By MP Namal Rajapaksa
Join our efforts in creating a secure cyberspace for everyone through Ethical and responsible digital citizenship
We live in a day and age where cyberspace is contributing towards the development of nations and expanding the list of multi million dollar businesses globally.
With developments such as generative Artificial Intelligence, the need for ethical, socially responsible digital citizenship has never been this important.
The youth today knows the value of the digital skills and many get the best use of cyberspace and these tools for their livelihood and education.
However like everything else , without ethics, accountability and responsibility, any platform or tool could do more harm than good.
In Sri Lanka, cyberspace has in recent years paved the way for a vicious battle between individuals and groups who use it to attack, misuse, bully and also destroy lives without absolute no respect for privacy. Such forms of cyber bullying has resulted in people distancing themselves from social media which clearly isn’t the trend a developing nation like Sri Lanka should be following.
In recent years, my family and I have been victims of cyber bullying with personal pictures stolen, manipulated and fake news being circulated to fuel certain agendas.
Even today, with the Local Government Elections being discussed, we see how political parties are attacking each other through mudslinging campaigns using their social media accounts rather than discussing their policies and strategies for the development of the economy. Ultimate result of spreading such hatred towards any person or party will result in the public developing hatred towards the local political culture.
Keeping this in mind, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) held a workshop today in Hambantota, the first of many to be held islandwide, promoting individual leadership in cultivating responsible digital citizenship in order to make CyberSpace truly a safe place.
The program titled #SundaraThenak which emphasizes on how we can use the cyber space to our advantage, encourages citizens to become tech savy and use the internet to build their businesses, study the global market trends as well as use social media accounts to their advantages in earning a livelihood, establishing online businesses and staying up to date.
In today’s meeting in Hambantota, we saw the participation of the masses and social media experts who discussed several ideas and areas for improvement on how cyberspace can be used for the betterment of self, communities and country at large.
The vibe created was positive and the SLPP will now go district by district and encourage people on the responsible use of cyberspace to unlock true potential of this nation.
We hope to see the participation of all citizens and specially youth in educating them of what a beautiful platform this can be and how it can be turned into a livelihood and how they can emerge as leaders in their respective fields.
I have long campaigned for Sri Lanka to go digital in order to compete in the global market and I have faced many obstacles in trying to do so. But I am confident that if we start l islandwide education to spread awareness of how cyberspace can be a powerful platform, then very soon we will achieve our goal.
The SLPP is with you. Will you join our hand to go digital, responsibly!