Examining Media Portrayals of and Approaches to Cybercrimes in Botswana

15/May/2015

CRIMINAL JUSTICE DISSERTATION Examining Media Portrayals of and Approaches to Cyber-

crimes in Botswana

Student Name: Tshephaone Reasentse Student ID: 201104855 Supervisor: Miss. C. Behrens Course Code: CJS 421 Course Name: Research Project Faculty: Social Sciences Department: Sociology Programme: BA: Criminal Justice Studies

Research submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice Studies (Single Major)

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In loving memory of my beloved grandmother who contributed so much on my life, my personal and

professional growth, may her soul rest in peace!

Mrs. Emily Mosidi Bogatsu (1933-2015)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I must first acknowledge my gratitude to Miss. Camden Behrens whose guidance, supervision for this

dissertation is unrivalled, and also for her meticulous attention to the details of this dissertation.

Credit is also due to other people who offered timeless support and profoundly inspired me namely;

Prof. J. Kiggundu, Prof. K. Acheampong, Prof. D. Sebudubudu, Dr. I.S. Malila, Dr. G. Faimau, Dr. D.

Mpabanga, Dr. R. Kumar, Dr. V.B. Lunga, Dr. Mooko, Dr. N. Swartz, Dr. K. Setlhare, Mrs. M.K.

Gaborone, Mrs. K.T.O. Mashaka, Mr. T. Ntsabane, Mrs. E. Alexander, Mr. P.B. Gunda, Mrs. R. Segokgo,

Mr. G.G. Makofi, Mrs. K. More, Mrs. V. Sekgwathe and lastly to my colleagues, criminal justice

scholars class of 2015.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT..1

1. INTRODUCTION.1

1.1. Importance of Research...2

1.2. Background to the Study..2

1.3. Statement of the problem..3

2. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES..4

2.1. Aim of the Study.4

2.2. Objectives of the Study.4

3. LITERATURE REVIEW.4

3.1. Review of relevant literature on prevalence of cybercrimes.5

3.1.1. Worldwide.5

3.1.2. African Continent.6

3.1.3. Republic of Botswana7

3.2. Cybercrime Media Reporting7

3.2.1. Theoretical Frameworks.8

3.2.2. United States of America8

3.2.3. Republic of Botswana...8

3.3. Legal Situation of Cybercrime (intra and inter jurisdictional measures).10

3.3.1. Republic of Botswana.10

3.3.2. Republic of South Africa11

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..12

4.1. Research Design..12

4.2. Sample and Sampling Method..13

4.3. Data Collection.13

4.4. Data Display and Analysis.14

5. LIMITATION(S) OF THE STUDY.14

6. ETHICAL CONCERNS...15

7. DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION.15

7.1. Daily News Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)15

7.2. Sunday Standard Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)..16

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7.3. The Voice Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)..17

7.4. The Mmegi Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)..18

7.5. The Midweek Sun Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)19

7.6. Online Botswana Guardian Newspaper (From 2008-2015)19

7.7. Botswana Gazette Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)..20

7.8. Echo Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)..20

8. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS...21

9. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION(S).25

10. PLAGIARISM DECLARATION...26

11. REFERENCES27

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ACRI African Cyber Risk Institute

BPS Botswana Police Service

CSI Crime Scene Investigation

CEMAC Central African Economic and Monetary Union

CoE Council of Europe

DCEC Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime

DISS Director of Intelligence and Security Services

DDoS Distributed Denial-of-Service

EAC East African Communities

ECOWAS East African Community of West African States

ECTA Electronic Communications Transactions Act

EU European Union

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigations

ICT Information and Computing Technology

INTERPOL International Criminal Police Organization

MISA Media Institute of Southern Africa

MLA Mutual Legal Assistance

PC Personal Computer

PROATIA Promotion of Access to Information Act

RICPCTIA Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of

Communication Related Information Act

RSA Republic of South Africa

SADC Southern African Development Community

SSA Sub Sahara Africa

USA United States of America

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ABSTRACT

This dissertation examines the media representations of and approaches to cybercrimes specifically

in Botswana. In a bid to examine and establish such media representations of cybercrime, data was

collected from seven (7) Botswana online newspapers namely; Daily News, The Echo, Botswana

