Article by Hon. Crispin Kaheru, Commissioner Uganda Human Rights Commission-UHRC, on the impact of today’s digital era/online spaces. The world has commemorated the International Day for Universal Access to Information-2023, as proclaimed on October 15, 2019 at the 74th UN General Assembly to be held on every 28th September, initially designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-UNESCO General Conference. It was inaugurated in November 2015 and first held on 28 September 2016. For this year, the global celebrations in Oxford, United Kingdom on 28 September 2023 centered on the theme of “the importance of the online space for access to information.”
The online sphere has created opportunities for entrepreneurship, job creation, and financial inclusion, E-commerce, freelance work, and online education thrive on the internet.
Online spaces continue to play a pivotal role in promoting civic engagement and holding leaders to account. Citizens voice their opinions, and demand transparency from the government.
But at the same time, this digital era has incited misinformation, digital insecurity, and access disparities. Children today are vulnerable to inappropriate online content; hate speech is being fueled by the anonymity of the internet; mental health resulting from cyber bullying is increasing; online fake news, misinformation and disinformation has captured the power to poison minds, divide communities, and incite real-world violence.
We therefore must boost education and media literacy both at-home and at-school.
This way, we empower young people to evaluate online content. To discern between reliable and unreliable sources. To understand the consequences of hate speech. This way, we will be nurturing a generation of responsible digital citizens. Ultimately we will successfully balance the right to access information with the right to privacy.
ALSO READ: HON. CRISPIN KAHERU: WE NEED MORE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
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