18 Jun 2023

Society has been urged to promote safe participation of children and safeguard their rights on the cyberspace

Speaking during the national commemoration of the Day of African Child in Lobatse on Friday, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Mabuse Pule said children were susceptible to assortment of risks and violation of their rights on the digital environment.

He said the risks faced by children on the digital environment included children being kidnapped, defiled and raped after being lured through the internet.

He further said children faced violation of rights such as exposure to inappropriate material, including the use of children in production and distribution of obscene material, and cyberbullying. 

He said the risks had dire consequences on victims.

Mr Pule said statistics showed that one out of every three internet users in Africa were young people in the age group of 15-24 years.

He said in Botswana, the national Reset and Reclaim Agenda’s priority on digitalisation aimed to accelerate national digitalising of all government services, including basic education, hence increasing demand and access to the internet.

He said that had resulted in increased participation of children in the digital environment, thus increasing concerns over their online security and safety.

“The need for a cohesive and inclusive approach to delivering a safe, secure and resilient cyberspace and a comprehensive framework to facilitate coordinated responses by government, the private sector, and other partners to address issues of cyber security has therefore become more urgent. Taking note of the special susceptibility of children to greater risk, due consideration has to also be made to protect the children’s rights to protection from all forms of violence, but also their rights to participation and provision,” said the assistant minister.

Mr Pule also urged parents to desist from sharing and processing personal data of their children on the internet because it compromised their privacy.

He however said while the digital era carried risks, it should be acknowledged that the internet was the future in which equity was of paramount importance.

He said the African Union Agenda 2040 for children called for provision of universal access to affordable information communication technology devices, content and connectivity, and their integration into teaching and curricular in schools. 

He therefore said government had made efforts to promote inclusion and participation of all children in Botswana.

“To this end, the government of Botswana and its stakeholders have made deliberate efforts to scale out connectivity across the country. Technology infrastructure has been set up to facilitate connectivity in schools nationwide which is implemented through the Digital Transformation Strategy (SmartBots).

To date, 34 senior secondary schools have been provided with laptops for both pupils and teachers. Government is also implementing a village connectivity project, which includes installation of unlimited free public Wi-Fi services in 1 138 sites in 144 villages covering Dikgotla, schools and health facilities,” he said.

Mr Pule further said Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) had also provided connectivity to 163 schools, ICT mobile labs to 68 schools and the employment on a contract basis of 163 IT officers to support schools in four districts.

He added that Orange Botswana had also provided digital kits, and off-line internet connectivity to 53 schools. 

He said the efforts were done to support ICT driven teaching and learning in rural and marginalised schools. He further said government had bridged learning inequalities by providing special needs learners with assistive technologies in the form of braille note takers, text magnifiers, auto acoustic devices for hearing impairment testing, among others.

With respect to policy, Mr Pule said the Children’s Act of 2009 protected the right to privacy of all children in Botswana without distinction, subject to the child’s best interest.

He added the Data Protection Act, 2018 regulated the protection of personal data and ensured that the privacy of individuals in relation to their personal data was maintained.

Mr Pule said the Act defined personal data of minors as sensitive personal data and contained specific provisions for processing such data.

Additionally, he said the Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, 2018 (CCRA) safeguarded children’s safety and privacy in the digital environment. 

He said the Act criminalised child pornography with respect to its publication, production and possession.

“It has to be acknowledged that Botswana does not have legislation specifically on the protection of children in the digital space. However, the National Cyber Security Strategy provides for, among other things, promoting cyber security awareness in order to protect children and other vulnerable groups against cyber threats and risks,” said Mr Pule.

He explained government was committed to the implementation of the African Children’s Charter as well as other related documents on the protection of children in the digital environment, including the African Union Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Strategy towards Strengthening Regional and National Capacity and Action against Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.

The assistant minister further said government would ratify the AU Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data as well as the development of guidelines on the protection of children online, as per the National Cyber Security Strategy.

The event was held under the theme: The Rights of the Child in the Digital Environment, which Mr Pule said was set in acknowledgement of the internet’s potential for facilitating the realisation of some child rights including the right to education, freedom of expression as well as access to information from a variety of sources and settings. Ends