By Richard Kagunda

Kasungu, November 24, Mana: Consumer Affairs Officer for Malawi Communications and Regulatory Authority (MACRA), Patience Nkombezi has warned students against acts of cyberbullying, saying they are punishable under the laws of the country.

Nkombezi said this on Saturday at Kamuzu Academy in Kasungu District during an awareness and sensitization of teachers and learners on cybercrimes and the laws that the country enacted against cyber violence.

"Much as we know that cyberspace is beneficial to our modern life as it provides a vast amount of information, some people misuse it to commit crimes against others. As MACRA, we thought it wise to sensitize learners about the dangers of violating other people's human rights using the space.

"We commemorate cyber security in October but we are doing it in November and that is why we are here. Students like these and those in other high schools are exposed to the internet and they might be prone to cybercrimes if they do not have the right information to guide them," Nkombezi said.

She said besides enlightening the students about the dangers of cyberbullying, MACRA also wanted to notify them about the online child protection strategy that Malawi as a nation has put in place.

"We want the students to act responsibly whenever they are online. Most of them conduct their lessons online and we do not want them to indulge in sharing of content that contravenes the law," Nkombezi said, adding that despite sensitizations against cybercrimes through the media, there are still gaps because cybercrime is on the rise amongst the youth.

Senior House Master for Kamuzu Academy, Felix Limburo said the awareness that MACRA provided to the learners was timely in the sense that most of them use gadgets that use cyberspace.

"Most of our learners here use advanced gadgets and the awareness is paramount because it will enable them to stay away from cyberbullying. It might be that some of them have been ignorantly committing the crimes and the orientation will enable them to act more responsibly than before," Limburo said.

On his part, one of the learners, Wanga Chitete expressed gratitude to MACRA for the orientation saying it is a good guide for responsible conduct when online.

Malawi enacted the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act in 2016 and the law criminalizes cyberbullying, and child pornography among other acts.