The European Union (EU), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASF France) have called for intensified efforts to address the issue of cyberbullying and digital rights violations in Nigeria.

The stakeholders made the call at the national inter-school digital rights competition organised by Avocats Sans Frontières France under its eRights Project, co-funded by the EU.

The event, held in collaboration with Spaces for Change and Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) brought together young students from schools in Lagos, Kano, Imo, and the FCT to highlight the importance of responsible online behavior and the urgent need to combat cyberbullying in Nigeria

The students developed short films addressing themes of cyberbullying, online harassment, and responsible internet use.

ASF France Country Director, Angela Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, said the competition was aimed at expanding digital rights discourse among young people by involving them in storytelling based on their daily experiences online.

She noted that although children are often called digital natives, it is crucial to teach them responsible use of digital devices and platforms.

According to her, while technology offers many benefits, such as learning and socializing, it also poses risks that require creating safe spaces for children to engage without stifling their creativity or freedom of expression.

She said: “This is part of a larger conversation to ensure that there is freedom of expression online, but also to balance this. The fact that you have a digital device in your hand does not permit you as a child to put out discouraging messages that can harm that can hurt other children.

“And we’re seeing from the videos that the children have put up that indeed there are children who have taken their own lives, who have committed suicide as a result of cyberbullying.

“And today, collectively, we’re standing with the children today who are competing, you know, at this national level to say no to cyberbullying and yes to using technology for good.”

The EU’s Programme Manager for Civil Society, Youth, and Human Rights, Wynyfred Achu-Egbuson, noted that digital spaces are increasingly unsafe for many Nigerians, especially women and children.

According to her, unlike older generations who learned digital skills later in life, children nowadays start engaging with digital devices at a very young age.

This, early exposure, she noted, makes digital rights especially relevant, as young people need to understand both their own rights and the responsibility to respect the digital rights of others.

While urging the National Assembly to consider human rights implications in any proposed amendments to the Cybercrimes Act, Achu-Egbuson explained that often people who infringe on others’ digital rights do so out of ignorance rather than malice, not fully understanding the consequences of their action

Speaking, Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu (SAN), expressed concern over the rising number of complaints related to online harassment received by the Commission.

He described cyberbullying as a serious issue with far-reaching effects on mental health and safety, particularly among minors, saying that people often fail to recognise that violations of rights offline are the same as violations of rights online.

According to him, raising awareness is crucial to help the public understand this equivalence and to create a culture where young people, in particular, understand the dangers of cyberbullying, which can cause trauma, depression, poor academic performance, and even suicide.