Arnold Asamoah-Baidoo is an entertainment journalist
Entertainment journalist Arnold Asamoah-Baidoo has criticized the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) over what he said has been a failure on its part to arrest individuals and handlers of portals who published sexually explicit content on various platforms since the authority’s establishment in 2021.
CSA has been established by the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) to regulate cybersecurity activities in the country; to promote the development of cybersecurity in the country and to provide for related matters.
It officially started operations on 1st October 2021; starting as the National Cyber Security Secretariat (NCSS) with the appointment of the National Cybersecurity Advisor in 2017 and later transitioned into the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in 2018 as an agency under the then Ministry of Communications.
After the body arrested celebrity blogger Sammy Kay on November 16, 2023, and handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service for allegedly publishing sexually explicit material and unlawfully using images of CSA officials, many have shared their views on the subject.
In a statement issued by CSA regarding Sammy Kay’s arrest, reference was made to “a publication on some social media platforms, containing sexually explicit material and unlawful use of the images of Cyber Security Authority (CSA) officials by Samuel Dortey Kumah, owner of Sammykaymedia.”
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However, Arnold in a submission on UTV’s United Showbiz hosted by MzGee and monitored by GhanaWeb, said the statement was opaque. He argued that Sammy Kay only shared a picture of a man and associated it with the trending sexually explicit video but never shared the said video as stated in CSA’s release.
“The release is very opaque,” said Arnold. “They say Sammy Kay projected sexually explicit content. Which content? There is no explanation as to the exact content he shared in that regard. As far as I know, he didn’t share such content. He didn’t.”
Arnold continued: “He [Sammy Kay] rather made reference to the material trending on Twitter. Sammy Kay’s crime is actually placing the cyber security authority official’s picture on his portal and relating it to the trending video.”
Arnold contended that the Cyber Security Authority's (CSA) swift actions were driven by the fact that the shared picture implicated one of their own. He firmly believed that had the subject of the image not been affiliated with the authority, their response would have differed. Arnold pointed to a perceived bias, emphasizing that this incident wasn't the first time a sexually explicit video had circulated on social media since the CSA's inception in 2021.
According to Arnold, the authority's reaction seemed selective, raising questions about their consistent application of rules and regulations.
“The authority is a regulator. I applaud them,” he said. “But since 2021 when we created this authority, are they saying they’ve never seen any portal or individual share sexually explicit content? Don’t you see what goes on Snap and other platforms?”
“In the last couple of years, when the police arrest people, they release statements to that effect; when did you hear that someone has been arrested for sharing sexually explicit content? So, you mean you’ve not arrested anyone for the past three years? Because the issue directly affects one of you, you’ve gone to arrest Sammy Kay. The cyber security wouldn’t have cared if the matter didn’t concern their won. They should sit up,” he said.
Blogger Sammy Kay
Meanwhile, Arnold has sympathized with the CSA official whose photograph was shared.
“I can understand how the Cyber Security gentleman felt at that particular time. Mostly, because of the proliferation of blogs, such an issue can be devastating when you’re the subject,” said Arnold. “The kind of negative news that went around, his coworkers and family… it is serious. Misrepresentation of stories has been going on for long; it’s unfortunate Sammy Kay is being used as the scapegoat but it’s something that needs to be tackled.”
What exactly did Sammy Kay circulate?
While the statement did not explicitly describe the images Sammy Kay shared, checks on his social media platforms revealed that the blogger had issued an apology which was accompanied by a photo of a gentleman in a white T-shirt with the inscription: "National Cyber Security Awareness Programme."
His apology shared on November 15, 2023, at 9.42 am read: "Upon further investigations, we found out this picture above is not the same person in the video circulating yesterday on Twitter.
"We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the post we initially made and we deeply regret our actions in pairing this picture with Abena Korkor’s picture."
The Abena Korkor factor
On Wednesday, November 15, a sexually explicit video emerged online. In the said video which went viral on Twitter, a man was seen naked masturbating. At the top right corner of the same video was an unidentified woman who was equally masturbating sending the indication the two who were away from each other were having phone sex.
Some tweeps, without evidence, alleged that the video was released by Abena Korkor, citing a threat she issued after her bedroom video emerged online earlier. Abena had threatened to release adult videos of two persons she accused of leaking her video.
A Plus shoots down claims
Amidst the controversy and widespread condemnation directed at the individual featured in a video and the 'associated photograph,' musician, satirist, and politician Kwame Asare Obeng (A Plus) vehemently refuted the assertion that the two individuals were one and the same.
"I don't know if he has undergone cosmetic surgery recently because the person in the viral video and my friend are two totally different people," his post read.
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