George Kebaso @Morarak

The government has called on all social media platforms to put in place foolproof measures to protect the youth from cyberbullying. 

Latest State of the World Girls Report – 2020 – shows that four out of 10 girls get harassed online.

Yesterday, the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and Technology Joe Mucheru signed a letter authored by young girls – ahead of today’s International Day of the Girl – calling passionately for protection against predators.

Recent findings from various stakeholders indicate rise in Internet harassment. 

Girls expressed fears that the Internet is not safe for them any more, as the new normal arising from the advent of Covid-19 automatically directed most activities, especially learning to online platforms.

“We are appealing to social media platforms to make the Internet safer for our young people to enable them participate and have the same opportunities as anyone else.

We have had discussions about online and the challenges that confront young girls going online, and the harassment they face,” the CS said yesterday at Teleposta Plaza where he hosted Mary Gorety, 18. 

Gorety is an advocate mentee from Plan International. She mimicked Mucheru’s roles as minister together with her two colleagues; Faith Umazi and Alice Kariri.

Mucheru observed that young girls have a lot of energy to contribute towards the government’s development agenda, and should be protected at all costs.

Great initiative

“I am pleased to have been invited to be part of this great initiative. To engage with the young girls who are eager to make a difference and to remove the barriers blocking them achieving their objectives,” he added.

ICT ministry, together with the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), has partnered with the International Telecommunications Union and initiated a programme to educate; empower and protect young girls online.

It has recently been reported that young people, especially girls, were facing various challenges when venturing into the Internet from predators, fake news and harassment.

CS assured that the government is putting in place water-tight measures to avert this including strengthening the Cyber Security Laws.

Gorety and her colleagues have appealed to the government to raise more awareness on the laws and policies meant to protect victims of online abuse and harassment.

Gorety said: “Bullying and harassment has discouraged girls and young women from engaging in conversations on social media and openly sharing their views because they feel discriminated against.” 

She added: “As young women and girls, these horrifying experiences disempower us, lower our self-esteem and cause most of us to develop emotional and mental health problems such as depression.”