Guardian, Sunday Standard, The Voice, The Midweek Sun and Mmegi. The argument of this paper is

that cybercrimes in general are underreported by the media despite the economic and other negative

consequences that results from these crimes. In addition, there are more potential victims of

cybercrimes in Botswana therefore cybercrime education is paramount to prevent multiple

victimization of cybercrimes and policing of cybercrimes. Moreover the media often reports and

narrates the outcomes of cybercrime court cases focusing more on the offender thus neglecting the

victims of cybercrimes. Lastly the commonly reported types of cybercrimes are, cyber fraud and card

cloning.

Key Words: Cybercrimes, Media representations

1. INTRODUCTION

Cybercrime in and of itself is of great concern globally, unlike more traditional forms of

communication, the Internet allows users to communicate with many people, cheaply and easily. The

estimated 1.6 billion people on the Internet, approximately 24 per cent of the worlds population,

provide an unprecedented pool of potential offenders and victims of cybercrimes (Clough, 2007),

moreover the expanding wave of Internet connectivity and digital technologies bring us a lot of

convenience, at the same time they also offer criminals more chance to commit crime (Sekgathe &

Talib, 2011). According to Aas, (2007) cybercrime is an elusive phenomenon and can cover a number

of acts and activities1. Wall (2001: 2 in Aas, 2007) points out that the term has no specific referent in

law2 and is a concept mainly invented by the media but consensus is that crimes committed on the

cyberspace are cybercrimes hereinafter defined as, the use of a computer as an instrument to

1 These can either be the target of the offence, such as when the offender steals information from or cause damage to the computer system, or a tool by which offence is facilitated, such as fraud or the distribution of child pornography (Gooch & Williams, 2007). 2You will seldom find a clear and fixed definition of cybercrime in the interpretation section of a cybercrime statute but the overall aim of that statute (International, Regional or National) will seek to address and/or combat cybercrimes vide Council of Europe (COE) Convention on Cybercrime, (2001) and Botswana Cybercrime and Computer related Crimes Act of 2007.

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further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual

property, stealing identities, or violating privacy (Cybercrime, 2015).

1.1. Importance of Research

What is vital to discuss is that the media on the other hand plays a pivotal role in reporting incidence

of crimes in general because individuals generally cannot get sufficient information on their own to

make informed decisions on public matters, so they rely on media to provide information therefore,

free media helps ensure that the democratic principle of publicity sometimes referred to as

transparency is satisfied (Media Freedom, 2015). The media also serves as a watchdog by scrutinising

and criticising public officials over the way they manage public affairs (Balule, 2008) and also

addresses issues of national security, cybercrimes being one of them. Therefore with all that said the

purpose of this study was to examine the media reports in relation to the incidence or occurrence of

cybercrimes and establish whether such reports truly reflects the gravity and extent of cybercrimes

in Botswana. Furthermore, various online newspapers both state and private print media were

explored and perused to decipher the portrayals of cybercrimes in general. However, it is worth

mentioning that researcher found very little relevant studies or research done in Botswana on media

representations of cybercrimes. This shows that there is a gap in the information on cybercrime and

media reporting in Botswana, and this makes the study more pertinent.

1.2. Background to Study

It is evident that the use of modern technology and the cyberspace has not only improved the lives

of individuals in a civil society but also to administration of governments and government service

delivery in most states. The proliferation of digital technology, and the convergence of computing

and communication devices, has transformed the way in which we socialise and do business. While

overwhelmingly positive, there has also been a dark side to these developments. Proving the maxim

that crime follows opportunity, virtually every advance has been accompanied by a corresponding

niche to be exploited for criminal purposes. Our increasing dependence on computers and digital

networks makes the technology itself a tempting target; either for the gaining of information or as a

means of causing disruption and damage. (Clough, 2007). In addition, according to Sekgwathe, (2014)

she is of the view that the exact impact of cybercrime is often underestimated or unknown hence the

disastrous economic impact of these attacks are not well established, this phenomena however

prompted the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to make e-security or cyber

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security the third unit of its mission because of the unknown disastrous economic impacts of

cybercrime as mentioned above.

