Digital literacy low – Mulonga

….Most people abusing social media platforms are digitally ignorant and so Government has a duty to embark on a rigorous education campaign on how best to use the internet for the benefit of all.

By NATION REPORTER

RICHARD Mulonga, the Bloggers of Zambia Chief Executive Officer has urged Government to embark on digital literacy training for young people as most of them seemed ignorant of the usage of internet.
Mr Mulonga said in an interview yesterday that the law alone was not enough to stop Zambians, especially young people from speaking out on what they thought was rightfully their right.
“Young Zambians, and indeed everyone should be educated on the use of the internet and in this case social media. It is a great tool but many people have not understood it. In fact, as we speak, very few people even understand what AI (Artificial Intelligence) can presently do,” he said.
The digital rights advocate, was responding to a comment by Mr Douglas Syakalima, the minister of Education
Mr Mulonga said one of the things Government ought to do was to educate people about the balance between freedoms and national security as well as defamatory creations.
He said citizens’ engagement by Government was critical and that it was unstoppable that authorities could gag young people expressing themselves on platforms such as Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and many others.
“It is difficult to clamp down on what young people are saying. We know what freedom of expression is and its limitations. We know what Article 20 of the Constitution of Zambia says. What we need is digital literacy by Government,” Mr Mulonga said.
He said using the law to curtail debate on governance issues by young people was not the solution but sensitisation was.