Due to their difficulty in locating YouTube offenders, Rwandan authorities have come to rely on reports from the general public about illegal content.
Despite the recent arrest of four YouTubers who are suspected of employing children in pornographic-related videos, incidents involving illegal YouTube content are not new in Rwanda.
The Rwanda Media Commission’s (RMC) Executive Secretary, Emmanuel Mugisha, acknowledged the difficulty in keeping track of the many content producers in Rwanda, who are thought to number in the neighborhood of 200,000.
It becomes more and more difficult for authorities to locate and punish offenders with such a vast number. In order to help the authorities, Mugisha stressed the significance of encouraging the public to denounce unethical and immoral acts.
Online interactions are regulated by a number of laws in Rwanda, including the 2018 Law on the Prevention and Punishment of Cybercrimes, which lists the many online offenses and associated penalties. Other legislation, including the 2018 law pertaining to children’s protection, are also extremely important in fostering the appropriate use of information technology.
For instance, the law on the prevention and punishment of cybercrimes provides that phishing, impersonation, and cyberstalking offenses can only be prosecuted if the victim files a complaint.
Mugisha emphasized the need for widespread public education to enable people to recognize content that contravenes the law and report it appropriately. Although Mugisha noted that the site’s Artificial Intelligence capabilities do not completely understand languages like Kinyarwanda, this allows illicit videos to evade the AI filters and stay accessible on the platform despite YouTube’s community standards prohibiting explicit sexual content.
The Rwanda Media Commission suggests adding media literacy classes to the academic curricula to address these issues. With the help of this program, young Rwandans will be raised with a clear awareness of what is appropriate and inappropriate to do online and how to use the internet responsibly.
To develop a society that is media and information savvy, the RMC also promotes community awareness. To effectively create awareness, Mugisha advises bringing up media literacy-related subjects at community events like Umuganda.
Rwanda seeks to combat YouTube offenses and advance a better online environment for all citizens by fusing public reporting and neighborhood awareness initiatives.
