The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has instituted surveys that will give it insight into ways of securing Nigeria’s cyberspace and making it a safe place for children.
In a call for participation posted on its website, the telecommunications regulator noted that it is “conducting a Cyberbullying Survey and Child Internet Usage Survey to gain insights into the level of safety in cyberspace and how this can be improved for telecom consumers.”
The surveys which could be found in the link, https://www.ncc.gov.ng/technical-regulation/cybersecurity#polls-surveys touches on frequency of internet access, usage level of parental control among others.
Cyberbullying has over the past few years taken great dimension on social media,
“The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), being the nation’s premier communications regulatory agency under the Federal Ministry of Communications is mandated to work with all stakeholders to ensure a secure cyberspace that is safe for the operators and consumers of communications services and infrastructure in Nigeria,” the regulator said while explaining its mandate.
Cyberbullying has been defined as the “process of using the internet, cell phones or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person.” The word “cyberbullying” is often used interchangeably with “cyber stalking”, and in fact the Cybercrimes Act 2015 of Nigeria, uses the word “cyber stalking” which it defines as any course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.
By the provisions of the Act, the transmission of any communication through the means of a computer to bully, threaten or harass another person where such communication places another person in fear of death, violence or bodily harm amounts to cyber stalking. Cyberbullying is becoming a common phenomenon in Nigeria as more people engage in it especially on social media platforms. This is carried out in various ways and a common trend is posting indecent imagery of persons online such as naked pictures or videos of persons in order to humiliate them.
When posted by a person, the communication is shared by others thereby causing circulation on social media. This act amounts to cyber stalking where the intention consists of those elements stated under the Cybercrimes Act. In other situations where it is shared without the aim of humiliating the victim, such act can still be incriminated under some other laws in Nigeria such as the Criminal Code Act and the Penal Code Act which for instance both criminalise obscene publications.
It is worthy of note there have been reported cases where victims of cyberbullying have committed suicide as a result of fear or shame. A major observation is that cyberbullying has gained normalcy and many internet users engaged in it do not seem to be aware of the criminal connotation of their actions. This paper examines the effectiveness of legal responses to cyberbullying in Nigeria.
a social science researcher at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ayodeji Olonode, proposed media and information literacy as a way of addressing cyberbullying.
According to a write up by Benjamin Dada, Cyberbullying is on the rise and it’s not drawing as much attention as it should. It could seem harmless at first glance. However, it has a lot of damaging effects on the victims.
Knowing how to deal with cyberbullying is a sine qua non. Because in this global village, where we engage with people at many online public squares everyday, take-up unimaginable challenge and FOMO forces us to join many tribes and follow trends, it’s only a matter of time before we are (or someone close to us is) cyberbullied.
The Nigerian Cybercrime Act of 2015 addresses cyberbullying and its kindred such as cyberstalking, cybersquatting, and cyberterrorism.
Research Fellow at Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Adejoke Adediran, noted that while most forms of cyberbullying can be prosecuted under the Cybercrime Act, there’s been no notable enforcement of the law in that regard.
The NCC survey on cyberbullying and child Internet Usage will ensure that the Commission make informed decisions of how to protect online users against cyberstalkers.