Furthermore with the advent of cybercrimes which are regarded a global concern as these crimes do

no occur within country boundaries. In order to address this cross-border crimes, countries had had

to come together to device ways in which cybercrime can be prevented. Amongst others, the 2001

European Convention on Cybercrime also known as the Budapest Convention. The Convention on

cybercrime3 was set up to ensure that countries participate and adopt appropriate legislation hence

harmonization of domestic laws, this Convention however represents a comprehensive international

response to the problems of cybercrime4. The need for harmonization of laws came as a result of the

principle in international law that Countries are understandably protective of their right to impose

their own standards under their domestic criminal law, countries may even see opportunities to

establish themselves as data havens, providing maximum privacy and minimal regulation of content

hosted there. For others, particularly in the developing world, cybercrime may simply not be a priority

(Clough, 2007). This was confirmed by the Attorney General of Botswana (Molokomme A. L., 2012)

in her address to Octopus Cybercrime Conference in France that in Botswana, it was felt that we

had other more pressing challenges that need our attention, resources and time, more than issues

which did not seem to affect the day-to-day lives of ordinary citizens, such as cybercrime.

1.3. Statement of Problem

In the 2014 state of the Nation address by President S.K.I. Khama stated that the ever changing

environment in the policing landscape presents new challenges such as the growing

sophistication of violent, serious and intrusive, transnational, organized and cybercrimes. Many

Batswana are also falling prey to online as well as more conventional conmen (Khama, 2013).

This is corroborated by Colarik, (2006) that cybercriminals have become skilled and been targeting

asserts to sell because cyberspace encompasses multinational jurisdiction, cybercriminals circumvent

prosecution by operating in countries that have either weak or non-existent computer crime law, or

lack the resources for strong enforcement.

3 The Convention on Cybercrime remains the most influential international treaty dealing with breaches of law over the internet or other information networks (Anonymous, Handbook of European data Protection Law, 2014). 4 The Convention also provides for procedural powers covering search of computer networks and interception of communications in the context of fighting cybercrimes.

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The media has shown has made their observations on this issue of cybercrimes for example, online

media reports such as Sunday Standard claim that Botswana is a global cybercrime hotspot5. From

this article in that paper it was stated that Botswana has been identified as a potential cybercrime

hotspot which provides organized cybercrime with the ability and the hosting capacity to attack

western countries. This emerged in a research project launched by the International Cyber Security

Protection Alliance to identify how cyber-attacks are likely to evolve over the next eight years. This

research however, has explored the way in which media reporting of cybercrimes is framed, whether

such reports truly reflects the nature and extent of cybercrimes in Botswana. Henceforth, various

online media reports were collected for examination.

2. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

2.1. Aim of the Study

The aim of this research is examining the media representations of cybercrimes in Botswana.

2.2. Objectives of the Study

2.2.1. To assess the extent to which the media in Botswana portrays incidents of cybercrimes

2.2.2. To examine the vulnerability of the users of the cyberspace as reported by the media

2.2.3. To find out the impact of media reporting of cybercrimes on victims and offenders of

cybercrimes

2.2.4. To find out the type of cybercrimes that are reported by the media in Botswana

2.2.5. To establish a nexus between cybercrime reporting patterns and the individual journalists

3. LITERATURE REVIEW

In this section, the review of literature has been categorized into three (3) parts viz; i) Prevalence of

Cybercrime worldwide, ii) Cybercrime Media Reporting and lastly iii) Legal Situation of Cybercrimes

(Inter and Intra-jurisdictional measures). These categories provides an overview on the complexities

of cybercrime and media reporting thereof. As indicated above in the rationale of the research, in

the searching for relevant research on the topic of media representation of cybercrimes, the

researcher could find very little relevant studies or research done in Botswana. Therefore, I relied on

studies conducted in some countries in Africa, Europe and North America.

