Child online protection advocates, J. Initiative, is calling on government to institute a rigid child online protection regime to protect children on the internet.

According to them, the digital illiteracy in the country requires an appropriately led government agencies action, backed by technology industry procedures and appropriate legislation to provide a child-friendly system for its citizens.

In 2015, government initiated a campaign to make the internet a safe place for especially children and young people who find the resource a very useful tool.

Government subsequently released images that contained information and advice for young people who use the internet. 

The intervention provided by government was to help promote safety for young people using the Internet as well as guidance on how to make the internet a better place.

But three years on, J. Initiative believes government has to do more in the area of education and legislation in order to protect children online.

The organization explains literacy is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories and thus offers a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity, a reason government should invest in it. 

"Digital Literacy to a young person is the ability to identify and use technology confidently and creatively, to effectively meet the demands and challenges of living, learning, communicating and working in a digital society," the statement said.

A curriculum review done by J. Initiative into the ICT syllabi of the Ghanaian schools has revealed the skills being taught in public schools in Ghana do not and cannot prepare the Ghanaian child for the future as may be the case. 

"Each time in our work, we try to get out audience to understand that you will be doing your child a lot of harm if you treat their protection in the digital world differently from the physical because the same measure of protection and even more is what is required in the digital world," they revealed.

The Organization believes the Internet has a role to play in the health and wellbeing of children and young people and thus, it is important any lesson on these subject matter takes into consideration the literacy and citizenship in order to build the learners holistically for the future. 

In furtherance of that, the organization says it was saddened by the number of young people engaging in what is called high-risk behaviour online which exposes the young person to online sexual solicitation leading to high risk behaviour online - such as sending out personal information to strangers or talking online to strangers about sex - and wants government to act with the speed of light to protect the children.

"The Internet-related sexual exploitation activities directly or indirectly result in offline situations of sexual abuse directed at children, therefore it is important children and young people are equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to be able to respond and react appropriately when situations occur online,"  the statement ended