A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) known as, Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has advocated for the signing of the ‘Digital Right Bill’ in order to enable people to have more access to the internet without any hindrances as well as expose them to more deeply research breakthrough.
The advocacy was made by the Technical Officer of the Organization, Mr Aliyu Dahiru Aliyu while presenting a paper titled, “Nigerian Digital Rights and Freedom Bill” at a workshop tagged ‘Feminist Internet School’, held at Hazibal Suites in Bauchi over the weekend.
He said that, the signing of the bill when done will provide maximum protection for the rights of Internet users in the country, thereby safeguarding their privacy, protect their dignity, improve server security and create room for gender inclusion in the internet usage.
According to him, people have been prevented from using the internet because of fear of molestation, accounts hacking, bridge of privacy and a lot of other issues surrounding the internet which infringe upon their rights to freedom of expression.
Aliyu Dahiru, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the ‘Digital Right Bill’ was signed into law, so as to bring sanity into the internet usage and minimize the spread of fake news and hate speech in the society.
It would be recalled that the Senate and the House of Representatives have already passed the ‘Digital Right Bill’ and forwarded same to the President for his accent, which is still being awaited as the President requested for more clarification on the bill.
In her remarks, the Program Officer of CITAD in charge of Gender and Internet Advocacy, Maryam Ado Haruna stressed that women are far left behind in the use of Internet despite several advantages they stand to achieve, especially in the area of business development opportunities.
She noted that studies have shown a huge gap between the way women and men access the internet, which has placed women at the very low state due to fear of falling victims of Internet violence.
The Programme Officer, therefore, called on women in the country to take advantage of the digital world and improve their lives, thereby bringing their talents for the world to see and equally excel in their business ventures.