07/05/2026
The Presidents of the Liberia Information Technology Students Union (LITSU) had the honor of serving as speakers at the recently concluded Youth Internet Governance Forum. This event brought together young leaders and professionals in the technology sector to discuss critical issues facing our digital community.
During my presentation, I highlighted the internet and digital challenges confronting young ICT students and professionals. I also shared insights on potential government interventions and emphasized the vital role LITSU continues to play in positively impacting the lives of young people within the tech community.
Addressing Affordability and Poor Connectivity in Rural Areas
For youth living outside urban centers, high data costs combined with unreliable connectivity create significant disadvantages that affect nearly every aspect of their lives.
Education: When rural students cannot reliably stream lessons, download textbooks, or participate in online study groups, they fall behind their urban peers. This limits access to research tools, scholarship opportunities, and exam preparation, widening the achievement gap over time.
Economic Opportunities: Many emerging income-generating activities such as freelancing, online entrepreneurship, mobile money, and remote work depend on affordable, stable internet. Without it, young people are pushed toward low-paying local jobs or unemployment, missing out on digital economy benefits.
Civic Participation: Increasingly, government services, public consultations, scholarship announcements, and youth empowerment initiatives are hosted online. Rural youth lacking reliable access are effectively excluded from these vital platforms, reinforcing urban-centric decision-making.
Social and Psychological Well-being: Isolation from peers, news, and cultural content fosters feelings of being "left behind" or "invisible." This sense of exclusion can lead to disengagement, urban migration, or vulnerability to negative influences promising opportunity.
The root causes include expensive data relative to household income, weak or unstable infrastructure, unreliable electricity, and the high costs of smartphones and laptops.
Online Risks and Community Responses
The online environment presents various risks, which have become more sophisticated but generally fall into these categories:
Misinformation and Disinformation: Fake health claims, manipulated political content, and viral rumors spread rapidly, especially among young users who lack verification tools.
Cyberbullying and Harassment: Incidents like image-based abuse, group attacks, and targeted harassment—particularly of girls and young women often go unreported due to stigma.
Financial Scams: Fake job offers, investment schemes, romance scams, and phishing target young people seeking opportunities.
Sexual Exploitation: Grooming, sextortion, and non-consensual sharing of intimate images cause severe psychological and reputational harm.
Privacy and Data Exposure: Oversharing, weak passwords, and apps collecting data without consent pose significant risks.
Mental Health: Algorithm-driven content can fuel anxiety, body-image issues, and addictive behaviors.
Community-led responses are most effective. These include training peer educators in schools and community centers to promote digital literacy, establishing safe reporting channels, involving parents, partnering with local media, and urging telecom providers to offer accessible safety tools and local-language resources.
Recommendations for Positive Outcomes
Focusing on tangible results rather than activities, I propose the following:
Affordable Rural Connectivity: Advocate for subsidized data, community Wi-Fi hubs, and investment in rural infrastructure to narrow the urban-rural data gap.
Device Access Programs: Implement schemes for refurbished laptops, affordable smartphones, and shared devices in community centers.
Digital Literacy in Education: Incorporate lessons on verifying information, protecting privacy, recognizing scams, and respectful online behavior to cultivate a critically-minded generation.
Youth-led Media Campaigns: Empower young people to create relatable safety messages in local languages, distributed through platforms they trust.
Reporting and Support Systems: Establish confidential pathways for reporting cyber incidents, linked to trained counselors, legal aid, and law enforcement for swift action.
Mental Health Support: Recognize online harms as mental health issues and equip community health workers to support affected youth, reducing long-term psychological impacts.
Inclusive Policy Engagement: Ensure youth from rural areas have permanent representation in policymaking related to digital governance, telecom regulation, and education reform.
Participating in this forum was invaluable. It allowed me to connect with passionate young individuals and reaffirm our collective responsibility to advocate for better digital inclusion and governance. As part of my role, I will continue reporting and providing policy advice on youth-related digital issues these are indeed top priorities.
We extend our gratitude to everyone who made this forum a success. LITSU appreciates the fruitful partnerships that contributed to this important dialogue.