5 (Anonymous, Sunday Standard Online Edition. Botswana is Global Cybercrime Hotspot, 2012)

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3.1. Review of relevant literature on prevalence of cybercrimes

3.1.1. Worldwide

Studies conducted on the subject cybercrime shows that cybercrime is a growing concern not only

nationally but also internationally. On a global scale, research (The 2013 Norton Cybercrime report)

indicates that 64% of males, compared to 58% of females, are more likely to become victims of

cybercrime6. It also suggests that the highest numbers of cybercrime victims are found in Russia

(85%), China (77%) and South Africa (73%)7. Innocent populace are falling prey to cheats, threats,

money and identity losses, sexual abuses etc. especially on the cyberspace, and most of the victims

around the World especially in developing countries, are still ignorant of their rights on the Web and

the methodology to bring a culprit to book (Sekgathe & Talib, 2011). Moreover, the 2013 Norton

Cybercrime report suggests that 50% of online adults have been victims of cybercrime and/or

negative situations in 12 month period and 41% of online adults have become victim of malware,

viruses, hacking, scams, fraud and theft. Only 3 in 10 adults (31%) however, thought they were more

likely to become a victim of online, rather than offline crime. The 2011 Norton report also indicated

a 3% rise in overall cybercrime since the 2010 survey and reported the most common (and most

preventable) type of cybercrime remained computer viruses or malware8. In addition, the CSI/FBI

Computer Crime and Security Survey in (Clough, 2007) shows that in previous years the most common

category of attack was virus, worm or Trojan infections (64% in 2005). In 2006 the survey split this

category into two new categories, virus or worm infections and Trojan or rootkit infections: forty-

five per cent of respondents experienced virus or worm infections, 21% experienced Trojan or rootkit

infections while 18% experienced both. The relatively high level of attack by Trojans and rootkits

reflects a broader trend of such malware being utilised for ID theft and the creation of botnets9.

6 The report further showed that almost of the tablet and smartphone consumers leave security behind i.e. they do not use basic precautions such as passwords, security software or back up files for their mobile device. 7 The report (op cit) shows that Consumers security IQ is high on Personal Computers (PC), and low on mobile phones because 90% of PC users delete suspicious emails from people they dont know unlike 6% of mobile users. 72% of PC users have at least a basic free antivirus solution unlike 33% of mobile users and lastly, 78% of PC users avoid storing sensitive files online as dissimilar to 48% of mobile users. 8 A generic term (short for malicious software) covering a range of software programs and types of programs designed to attack, degrade or prevent the intended use of a computer network e.g. viruses, worms and/or Trojans (Gooch & Williams, 2007). 9 A program which infects a targeted computer and allows it to be controlled remotely.

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A survey released in 2013 by the Ditch the Label anti-bullying charity sampled 10,008 young people

aged between 13-22 years old. Out of the 10,008, 67% were from the United Kingdom, 17% from the

United States of America, 12% from Australia and 4% from other countries. The report identified

different levels of cyberbullying10 across different social networks, showing that: i) 7 out of 10 young

people have been victims of cyber-bullying, and ii) 37 % have experienced cyber-bullying on a highly

frequent basis and 20 % have experienced extreme cyber-bullying on a daily basis. The findings also

showed that the most common social networks for cyberbullying were Facebook (54%), Twitter (28%)

and Ask FM (26%).

