Session Summary: The session started with a warm welcome and introduction of speakers by the moderator, Halima Sarki. She proceeded to give a short overview of the theme for the webinar before engaging the panelists on progressive conversations. Bashir Yusuf on the concept of Digital Literacy and the difference between it and conventional literacy. Bashir Yusuf explained Digital Literacy as understanding the utilization of information and technology for your day-to-day activities. He emphasized that although there was a difference between digital literacy and conventional literacy in the past, that difference no longer exists going into the next few decades as it is now essential for every child to be digital literates to cope with today’s world. He maintained that it is impossible to run from Digital Literacy as a country if we are to compete in the digital space and recommended that Digital Literacy programs be incorporated into conventional education curricula and properly implemented for every Nigerian Child as a mandatory program. He concluded that it is important to be careful not to create a dichotomy between these two types of literacy if we are to properly equip children with the necessary skills to stay safe online. Finally, he noted that Nigeria is yet to have a properly developed curriculum to cover child online safety in conventional education and neither is there any standard method to tutor kids in Child Online Safety. Khadijah El-Usman on to ensure that digital skills are properly integrated and accessible in the Nigerian Educational System. Khadijah El-Usman spoke about the attempts that have been made in terms of Government passing policies to ensure Digital Literacy in schools. However, she noted that there are other factors apart from policies that affect the integration of Digital Skills into the Nigerian Educational system such as electricity, infrastructure and Federal law and those issues need to be handled separately. She stated that there is currently no federal ICT Law in the country and referred to the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill which was not assented to. She explained that the bill highlighted a lot of things with regards to ensuring that digital education is incorporated into school curriculum. She also touched on the issue of funding for schools for implementation of Digital Skills into their daily activities. Another point raised was the issue of training the teachers that will in turn train the children. Finally, she concluded by saying that the internet first and foremost needs to be made available, accessible, and affordable for all. As a reply to a follow-up question from the moderator concerning where to start from in addressing these issues, she replied that although it is a responsibility of the Government to provide funding for this cause, public private partnerships are essential. Holding Stakeholders accountable to integrate the use of technology and the role of civil societies in ensuring that proper pressure is put on the Government to do the right thing. She mentioned the program at Paradigm Initiative that aggressively tackles the issue of inadequate Digital Literacy in Nigeria and some parts of Africa and highlighted the impacts that have been made. She rounded up by asking a pertinent question to all stakeholders- What are we going to do that will be sustainable? Arinola Akinyemi on the need to train teachers, school administration and Parents to equip them with the capability to teach digital skills to children and ensure Digital Literacy. Arinola Akinyemi spoke extensively on the need to train the trainers. She started with establishing the fact that the current skills of even Digital Skills trainers those who claim to be digitally literate on online safety is not good enough. As teachers and Parents are on the frontlines of Child-Online Safety, special focus should be given to this set of stakeholders. Inadequate knowledge of parents and teachers can lead to abuse of the online space with children being exposed to pornography, scamming sites, etc. She went further to explain that some basic things trainers need to do with children, concern their safety on the internet such as the need to educate kids on the proper use of the internet; the type of information they post, the kinds of attack they may face and how to handle and report such incidents; the need to protect their privacy as whatever they put on the internet is there permanently and limiting the amount of time they spend on the internet. She emphasized the most times, only children are focused on when it comes to Digital Literacy, but new approaches should look at including teachers in this program. She canvassed for more commitment from the Government is implementing these programs in the educational system in Nigeria. Key Considerations:

• There should be no dichotomy between Digital Literacy and Conventional educational Literacy.
• There is no proper curriculum that establishes how to go about Digital Literacy in schools.
• The issue of funding for integration of Digital Literacy Program into educational curriculum and implementation of Digital Literacy Programs.
• Affordable, Accessible and Available Internet in the country especially the rural areas.
• The presence of predators online and the technical controls to protecting children online.
• Initiatives taken by several NGOs and International Partners in improving child online safety.
• The synergy between Internet Services Providers and Civil Societies and the role of all stakeholders in Child Online Safety.
• Private and Public Investments in Digital Literacy and existing Public-Private Partnerships in Nigeria.
• The Digital Rights and Freedom Bill and the Child’s Right Act.
• Negligence of teachers and Trainers in Digital skills programs. This has led to many teachers or trainers lacking adequate skills to impact the children. The need for children to protect their privacy as any information that has been posted can may not be forgotten easily. The internet never forgets.
• There isn’t enough engagement of the Law (Litigation) in issues relating to Child Online Safety.

Recommendations:

• It is the responsibility of the Government to spearhead funding for Digital Literacy and Child Online Safety programs; however, it is not the responsibility of the Government alone.
• All stakeholders need to work with the Government to help drive Digital Literacy Programs.
• Public-Private Partnerships are recommended to improve the infrastructure level of Nigeria.
• CSOs need to intensify campaigns and awareness programs against child abuse online.
• Digital literacy should be integrated into national basic curricula and made mandatory in all school and at all levels of Education.
• Work needs to be done to ensure accessibility, affordability and availability of the internet is of globally acceptable standards.
• Policies need to be properly implemented, reviewed and updated to keep up with the fast-paced development of technology.
• Parents have a very important role to play in Digital Literacy and this group should be especially targeted with programs and campaigns.
• The use of Litigation as a tool to pressure the Government, not necessarily to win, but to put enough media coverage on the proceedings which may cause positive social sparks.
• Children should be slowly eased into the online world by their parents and guardians.
• There is a need to train teachers and guardians on Digital Literacy Skills.
• Parents should leverage on existing technology to protect children and control what a child sees online.
• There is a need to have an open and honest discussion with children on appropriate behaviors online and the dangers the internet may pose to them.
• Knowledgeable Parents can offer services to schools to educate children and teachers on the need for Child Online Safety.
• Technical controls to protecting children online should be explored by all stakeholders and kids’ mode should be made mandatory for all devices.