As part of efforts aimed at promoting online safety, members of the Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria (HRJN) recently trained journalists, activists and civil society organisations in the country and other African countries on digital security.
With “Digital Security and Resilience Workshop,” as theme, the two-day capacity building held at the premises of International Press Centre (IPC), Ogba, Lagos.
Fielding questions from journalists, HRJN Executive Director, Kehinde Adegboyega, noted, “we understand that every journalist now works within the digital space and needs to know how to protect themselves, because journalists hold the government accountable, some face attacks and arrests for what they write. This workshop, supported by the West African Civil Society Institute, addressed these issues.
“We discussed state surveillance, how journalists can protect themselves, and partnered with Citizens Gavel, an NGO providing pro bono litigation support for journalists. Participants also learned how to develop digital security policies for their organisations.”
HRJN co-founder and publisher of BONews Service, Blessing Oladunjoye suggested journalists must be cautious online and digitally.
She further advised setting up Two-Step Verification on WhatsApp and multi-factor Authentication on email, X and other social media accounts.
To Oladunjoye, owing the nature of “our work and the information we gather, there are attempts to limit our work. It is crucial to implement all available security features on our devices and social media platforms to protect our work and interactions.”
In his presentation, a Data Scientist and founder of ChatVE, Israel Olatunji, stressed the need for journalists to familiarise themselves with principles such as, confidentiality, integrity and availability to ensure privacy and security in the digital space.
To him, “new threats, such as zero-day vulnerabilities, are emerging. These threats exploit unknown vulnerabilities in devices or platforms, and it’s crucial for journalists to protect themselves.”
On his part, Tech Lead at Citizens Gavel, Oluwadamilare Ayankoya, disclosed, “at Gavel, we strive to speed up the pace of justice in Nigeria. Through tech, we engage citizens and assist with their cases. PODUS AI helps the less privileged get legal insights and connects them to pro bono lawyers.”
Speaking in a similar vein, HRJN Web and Program Digital Manager, Godstime Agho, disclosed it has become imperative for journalists to use strong passwords to protect devices, applications, social media accounts and physical assets.
He also harped on the use of Open-Source Intelligence Tools (OSINT) and advised organisations to develop security policy strategies.
The workshop was also supported by the West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, in partnership with Citizens Gavel.
