News Investigators/ The National Cybersecurity Coordinator, Office of the National Security Advisor, Sa’ad Abubakar, says that age verification is a potential solution for online child protection.
Mr Sa’ad said this at a roundtable focused on identifying and addressing harmful online contents, particularly around Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) on Tuesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a event was organised by Centre for Analytics and Behavioral Change (CABC), supported by TikTok.
Mr Sa’ad said that the need for effective protection measure was paramount, looking at the challenges of vast majority of children in online activities.
According to him, it is very important to start discussing how to protect children’s online engagements at the government level, at the civil society level and at the parental level.
“These kids have to understand the kind of information they are to share online.
“They have to understand the kind of policies that are there for their age and the need for the platform owners to bring on timely guidelines,” he said.
He said that the one crucial aspect of protecting children online was to educate them about the potential risks and consequences of their online activities.
The Coodinator also said that the children needed to understand the kind of information they could safely share online and how to navigate the online world responsibly.
He called on platform owners to develop and implement guidelines that would ensure children’s safety and well-being, adding that they have a significant role to play in protecting children online.
Earlier, Abiodun Essiet, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Community Engagement, North Central Region, said working with government agencies like the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) could strengthen privacy control.
Mrs Essiet said that it would also improve reporting systems and ensure that people feel safe online.
“When violation occurs, justice must be served. You know, we need to also spread the message of how people did something wrong and they were arrested, or justice was served.
“We need to also create an awareness following the same route. This is how to build trust and send a clear message that violence has no space in our society, whether online or offline.
“By working together, we can make our digital space safer, more respectful and more empowering for all,” she said.
The Manager, Outreaches and Partnerships, TIKTOK, Duduzile Mkhize, said that TikTok’s priority was to work with government stakeholders and regulators to build workable policies to ensure operational efficiency.
“This workshop is centered around tech-facilitated gender-based violence. At TikTok, safety is a priority to us, and this is the safety of everyone.
“We know that minority groups such as women and children are more impacted by online violence and different things that happen in the online space.
“We have curated this event to get feedback from our stakeholders from the grassroots level of how we can make differences to improve and to eliminate online tech-facilitated gender-based violence,” she said.
NAN
