Ask gov’t to preserve internet rights
By Doh James Sonkey
A two-days symposium on digital rights and elections in Cameroon has ended in Yaounde with stakeholders committing themselves to fight against the growing phenomenon of fake news and hate speech and at the same time, calling on the government to preserve internet rights for all by not shutting down the internet or social media in particular “because this is not the solution to any problem as it lies elsewhere.”
Organized by the Cameroon Office of Internet Without Borders under the theme “fighting dangerous speech online while preserving digital rights in Cameroon” it brought together last September 12 and 13, 2018 at Hotel Merina in Yaounde, government, ELECAM officials, NGOs, Media professionals etc to chat the way forward in the face of looming internet-shut-down threats in Cameroon.
The Executive Director of Internet Without Borders in Cameroon, Julie Owono rejoiced that “For the first time here, social media platforms such as Facebook indicated that they are open to work with actors who are monitoring the cyber space in Cameroon and the government as well.”
In a chat with The SUN, Julie Owono explained that “the internet and social networks in particular are very important for debates and discussions especially at the time of elections in a country. That is why at this moment, we deemed it necessary to convene the various stakeholders to have a serious and thought-provoking discussion on the spread of fake news, hate speech in order to find solution to fight against this growing phenomenon in our society without undermining online human rights of all users. That is to say, access to internet for everyone.”