Dr. Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin addressing the youth at the event
As part of its media and information literacy intervention for religious organisations, the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana, has interacted with youth of the Keeper’s House Chapel International. The event was dubbed, “Youth & Cyber Security”.
The team from the Department was made up of Dr. Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin, the Head of the Department, Dr. Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey, a Lecturer in the Department and Mr. Maximus Ametorgoh, a digital marketing strategist, social media coach and technology consultant.
Dr. Yeboah-Banin informed the youth that there are individuals who deliberately put false information on the internet to lure users into consuming malicious content. “There are people who are putting information online that is not wholesome, healthy, and good. Their interests are not aligned with your well-being, and so they put information there to get you to click on and this will lead you to pages that you did not intend to view”, she noted. Dr. Yeboah-Banin explained how users become victims of cybersecurity breaches through clickbait. “It is not everything online that is good for your consumption. Remember that there are blackmailers and liars online, so be conscious of what you click while using the internet. Do not click or share just anything you see on the internet.” Dr. Yeboah-Banin also noted that taking steps, such as checking the sources of the information they see on the internet, will constrain them from misinforming others.
Mr. Ametorgoh took the members through some tactics cyber criminals adopt to lure their victims. Using the story of the chicken which kept pecking on the corn, he stated that links that bear headings to things the user is interested in, are usually used as a bait for them to click on links that lead to potentially unwholesome content. He explained how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is aiding the monitoring of users’ online activities and how that influences what they pay attention to when using the internet. He said: “With the existence of Artificial Intelligence, videos, and pages that you view will be suggested to you, but the pages actually contain wrong and harmful content that can be used against you.”He urged the youth to abstain from clicking links that they do not trust and to be mindful the kinds of content, particularly pictures and videos, they also post online, as it would have negative consequences in the future. “You are building a document for your life for the future with what you share online. In the future when you are looking for a job, your employers may search for you online to see what you are really known for”, he said.
Mr. Maximus Ametorgoh facilitating his session
At the end of the session, participants expressed their excitement about the opportunity to learn about the existence of fake news and the need to desist from clicking and sharing links that they are not sure about.
The media and information literacy intervention is being organised with funding support from the High Commission of Canada to Ghana. The team has visited three sites since its inception and will be visiting more religious organisations in the coming days.
Some of the youth who participated in the event
