{"id":40458,"date":"2025-10-15T10:51:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T08:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=40458"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:51:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T08:51:24","slug":"cyber-threats-undermining-media-integrity-regulator-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/15\/cyber-threats-undermining-media-integrity-regulator-warn\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber threats undermining media integrity, regulator warn"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Director General for Media Compliance at the South Sudan Media Authority has warned that cyber threats like impersonation, data theft, and AI misuse are eroding journalism and public trust.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a media forum in Juba organized by the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS), the Director General, Sapana Abuyi raised concern over the growing impact of cyber threats on journalism.<\/p>\n

He noted that while technology offers many benefits, it has also become a serious threat to journalism. \u201cCriminals are using fake social media accounts to impersonate journalists and credible media houses, damaging reputations and scamming the public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He noted that nearly eight such cases had been reported over the past three months alone to the Media Authority empathizing that such pages were taken down only to be quickly recreated.<\/p>\n

The forum, held under the theme “Role of Journalists in Promoting Justice in South Sudan,” brought together media stakeholders to discuss the press\u2019s role in advancing justice and tackling the challenges facing journalists.<\/p>\n

Abuyi revealed that the Media Authority, in collaboration with the National Communication Authority\u2019s Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT), is actively addressing such cybercrimes to protect journalists and media institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur CIRT team has the capacity and constant contact with the media. When such cases come to us, we file them with CIRT to protect your image and data,\u201d he added, urging journalists and media outlets to be cautious of fake online profiles claiming to represent them.<\/p>\n

The Director General also cited the growing influence of artificial intelligence, which he said is being misused to generate fake images and videos.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI can now create a human being like you, resemble you, and speak like you. You may see a picture that looks like Donald Trump, but it is not him. This is the situation we are in today,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

He warned that misinformation powered by AI poses a significant threat to truth and accountability in the media. While acknowledging the benefits of technology in expanding access to information, he also cautioned that it has exposed society especially young people to harmful content such as pornography and false information.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we are not in control, our children are exposed to all sorts of things online. Facebook has become anti-journalism; it is killing our journalism. It\u2019s undermining our profession,\u201d added Abuyi.<\/p>\n

He urged social media users to act responsibly, warning that content shared online can remain accessible long after it is posted even beyond one\u2019s lifetime. \u201cWe, as regulators, advise: if you are using social media, use it responsibly. What goes online can remain long after you\u2019re gone,\u201d he stressed<\/p>\n

Abuyi urged journalists to uphold professional standards and ensure accuracy in their reporting to help rebuild public confidence in the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must improve the quality of what we report. What you write as a journalist is taken as fact. If we lose that credibility, then journalism itself is at risk,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n

On legal safeguards for the media, Advocate Elijah Mayual urged journalists to seek pre-publication legal advice to avoid defamation risks stating; \u201cMany of you think the role of lawyers is only in court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lawyer can help you before publication by reviewing an article that might be defamatory. I can tell you this article doesn\u2019t go on, and if it does and someone complains, I will defend you,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The forum\u2019s discussions highlighted ongoing concerns around media safety, misinformation, and legal risks, as journalists in South Sudan continue to navigate a complex and fast-evolving information landscape.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement The Director General for Media Compliance at the South Sudan Media Authority has warned that cyber threats like impersonation, data theft, and AI misuse are eroding journalism and public trust. Speaking at a media forum in Juba organized by the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS),[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":40459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Abuyi.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40460,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40458\/revisions\/40460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}