In Somalia, the use of the internet and technology has experienced exponential growth, with over 2 million Internet users and the lowest-cost Internet in Africa. Young people, who make up over 75 percent of the Somali population, use the Internet more than ever before, and some begin accessing it in the early years prior to starting school. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of schools as part of the measures imposed to contain the spread of the pandemic have exacerbated the use of the Internet by young people. Some Internet providers eased the cost of Internet for students during COVID-19, which also boosted affordability. Many education institutions have migrated to online classes to allow learning to continue while COVID-19 preventive measures are still in place, which makes many young people more reliant on the Internet than before.
In addition to its use for virtual classrooms, video calling, online gaming, and social media, the Internet serves as a source of entertainment for young people living in a country with abundant recreational opportunities. The Internet also offers an opportunity for talented youth members to share their talents with their peers, which is a great way to overlook painful feelings or troubling life situations in the country.
While more young people make their way onto the Internet, many parents feel uncertain about their teenage children’s actions and experiences on the Internet, causing worry and concern. Therefore, this article explores the reasons behind parents’ concerns about their teenagers’ extensive Internet use and offers practical recommendations to ease their concerns, thereby contributing to the country’s ongoing digital transformation.
Data collected by Bareedo Platform’s Digital Help Desk in 2020 shows that 89 percent of the parents in Somalia are worried about their teenagers’ extended use of the Internet, and in particular, they believe that this has given rise to safety concerns, a loss of appetite for education, and a lack of real-life experiences. These are well founded on similar concerns continuously raised by the schools, authorities, and religious figures. For instance, the Governor of Banadir region, who is also the mayor of Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia, blamed teenagers’ addictive use of TikTok for their mass failure of national examinations for the school year 2019/2020 in remarks he made at a graduation ceremony on September 7, 2020.
What risks do young people face on the Internet?
More than seven out of ten Somalis possess a mobile phone, and young people in Somalia are increasingly using mobile Internet due to its affordability. Young people spend too much time on the Internet, with little knowledge of the dangers they may face and how to deal with them accordingly. For this reason, they often come across negative online experiences, including, but not limited to, exposure to pornographic or violent content and subjection to online threats and bullying. It is very common for young people to overshare their personal information, which brings immediate risks of sexual grooming and stalking, especially among young women. In 2020, the Digital Help Desk recorded a total of 141 cases of young women groomed online. This is only data recorded from Puntland State, and data throughout Somalia could be alarming. In some instances, young men face a risk of radicalization and recruitment for illegal activities by the terrorist groups fighting in the country.
Parents worry about girls more than boys
Data recorded by the Digital Help Desk indicates that 90 percent of parents worry about girls more than boys. In some instances, they even link their concern to the growing offline sexual violence against women and girls in Somalia. Despite the expectation that boys and girls should use the Internet equally, a pandemic of online gender-based violence is transforming the internet into a hostile space for women and girls in Somalia, as revealed by a small survey by Bareedo Platform in February 2020. This survey revealed that 49 percent of young women attending educational institutions experience constant harassment on online platforms due to their extensive use of the internet for education. The surveyed young women reported persistent online harassment, including blackmail, non-consensual access and distribution of personal information, impersonation, defamation, sexist abuse, intimidation, hacking of personal accounts, recording without consent, identity theft, sexual harassment, and cyber stalking.
Munasar Maxamed, a prominent Somali journalist living in exile in Sweden, unveiled organized online gangs that build up trusting and emotional relationships with young women in Mogadishu for the purpose of sexual exploitation, gratification, or abuse.
Due to the closure of schools, young women found themselves spending more time online than usual, which unfortunately led to a high prevalence of online abuse throughout 2020. The most popular case was a video showing the private parts of a young woman named “Cayuuni” posted and distributed on social media without her consent in July 2020, which sparked heated discussions among Somalis on social media platforms.
While gender-based violence against women and girls is common in Somalia, these real-world examples demonstrate how it even extends to the Internet.
Why are these online violence prevalent in Somalia?
In Somalia, there is a lack of widespread awareness about the secure and safe use of the Internet, and schools and households do not impart this knowledge to young people. Because of this, young people may not always consider the consequences of their actions when they are online, potentially leading to negative experiences. Furthermore, parents’ own Internet skills, experience of using the Internet, and attitudes toward the Internet are what raise their worries and concerns. Data revealed that 66 percent of parents have limited Internet skills and hold negative attitudes toward the Internet. The parents who have experience using the Internet even said they do not have time to monitor what their teens are doing every single second they are online.
Young people do not often speak about their online experiences, and additionally, online violence is not perceived as a serious form of violence compared to offline violence and problems that are common in the country. These factors primarily contributed to parents’ concerns, prompting many of them to restrict their teenage children, particularly girls and young women, from using the Internet and mobile phones, either as a form of punishment or to minimize the risk of harm online.
What can parents’ peace of mind be like?
The Internet is an excellent educational and recreational resource for children and young people. They now need the Internet to research information for school projects or attend online classes more than before. For this reason, parents need to learn everything they can about the Internet so they can understand the benefits of the Internet and make informed decisions when it comes to their teenagers’ use of the Internet. Furthermore, there are plenty of resources and tools available worldwide that can provide guidelines and best practices for parents to keep their teens safe online. In addition, parents should talk to their teenagers about their Internet use and teach them about online dangers to ensure they have time for other valuable activities.
Schools need to include digital safety lessons and awareness-raising activities in their teaching programs to educate children and young people on the risks they may encounter when using the Internet and how they can deal with them. The education authorities, schools, and other relevant stakeholders need to work on the digitalization of education and teaching systems, taking advantage of the growing Internet connectivity and technological developments in Somalia.
The Learning Passport, a digital remote learning platform launched by UNICEF and the Government of Puntland in Somalia in July 2020 in Garowe to enable children to access educational content both online and offline from their homes, is a noticeable step forward that can be extended to the whole Somalia.
The translation of existing Internet safety resources into Somali is indispensable and can greatly assist the public and parents who struggle to access these resources due to language barriers. Finally, on top of that, the government, tech companies, and other relevant stakeholders need to cooperate to promote the Internet and contribute to the development of a safe and empowering online environment for young people.
