Thirty persons comprising Journalists and Security Officials have participated in 2-day training in Lagos with the theme: e-Rights Enhancing Digital Rights in Nigeria.
The organiser of the event, Advocats Sans Frontieres France warmly welcomed participants and urged them to key into the opportunity in order to stay ahead of the curve.
In his good will message, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists Mr. Adeleye Ajayi commended the organiser for putting such event together having described ur as a rare opportunity. He urged attendees to make the best use of the training to harness their skills.
“Today, we gather here not only to learn but to reinforce the critical role that digital rights play in the contemporary landscape of technology, communication, and security.
The digital age has brought unprecedented opportunities for progress but with these opportunities come complex challenges, particularly in the realms of privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information.
As professionals working in fields that deal with sensitive data and crucial information flow, it is essential to understand and uphold these rights in the digital sphere.
For both security agencies and journalists, the digital space is a double-edged sword. While it offers powerful tools for enhancing communication, investigation, and surveillance, it also presents serious risks regarding civil liberties, privacy, and security.
This training is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to navigate this space responsibly and ethically.
We are at a juncture where the lines between security measures and digital rights are often blurred and we must ensure that the methods we adopt in the name of security do not infringe upon the rights and freedom of individuals.
As security agencies, you are tasked with protecting the state, ensuring public safety and maintaining national security. However, these duties must be balanced with the protection of the privacy and digital rights of citizens.
Journalists, on the other hand, hold the responsibility of ensuring transparency, accountability and the free flow of information. Both of these roles are crucial in upholding democracy and ensuring that individuals’ rights are not trampled upon.” the NUJ Chairman added.
Industry Experts took participants through the outlined topics.
Dr. Folashade Adegbite of the faculty of Law, University of Lagos(UNILAG), discussed ;The Concept of Digital Space: Understanding Digital Rights and Digital Citizenship while her male counterpart Dr.Abiodun Odusote spoke on Legal Frameworks: Examining international and national laws on press freedom and journalist protection.
Recommendations at the training include; The need for data protection to be recognised as a human right and cloaked with the priority protection availed to fundamental rights. Provisions on journalistic expectations should be included in applicable laws and regulations. The various laws on surveillance should be reduced into a single law. Creation of awareness to the general public about the value of their personal data and the need to secure its protection.
Participants were arranged into groups to identify how to navigate e-Rights breaches.
It was agreed that journalists should be careful when trying to generate traffic to their website and not to forget the ethics of the profession.
Journalists should be careful in reporting matters that threaten national security and undermine public order, and there is need for journalists to get familiar with Section 24 of the Cyber Crime Act of 2015 in order not to fall victims of cyber stalking, bullying and threats.
Day two of the event exposed journalists to technology tools to help protect themselves on the job.
Dr. Chinonyelum Nwufoh and Dr.Iheanyi Nwankwo gave practical knowledge on Digital Rights Protection: Basic Online tools and how to set-up the usage of basic online tools.
At the end of the training, participants bagged certificates, and commended Advocats Sans Frontieres France for the knowledge and new skills acquired, which will no doubt bring about professionalism on the job.