Over 24 million Ghanaians connected to the internet; 7.6 million active social media users — Ursula Owusu

There are currently over 24 million Ghanaians connected to the internet with 7.6 million of the population being active social media users.

The revelation was made by the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful at a Minister’s press briefing at the Ministry of Information on Sunday, September 1.

In her address, she said Ghana is currently ranked 15^th among countries where citizens spend the most time on social media.

“Ghana’s internet access rate as of January 2024 also stood at 24.6 million representing 69.8% of the population. Datareportal also reports that Ghana is home to 7.4 million social media users in January 2024, equating to 21.5% of the total population. We are one of the most active social media users on the continent and so that exposes us to the dangers out there,” Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said.

READ MORE: National Cyber Security Awareness Month launched with focus on combating misinformation, disinformation

With this data and a study by the University of Oxford (2024) revealing that social media platforms were used to spread misinformation and disinformation in 81 countries, the Minister stated that it is important for all stakeholders to support the 2024 Cyber Security Awareness Month.

She indicated that this is because the deliberate use of digital platforms to spread misinformation can stoke unimaginable insecurity for the country, especially ahead of the 2024 general election.

“We cannot overemphasise the urgent imperative for all actors to ensure that while celebrating the positive impact of digital we need to work to mitigate the negative impact,” Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said.

In his address, the Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako explained that the aim of this year’s National Cyber Security Awareness Month is to raise awareness about the pervasive nature of misinformation/disinformation and its potential impact on electoral integrity, peace, and security.

“It is important to intensify the education of stakeholders including the public and the media and communications fraternity on how to detect and report misinformation to stop it from spreading,” said.

He appealed to the media to take the issue of misinformation seriously and cross-check information before publishing same to their audience.