A Netizen should take it upon him to research on ways he can stay safe on the internet. Safe and away from predators.
Marvellous Okechukwu
Having dual citizenship has never come this easy. The internet has defied the rigorous requirements engraved in constitutional and immigration law in relation to who citizenship of a country or a nation state is conferred on. The internet has defied boundaries.
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Who is a Netizen? The term Netizen is a portmanteau of the words Internet and Citizen… it describes a person actively involved in online communities or the internet in general. Through time Netizen has come to describe just anyone who uses the internet. This article adopts the recent meaning of the word Netizen in the loose form to mean anyone/everyone who uses the Internet.
Cyberspace is an entity of its own, a new domain/country. A domain which has almost newly begun to be regulated. This year witnessed a lot of regulation come into being. From the most widely discussed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to other regulations which didn’t make it to the headlines. This year has also witnessed an increase in policy making on issues relating to the Tech space. These laws and regulations would widely have effects on the activities of the Netizen.
Realities Facing theNetizen in the 21st Century: The internet is a form of Rehoboth an open wide space with realities some of which may affect the Netizens rights. Some of these things include:
In law class during discussions about jurisdiction references were usually made to laws, principles and textbooks to answer the question ‘which court has jurisdiction?’ For the case of the internet a Rehoboth of a sort, this ease of reference is not yet available.
Law operates in a border centric manner. The nature of the internet has not totally conformed to this mode the law knows how to operate. When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enacted arguments, speculations and opinions were made as to the extent of its applicability. The truth is that the EU’s GDPR has somewhat overlapping application. It is very likely to become a global document in the near future. Because aside from the fact that many nations are adopting its provisions verbatim to apply in their countries, the international community may adopt some of its provisions when a global data protection law is made. The Netizen would have to worry about jurisdiction, when entering into a contract or carrying out any other activity on the internet. Despite the internet’s borderless nature, when there are infractions courts have sought to be reasonable in determining jurisdiction.
Cyberspace has been described as the 5th domain of warfare. The Economist in an article states thus; ‘After land, sea, air and space, warfare has entered the fifth domain: cyberspace.’ With a more graphic imagery it describes the weapons of warfare in this domain to be ‘Keyboards and mouse’. Sounds farfetched right? But that is the reality of 21st century existence. The Netizen is at risk of being a casualty in a cyberattack either directly, indirectly or as a tool. Trite examples of how this can be are given in the ‘Civilians in Cyber warfare: Casualties by (Susan W Brenner& Leo L Clark 2010), Thus:
First, a civilian can be a direct target of a cyberwar attack because an attack on a foreign government might target the website of a university because a faculty member has been an outspoken opponent of the government’s treatment of a minority. Or an attack could target a civilian that is perceived as an exploiter of the country’s resources. (Susan W Brenner & Leo L Clark July 2010).
A civilian can be an indirect victim. For example, an attack on Federal Express that disrupts its services could cause lawyers to miss filing deadlines. Attacks on banks could cause liquidity crises throughout the economy. Attacks on county tax or deeds databases could disrupt real property transfers. This is almost like the way terrorists attack citizens of a country by killing or maiming to get to hurt their government. (Susan W Brenner & Leo L Clark July 2010).
A means of attacking others (Tool): A hospital’s data base maybe attacked to disrupt activities of a government or to cause fear, panic or spread of a disease. Take for example during the Ebola scourge. If the first consultancy hospitals database was attacked to tamper with the records of the Ebola patient. We would have been plunged into fear and Ebola may not have been as contained as it was. Netizens would be victims of this tampering.(Susan W Brenner & Leo L Clark July 2010).
The tort law of Nuisance in Nigeria has not evolved enough to take into cognizance Nuisance on the internet in. Yet Netizen’s are faced with Nuisance all the time. Ranging from porn flashes to pop up adverts that keep disturbing one’s activities on the internet. Could a network provider’s failure to provide smooth network services be considered as Nuisance if it disturbs the smooth running of theNetizens activity on the internet? Can it be classified as a type of breach at all? These are some questions that need to be asked.
Cyber bullying falls under this head. The internet when it first came presented the possibilities of anonymity. Time has shown that privacy is a myth. In the same way, the illusion of safety and freedom of expression without the restrictions of exceptions was presented. This illusion of freedom of expression without exceptions has been capitalize. Now we have hate speech and cyber taunting.
The law has begun to evolve in such a way that includes internet citizenship realities. The National Assembly is in the process of passing the data privacy bill into law, we have the cybercrime act and several policies that are being developed for this burgeoning area of law and life. Legal remedies are a sure way to tackle.
Support policies that encourage ethical Internet, Cope: Airtel says ‘the internet is life’ well that maybe a bit exaggerated. Truth is, the internet is a very important part of living in the 21st century. Coping with what comes with it by managing ourselves on that space is recommended. You can cope by monitoring your digital foot print using technologies like the Thor Technology.
There are safer ways to navigate the internet. Ways where ones risk exposure level would be minimal. A Netizen should take it upon him to research on ways he can stay safe on the internet. Safe and away from predators.
Thriving on the internet doesn’t come with a manual, but we can make do with our basic survival skills. And perhaps when we learn the ropes, we can share from our numerous experiences to help posterity navigate better.
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Okechukwu writes via [email protected]