Child Online Protection : National Assembly Adopts Charter

Lawmakers during a plenary sitting on June 21, 2023 chaired by the Senior Deputy Speaker, Hon. Hilarion Etong, have adopted the bill to institute the Charter on child online protection in Cameroon. Prior to its adoption, the Rapporteur of the Cultural Affairs Committee, Hon. Rolande Ngo Iss presented an exhaustive report on how deliberations unfolded. The adopted bill was defended by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng before the said Committee on June 12, 2023 in the presence of the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, François Bolvine Wakata. All 49 sections of the bill were adopted after general debates. 
Providing clarifications to the worries of the legislators, the Minister said the legal instrument seeks to enhance the normative and institutional framework and give more powers to electronic communication sector regulators to address the adverse effects of the internet and build digital confidence. Designed to address cybercrimes targeting all persons below the age of 18, it defines the role of all internet safety stakeholders and provides for the development and implementation of a national action plan on child online protection. To the Minister, the Charter, is to protect children from online proliferation of child pornography and look after their rights to a safe internet space. “Children do feature among the most active and most vulnerable cyberspace users and are thus exposed to various scourges, such as cyber harassment, bullying, personal data hacking and exposure to inappropriate content, radicalisation, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, which are under-regulated. The Charter thus defines the responsibilities and obligations of various cyberspace stakeholders as ...