Journalists have been enjoined to be aware of cybercrime law and be disciplined in their choice of words when writing stories.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a workshop on Cyber Bullying at the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria’s (MARAN) International Maritime Press Centre, Apapa, Lagos, on Thursday, Dr. Yinka Adagun, a veteran journalist and former General Manager of Lagos Traffic Radio, noted that cybercrime could be avoided, reduced or eliminated through a combination of individual awareness, organisational measures and technical solutions. SP Abubakar Smart, Acting Assistant Director, Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, on his part urged journalists to be disciplined and mindful of their choice of words online.<\/p>\n
Adagun highlighted some strategies that can be adopted in order not to run foul of the cybercrime law as including educating self on cybercrime, using strong passwords, being cautious with links and attachments, keeping software up-to-date, and implementing cyber security policies.<\/p>\n
Saying that pen can be sharper than the knife; SP Smart warned journalists to ensure that whatever they push out online would not put them in trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat strikes the mind of people when we talk of cybercrime is internet fraud but it is more then that.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, it has become a global threat due to the way we use the digital technology, the nature of our work and the way we interact online.<\/p>\n
\u201cJournalists need to be well-informed about the Cybercrime Act of 2015, as amended, to be more educated about cybercrime so as not to fall victim,\u201d Smart said.<\/p>\n
urged journalists not to be desperate to be superstars.<\/p>\n
Adagun noted that the desperation to be superstars and the zeal to confirm exclusive stories coupled with the persistence to get information first, could make journalists guilty of cyber bullying.<\/p>\n
Explaining what cybercrime means, Smart said it could be any of the criminal activities done on the cyber space in any social media platforms.<\/p>\n
He listed them to include bullying, stalking, fraud, identity theft and phishing.<\/p>\n
According to him, the punishment for cybercrime can be up to 10 years imprisonment, a fine of up to N10 million and asset forfeiture.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be aware of regulatory agencies responsible for ensuring the cyber space is free.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome are National Cybercrime Commission, Central Bank of Nigeria, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,\u201d Smart informed.<\/p>\n
Adagun maintained that some media professionals had a misconception that their daily activities, particularly intellectual outputs were removed from internet governance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe internet has become a global tool for everything including a channel for freedom of expression but sadly, the freedom that the internet depicts is now being attacked and users intimidated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all need to safeguard our access and activities on the electronic highway,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n
PHOTO:L – R: ASP Emmanuel Nwoye, ASP Amusire Felix, Dr. Layinka Adagun, former GM, Lagos Traffic Radio, Mr. Godfrey Bivbere, MARAN President,
\nSP Abubakar Smart,
\nAg. Ass. Director
\nNPF – Nat. Cybercrime Centre, and Mr. Funso Olojo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Journalists have been enjoined to be aware of cybercrime law and be disciplined in their choice of words when writing stories. Speaking during a workshop on Cyber Bullying at the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria’s (MARAN) International Maritime Press Centre, Apapa, Lagos, on Thursday, Dr. Yinka Adagun, a veteran journalist and former General Manager of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritime-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6493,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6491\/revisions\/6493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}