It is illegal to share pornographic images of children – the minister warns

The Ministry of Communication is pushing for a bill that, once approved by Parliament, will ban the distribution of badually explicit material involving children.

The Cybersecurity Bill, according to Industry Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, will address gaps in current legal provisions regarding online activities involving children.

Ms. Owusu-Ekuful stated that the Children's Act (Bill 560) criminalizes adult badual offenses against children under the age of 16 and that it empowers the police to treat them.

But it is the dissemination of these images on social media platforms that is not covered by the legislation in force, to which the minister said that the new bill was intended to remedy.

Recently, a video went viral about a captured man who stained a child who was 13 years old. This video was shot in an unfinished building in an unknown location in the central region.

Two men, Abraham Mensah and Desmond Asmah, accidentally stumbled upon the incident, forced Emmanuel Quayson, an 18-year-old suspect, to continue the act while Desmond Asmah had filmed him.

The case has been referred to the courts of Cape Coast and, at present, the three suspects have been released on bail, "said the spokesman of the Central Region Police Command, DSP Irene Oppong.

S addressing Joy News Ernest Kojo Manu, at the Friday launch of a workshop for security agency officials on the Cybersecurity Bill, Ms. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, who voiced her shock in front of the incident, described the broadcast of the video as "unacceptable", "false" and "illegal".

"You can not do this … If you receive badgraphic data, images or messages involving children, do not share them, delete them from your device … so that we can protect the images of our children captured in that kind of scenario, "she advised.

The Cybersecurity Bill, she said at the time of its adoption, "will treat all those who are caught in a hard way".

She said her ministry would soon launch a series of public education activities on the new law to raise public awareness of such incidents before its application.