By Bosco Bush
The Ministry of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Service is set to launch a surveillance machine that will track content shared online by internet users.
The motive is aimed to fight misinformation and disinformation shared online particularly by social media users across the country.
Deputy Minister of Information, Jacob Korok Maiju disclosed that the Computer Immediate Response Team (CIRT) will comprise of the national security, cyber security and data protection team.
“We established what we call, a Computer Immediate Response Team (CIRT) based in the national communication authority. This month (August) it will be actually launched. That will track and protect all the content, and even will protect misinformation and disinformation.”
“We see that in social media, many people are just vilifying against people, talking rubbish against people. Then this team will really monitor everything, whatever you do, it will be monitored. These teams comprise actually different entities including; national security, cyber security and data protection.”
“So we managed to establish it and is now finished, we will actually launch this month,” Maiju stated.
Regarding the monetization of online content through social media monetized platforms, Maiju said, the ministry is working on a data protection policy that will be presented to the cabinet for deliberations.
“We have a data protection law that will be tabled to a council of ministers and parliament. If that is passed and okay we can be able to create many things like YouTube and whatever to earn something,” he said.
The official spoke during the commemoration of the International Youth Day under the theme “From Click to Progress:” Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development.
There were 1.36 million internet users in South Sudan in January 2024. South Sudan’s internet penetration rate stood at 12.1 per cent of the total population at the start of 2024