By Mabinty M. Kamara
Report by the Institute of Governance Reform, IGR has shown a vacuum in the awareness base of citizens on the cybercrime bill that has been the subject of discussion since it was tabled before parliament for enactment.
The report titled “Sierrapoll” according to the researchers, was aimed at testing the awareness level of the Sierra Leonean with regards to the existence of the bill and to know the percentage of the population, especially social media users that are interested in a law that regulates the use of social media in Sierra Leone. It was also intended to fill the data gap for policymakers and activists on citizens’ views on Technology as a tool for good governance and protection of rights.
Presenting the report at a gathering in Freetown on Wednesday, 9th June 2021 Andrew Lavalie, Executive Director IGR said the survey was conducted in May of 2021 and that it targeted 1,936 respondents with 59% from the rural areas and 41% from the urban areas and a 50/50% gender representation.
He added that from the report, only 1.5 million which account for 29% of the over 7,000,000 (seven million) population in Sierra Leone, are aware of the existence of the cybercrime bill.
The report also noted that social media users have more appetite for a law governing social media use than those who are not on social media. It also revealed that 49% of the respondents preferred a home-based app developed in Sierra Leone to those developed from the United States of America which has 30%, China 10%, and other countries 11%.
This according to Lavalie presents an opportunity to Sierra Leoneans in the business of developing apps for which there is the market. Majority of the respondents in the North-West region who are aware of the bill says the bill is not in their interest while the majority in the Eastern Region says it’s in their interest.
He stated that they should have done the research before now but that it’s never too late. However, he said with available funds, they will do a survey that focused on the knowledge level of the people on the content of the bill before the presidential assent.
“Every research has its own limitation. We should have done this even at the time there were discussions around this bill. But like I said, it's better late than never. What we really need now especially as we go into parliamentary discussions is to know how the people that the various MPs represent feel about this bill. So that is why we have put that in the parking lots as one of the things that SierraPoll needs to do maybe even before the presidential assent,” he said.
At the end of the presentation was a panel discussion with two civil society activists and a Government minister.
The two activists Augustine Sorie- Sengbe Marrah and Andrew Fatorma each gave their views and concerns about provisions in the bill and the need for proper consultation with the people.
Speaking on the need for a law on Cybil security, the Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Rahman Swaray said 87% of the citizens of Sierra Leone have access to voice connections. “About 25% have access to some form of internet connectivity and your research says about 65% of internet users say they need some form of protection. So this is the situation. Where does this leave us, it leaves the government with the obligation to provide protection for those citizen's safety who are within cyberspace which also requires regulations,” he said.
He added that it is against that background that the government took upon itself to ensure that the government dialogue and legislate the enabling regulation to allow citizens to go about their businesses without hindrance.
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