MPs want measures taken against social media abuse

Lawmakers have called on the Ministry for Youth and ICT to put in place measures aimed at curtailing the abuse of social media platforms. The call was made by the Standing Committee on National Budget and Patrimony, during budget framework assessment for the ministry on Thursday. MP Francesca Tengera raised concerns over what she called fast-growing social media misuse, saying the hitherto good facility is being abused by people who use it to spread immorality as well as anti-government falsehoods. “We need to preserve the reputation of our nation by encouraging positive use of social media,” Tengera said. Tengera called for the establishment of a specific unit in the ministry to be responsible for sensitising the public about the use of social media and the negative impact of abusing social networking sites. The ICT sector in Rwanda is fairly developed with 64 per cent of the population using mobile phones, while government introduced public Wi-Fi hotspots in the capital, in 2013. A report dubbed “How Africa Tweets” by Portland Communications, last year ranked Rwandan as the seventh top user of Twitter in Africa with over 100,000 active users. The majority, 60 per cent of the social media users, are youth in their twenties. Jeanne d’Arc Nyinawase, another member of the committee, said social media is dominated by a lot of malicious information from anonymous sources, which many youths just take as gospel truth. “You just cannot imagine what is being shared on Whatsapps, Facebook or Twitter accounts. It is all scary. We need to put in place measures to counter the situation,” Nyinawase said. Jean Philbert Nsengimana, the Minister for Youth and ICT, said they have trained social media activists in secondary schools and universities to encourage good use of the online platforms. “There is no specific budget allocated to fight social media abuse. However, the ministry facilitates a few clubs in schools that are advocating for the good use of such platforms,” said the minister. However, Nsengimana said it is every Rwandan’s responsibility to uphold national values with a sense of patriotism that cannot be compromised by mere false propaganda. Estimated budget for the Youth and ICT ministry for 2014/15 fiscal year stands at Rwf4.8 billion, almost double what they were allocated in the current fiscal year, which runs until the end of next month. According to the minister, the main focus the coming year will be on promoting ICT penetration, by 13 per cent, and improving youth employment and productivity by 69 per cent.