Hussaini Umar
Advocates for children’s rights have urged the National Assembly to expedite the passage of the Bill for an Act to enact the Child Online Access Protection and Online Violence Against Nigerian Child Act and for other related matters.
The call was made during a stakeholders’ roundtable held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The bill seeks to protect children from cyberbullying, cyber abuse, cyber extortion and other harmful online activities that could endanger their safety and well-being.
Under the proposed legislation, a tax of 0.02 per cent would be imposed on the assessable profits of search engine operators, telecommunications service providers, artificial intelligence (AI), gaming, streaming and social media application vendors registered in Nigeria to support its implementation.
The Country Director of Lawyers Without Borders in Nigeria, Ms Angela Uzoma, said the bill would have a direct impact on the lives of Nigerian children across all age groups.
According to her, nearly 90 per cent of children in Nigeria have access to digital devices either at home, in school or through friends, exposing them to various forms of online harm and violence.
“So every Nigerian, whether you are a biological parent or not, whether you are an aunt or an uncle, whether you are a child or an adult, you should be interested and should support this bill.
“When we talk about online harms that children are exposed to, it ranges from issues around cyberbullying, grooming, child exposure to sexual violence, sexual abuse.
“We have children being groomed, we have children being threatened online. We have predators pretending to be children and targeting children.
“We have sextortion going on, children are being tricked into exposing intimate parts of their bodies to adults who are hiding and pretending to be children.
“So everyone in Nigeria should be interested in joining their voices to call on the Nigerian Senate to pass this bill,” she urged.
For her part, the Coordinator of the General Unit in the National Assembly, Ms Christiana Eguma, said the bill seeks to promote online safety for children in the digital age.
She noted that many children access the internet without adequate supervision, as parents and guardians often provide them with smart devices, making them vulnerable to online threats.
Eguma explained that the bill would also compel internet platforms to take greater responsibility for preventing child abuse and harmful content on their platforms.
“It puts accountability on the platforms themselves so that they can take responsibility for taking down some of these negative things early enough.
“It seeks to ensure that from the parents to the school, to the children, everybody is responsible enough to protect children online.
“So the bill seeks to ensure children are protected from adults and even from their own peers who are bullies, and we are calling on the National Assembly to pass the bill so that Nigerian children can be protected from all harm,” she stressed.
Also speaking, an educator, Mr Oluwasesan Ifegbesan, said all stakeholders must work together to protect Nigerian children from online harm.
He emphasised that parents and the wider public must remain vigilant in guiding children on the safe use of the internet and social media.
A 2018 UNICEF report highlighted that every half-second, a new child goes online, exposing them to significant risks.
According to the report, about 90 per cent of children in Nigeria face online risks, including cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content and exploitation.
