Security consultant Richard Kumadoe has underscored the need for stronger measures to protect children and families from harmful online content, but insists that lawmakers must carefully determine the legal and regulatory framework for achieving that objective.

His comments come amid growing debate over a proposal by the Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, to require users to verify their identity before accessing pornographic websites in Ghana.

Speaking on Joy FM's Top Story on Thursday, June 4, Mr Kumadoe said the broader issue of online safety, particularly in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), should be a matter of national concern.

"In the full scale of AI and the nudity phenomenon that is spreading everywhere, whatever we have to do to protect our homes, our children and ourselves from the negative tendencies of what we are talking about would be essential," he stated.

According to him, there is little disagreement about the need to shield children from harmful online material. The challenge, he said, lies in determining the most appropriate mechanism for doing so while balancing other considerations such as privacy, data protection and individual freedoms.

"How we do it, the processes and the procedures, have to be left to the lawmakers to take care of," he said.

Mr Kumadoe noted that Ghana has already taken steps to protect children online through existing laws and regulations, but argued that there is room for additional safeguards if policymakers deem them necessary.

"Do we need to protect our families from harm through the use of the internet? Yes. Are we doing it already? Yes. Do we want to do more? Yes. Do we want to benchmark best practices that are being implemented elsewhere in the world? Yes," he added.

However, Mr Kumadoe stressed that the details of any proposed intervention must be carefully crafted and subjected to legislative scrutiny. "The modalities will have to be defined, whether we are sending a private member's bill or the government itself is introducing a bill in that regard," he explained.

He said any future legislation must be guided by a careful assessment of risks, international best practices and the realities of Ghana's evolving digital landscape.

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Children need internet protection, but lawmakers should decide how - security expert on porn site ID checks

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