Razak Kojo Opoku Writes: Enact A Regulatory Framework To Control Access To Internet Pornography

Can you deny the fact at this material moment that most children in our communities are growing up with the internet being a central part of their lives? It’s an undeniable fact!

This simply implies the internet is now an integral part of us. Part of our children’s moral fiber. It is therefore imperative we guard this aspect of our children’s lives to ensure they grow up as responsible adults for tomorrow’s generation.

In my candid view, this needs a collective effort between parents and the Government. We simply need an effort that can stem out the unguarded access to the internet by our future generation. I mean unguarded access to pornographic materials on the internet.

Well, I fully acknowledge the benefits technology brings, especially in the recent times when Covid-19 hits us unexpectedly and truncated our educational calendar and brick-and-mortar teaching. The internet has been good, maintaining our children in virtual school with these online classes.
But, it was an opportunity for the children and they had unlimited and to an extent uncontrollable access to the internet.

Who was regulating or monitoring what they were or are watching now on the smartphones?

But whatever they were or are watching on the internet largely influences their lives. The content on the internet is shaping their lives. It could be bad content. It could be good content. It could be that pornographic material, which you may recommend for only adults to watch(even in this instance is not helpful to the sexual life of adults). But your 8-year-old child is watching such pornographic videos. It’s a fact.

These should form part of the cogent reasons our Government, as a chief regulator, must speed up with the measures in place to regulate the content of the internet in Ghana.

In the United States, United Kingdom, Arab Countries and others, the Government has a law on the Regulation of Pornography and Child Pornography on the Internet.

The use of the internet to access and distribute pornography is a major threat to African youth.

I think that the Government through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization in collaboration with the Ministry of National Security should come up with a radical regulatory framework aimed at regulating internet pornography in Ghana.

There should be some level of restrictions to the access of pornographic materials on the internet, especially among the youth.

Scientific studies have shown that many Ghanaian youths suffer from addiction to pornography, masturbation and sexting. This could be attributed to the lack of regulation and control of internet pornography in Ghana.

The activities of LGBTQI are fast gaining ground due to easy access to internet pornography by Ghanaians.