According to a global survey conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 73% of female journalists experience online abuse, harassment, threats, and attacks.
This was reported by Tawfik Jelassi, assistant director-general for Communication and Information at UNESCO, during a session held in Abuja to welcome participants to the Global Media and Information Literacy Week.
Mr Jelassi stated that the problem of online violence was progressively spilling over into the real world, with possibly fatal results.
Specifically, he stated that 20 per cent of female journalists and media professionals were the victim of offline abuse and attacks considered to be related to the online violence they had encountered.
Mr Jelassi stated that the world required quick action, and the purpose of the literacy week was to raise awareness among online information consumers.
He stated that the majority of people in every country today rely on digital platforms as their primary information source.
“From America to northern Europe, from Asia to North Africa, they shared their experiences in this and the challenge is all the same. Seventy-eight per cent of Brazilians take WhatsApp as a primary source of information, and these are contents that are not verified,” he said.
The UNESCO representative emphasised the need to educate citizens on the use of information for the public benefit and guide them against hate speech and cyberbullying.
He stated that the week would be devoted to finding answers to the global problem by specialists in various sessions.
Mr Jelassi congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian government, and the Nigerian people for agreeing to host the week-long event.
Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, welcomed participants to the country earlier.
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