Reported by Emmanuel Garjiek
Women leaders, journalists, and lawmakers in South Sudan have raised alarm over rising online harassment, cyberbullying, and AI-driven misinformation, warning that these threats could undermine women\u2019s political participation ahead of the December 2026 elections.
The concerns were voiced during a two-day workshop in Juba on communication, public speaking, and digital outreach, organized by the Female Journalists Network (FJN) with support from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Oliver Mori, spokesperson of South Sudan\u2019s National Assembly, said digital platforms were increasingly shaping political debate but also exposing women to abuse. \u201cPublic opinion is shaped online. Policies are debated online. Campaigns are mobilised online,\u201d he noted. \u201cBut while the digital space has opened opportunities, it has also introduced challenges, especially for women.\u201d Mori cited harassment, hate speech, and targeted intimidation, adding that parliament had passed the Cybercrimes and Computer Misuse Act to address online abuse. \u201cThe Act was designed not to suppress freedom of expression, as some may speculate, but to create responsibility, accountability and protection within the digital space,\u201d he said.
Information Minister Ateny Wek Ateny warned of manipulated images and videos being used to spread misinformation. \u201cArtificial intelligence (AI) is used for medicine, agriculture, education, and innovation,\u201d he said. \u201cNow it is being used to destroy families here in South Sudan.\u201d He described cases where women\u2019s images were allegedly altered and inserted into pornographic material, stressing that low literacy levels made communities vulnerable. \u201cOur people are only 34 percent literate. The majority can easily believe manipulated content,\u201d he said, urging women journalists to educate communities about misinformation.
Elizabeth Pita Lugor, Central Equatoria State Minister of Gender and Social Welfare, highlighted cultural barriers. \u201cWhen a man talks powerfully, it is accepted, but if a woman speaks strongly, there are double standards,\u201d she said, noting that stereotypes often undermine women\u2019s confidence in public communication.
Dr. Musa Yerro, representing UNMISS, emphasized that women\u2019s participation was vital to South Sudan\u2019s peace process. \u201cThe 35 percent quota is not just a political commitment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a recognition that peace, democracy, and prosperity are not possible without women\u2019s full and equal participation.\u201d
Leila Osman of the Female Journalists Network said women journalists continue to work under difficult conditions. \u201cThrough this workshop, we aim to strengthen women\u2019s communication skills and visibility so that their voices can be heard clearly and effectively,\u201d she said.
Participants agreed that empowering women to engage safely online will be essential as political campaigning and civic debate increasingly move into digital spaces ahead of next year\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reported by Emmanuel GarjiekWomen leaders, journalists, and lawmakers in South Sudan have raised alarm over rising online harassment, cyberbullying, and AI-driven misinformation, warning that these threats could undermine women\u2019s political…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7016,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions\/7016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}