Call for long jail time for child porn convicts

THE MINISTRY of Education, Youth and Information wants lawmakers reviewing the Cybercrimes Act, 2015, to impose harsher penalties with jail time of up to 20 years for persons in possession of child pornography.

In a submission on Wednesday to the joint select committee reviewing the law, Dwane Cargill, acting principal director of the information division at the ministry, suggested that the legislation be improved by including provisions in the Child Pornography (Prevention) Act.

He noted that the Cybercrimes Act did not make reference to the Child Pornography (Prevention) Act. The latter legislation was passed to prevent the production, distribution, importation, or exportation or possession of child pornography or the use of children in pornography.

Cargill said that the prohibitions extended to any visual, audio recording, or written material that depicts a child engaged in sexual activity, physical or sexual abuse or torture in a sexual context, and can also cover images that appear to be a child (even though the person involved is in fact an adult).

He pointed out that the Ghana Cybersecurity Act 2020 incorporates child pornography in its legislation.

VALID REASONS

There are provisions in Ghanaian law dedicated to children, Cargill said, noting that the language in the legislation addresses “indecent image of photograph of a child” similar to provisions in Jamaica’s Child Pornography law.

“Consequently, there are valid reasons to incorporate the Child Pornography Act into the Cybercrimes Act, and there would be no need to have created a separate legislation or to have legislations when there is a clear overlap between the two.”

The government technocrat also highlighted that the word ‘person’ was not defined in the Child Pornography (Prevention) Act.

He said that the definition should refer to anyone over the age of 12 years old or someone over the age of criminal liability.

“This will make it clear that children can also be punished for revenge porn, especially since the data clearly indicate that teenagers exchange sexually explicit media of themselves, ”he added.

And the education ministry wants the vexed issue of cyberstalking of children to be addressed by the law.

Cargill said that most cyberstalkers knew their victims and many of them were motivated by revenge, anger, control, or lust.

He said that local research had shown that 40 per cent of high-school students have been contacted by a stranger online. They argued that it made them feel scared or uncomfortable. Further, the study found that 43 per cent received messages online that were inappropriate.

The education ministry also proposed that a provision on cyberbullying be incorporated in the cybercrime law.

Cargill told the committee that young people were often responsible for cyberbullying each other online.

According to Cargill, research had shown that cyberbullying could have profound damaging consequences for children that resulted in suicides.

“Since cyberbullying is regarded as peer-on-peer antisocial behaviour, recommendation has been made not to criminalise the perpetrator but to put measures in place to treat with such antisocial behaviour for both victim and perpetrator, ”he said.