NASCAM to kit Nigerian journalists with Cybercrime knowledge

The National Cyber Security Awareness Movement (NASCAM); a not for profit organisation, is organizing a Master Class programme for Nigerian journalists in order to acquaint practitioners with the provisions of the Cybercrime Act 2015, as it relates to media practice, particularly online journalism. THE announcMENT WAS MADE BY The Executive Director, NASCAM, Mr. Aaron Ukodie, WHO SAYS the plan to empower media practitioners with the requisite capacities for maintaining legal decorum online WILL BE themeD: The Nigerian Cybercrime Law: What Journalists Need to Know. During the workshop, media practitioners shall be educated and engaged on the rudiments of the cyber law. HE ADDED THAT thE workshop has become necessary following the fact that numerous media practitioners are not aware of the provisions of the law, regarding their practice such that many have recently fallen foul of the law. “Going by the tracked trends, Public officers, including the President, Vice President, Governors, legislators (State and National Assembly members), Judges and lawyers, Corporate brands, CEOs and senior officials of organisations and religious leaders are vulnerable to the dearth of knowledge on the cybercrimes Act 2015 by the ‘citizen journalists’ on the prowl in Nigeria. He said that the damage to brands and individuals could have multifarious implications if ‘citizen journalists’ are not immediately given the knowledge backing to disinfest them of the dangers inherent in the unbridled dissemination of unvented information online. According to him, the workshop has been scheduled to hold by 9.am on Friday, June 23, 2017 at the Sheraton Hotels Ikeja, Lagos. This would be hosted in close collaborations with the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), media and public relations officers in the private and public sector, lawyers and members of the National Assembly.He stated that the faculties would also be drawn from the key institutions including the judiciary, parliament, academia, media, public and private service institutions. While NASCAM acknowledges that the evolving and growing threat certainly requires legislation that defines offences and establishes structures for reporting and investigating cybercrime, he underscored the importance of building capacities for the media practitioners in order to create a robust environment for the stakeholders in the media industry. “