There is an urgent need for authorities to develop multilingual cyber threat monitoring systems that cover major Ghanaian languages to strengthen the country's capacity to detect and respond to emerging cyber threats.
This would help combat the increasing exploitation of social media platforms by cybercriminals to spread misinformation, recruit unsuspecting individuals and coordinate cyber-related crimes, making it imperative for security agencies to monitor online activities beyond the English language
A Cybersecurity Expert, Dr Arnold Mashud Abukari, who made the call, explained that limiting cyber threat monitoring largely to English created significant gaps that cybercriminals could exploit, particularly as many Ghanaians communicate online in indigenous languages.
Book launch/lecture
Dr Abukari made the call at a public lecture and the launch of his book titled “Digital Radicalism: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding and Countering Cyber Terrorism and Digital Radicalism in Ghana” in Tamale.
The book examines the growing threat of cyber terrorism and digital radicalisation in Ghana and how digital platforms were increasingly being exploited to spread extremist ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, recruit vulnerable individuals and facilitate cyber-enabled crimes.
It also outlines practical strategies for preventing online radicalisation through stronger cybersecurity policies, digital literacy, community engagement, multilingual threat monitoring and collaboration among government agencies, educational institutions, technology companies and civil society organisations.
The event brought together students, academics, journalists, security practitioners, policymakers and representatives of various political parties.
Cybersecurity awareness
Dr Abukari, who is a Senior Lecturer at the Tamale Technical University (TaTU), stressed the need for cybersecurity systems to upgrade to include local languages to effectively identify phishing attempts, online scams, hate speech, extremist content and other malicious online activities before they escalate.
He maintained that the adoption of multilingual cyber threat monitoring would enhance Ghana's cyber resilience by enabling security agencies to detect suspicious online activities in real time, regardless of the language used.
Dr Abukari also urged the government and relevant institutions to expand the National Cyber Security Awareness Campaign to address the growing threat of online radicalisation through targeted public education and community engagement programmes.
He said although Ghana had made significant progress in promoting cybersecurity awareness, greater attention must be given to preventing violent extremism and radicalisation on digital platforms.
Digital literacy
Dr Abukari further advocated the development of a comprehensive digital literacy curriculum in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to equip young people with the knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to navigate the digital environment safely.
He said the curriculum should integrate digital citizenship, media and information literacy, and counter-extremism education from the basic school level through tertiary education.
He stressed that strengthening digital literacy, alongside robust cybersecurity systems and sustained public education, would play a critical role in safeguarding Ghana's digital space against emerging cyber threats.
