Tackling Online Pornography to Implement Uganda’s Education Digital Agenda Strategy
Abstract
The Ugandan government developed the Education Digital Agenda Strategy (EDAS) 2021 – 2025 to improve Uganda’s education service delivery through sustainable digital transformation. The EDAS was officially launched on 22nd August 2024, but on 09th September 2024 the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) issued a press statement halting its implementation over concerns that it may expose learners to unacceptable content such as online pornography while using digital devices such as phones, tabs, laptops etc when using the internet. This qualitative desk research study sought to examine the laws on pornography in Uganda, assess the potential risks of pornography exposure to children in school, and suggest ways of protecting students from online pornography, to enable them to safely use digital devices envisaged in the Uganda Education Digital Agenda Strategy, so that the strategy can be implemented by the Uganda government. In this research it was found out that students are at risk of voluntary or involuntary exposure to unwanted content such as pornography, which may lead to dangers of addiction, introduction to risky sexual behaviour and decline in education performance. In the conclusion section of this paper, it was recommended that Ugandan laws ought to be amended by providing for a definition of pornography. Secondly, a creation of child friendly sim cards client category of internet users will support protection measures focused on children. Thirdly, content filtering should be promoted to block websites with unwanted content and lastly, educating students on the dangers of pornography, and empower them with ways to detect, avoid and report pornography is key. Once these measures are put in place, it will be safe to implement the Education Digital Agenda Strategy 2021 – 2025 to enable the students benefit from the integration of ICT in Education, without fear of the threat of online pornography.
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