3.1.2. African Continent

In a research conducted by Akuta, Ong'oa, & Jones, (2011) showed that eventhough the continent of

Africa was regarded as backwards has been able to get a leap into the world of ICT. According to

Internet World Stats, Internet use in Africa had reached 2.3 per cent of the total worldwide use by

December 2007. Africas internet usage from 2000 to 2007 increased by 423.9 per cent compared to

180.3 per cent for the rest of the world. This high number of users in Africa has made the Internet a

popular means of communication as well as opening new opportunities for online enterprise, and

likewise, a similar increase in cyber-criminal activities requiring an increased effort across the region

to strengthen the information infrastructure, educate users in security awareness, and develop

cybercrime regulations (Olowu, 2009). The rapid rate of diffussion of cybercrime in Africa has been a

call for concern. Due to the lack of security awareness programmes or specialised training for the law

enforcement agencies, many online users are becoming victims of cyber-crime attacks and the

incidence of successful attacks is increasing with impunity. This concern even gets more sickening

when literature indicate that, out of the top ten countries in the world with the high level of

cybercrime prevalence, Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) is host to four of these countries (Nigeria11,

Cameroon12, Ghana and South Africa). In addition notwithstanding the aforesaid, cybercrimes by

10 the act of threatening, teasing, ridiculing and embarrassing another person through technological mediums such as social networking websites (for example, Facebook, Twitter and Myspace), texting and Instant Messaging (Merwe, 2015) 11 Nigeria is regarded as the hub or safe haven for cybercrime in the world and has been at the spot light from the international community for its involvement in cybercrime. It is ranked the 3rd in the world behind the USA and Britain and the 1st within the African continent. 12 A 2010 report by the McAfee cybersecurity firmly cites Cameroon as the worlds riskiest destination for internet surfers with more than a third (36.7%) of websites hosted in Cameroon being suspicious (McAfee, 2009)

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their nature are borderless and as a result of this, the SSA countries tried to come up with coordinated

efforts within their regions, in Africa and the wold in general. These efforts have seen Africa Regional

blocks like EAC13, CEMAC, ECOWAS14 and SADC work towards harmonizing, their laws, holding

working sessions to train law enforcement officers and partnering with other international

organizations and companies to fight cybercrimes which has been a success.

3.1.3. Republic of Botswana

In a study by Sekgwathe, (2014) Botswana recorded and reported incident of cybercrimes in the year

2000. In this particular incident, a Bank of Botswana employee electronically transferred over

P2million to an account outside the country from the Bank that he was an employee in [Anonymous,

Botswana Daily News]. This was the first incident of its kind and the country back then did not have

any cyber-crime Act or Information and Communications Act subsequently, the country was left with

no alternative but to use the penal code15 [Fombard CM and Quansah EK; Penal Code Act of Botswana

in Sekgwathe, 2014] despite the fact that technology aided the accused to commit fraud16. This

prompted the country to come up with a cyber-crime bill, which ultimately became the cyber-crime

Act of 2007.

3.2. Cybercrime Media Reporting:

From the outset mass media representations of crime, deviance, and disorder have been a perennial

cause of concern and research (Anonymous, Media Representations and Responsibilities, n.d.) shows

that in general people overestimate the level of crime in their community, and media representations

of crime are thought to be partly responsible for this; The report further shows that there is

widespread concern that the level and type of crime reported in the media presents a distorted view

of the real level of crime in the community; and that this misrepresentation may lead to prejudice

towards certain groups, stereotyping of certain groups, people becoming isolated from their

community through fear of crime, and the imposition of draconian measures to fight crime. The

13 East African Community Task Force on Cyber Laws 14 Economic Community of West African States 15CAP: 08:01 16 Fraud in the literal sense, not cyber-fraud as it should have been the case

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disciplinary role of the media stories about crime, reproducing as well as representing order, is

supported more clearly by research (Maguire, Morgan, & Reiner, 2012). This is partly because media

representations exaggerate the threat of fear of crime and in the main promote policing and

punishment as the antidote. Similarly Pollark, (2007) had the same findings which indicate that news

reporting follows the law of opposites, the characteristics of crime, criminals, and victims

represented in the media are in most respects the polar opposite of the pattern suggested by official

crime statistics. The problem with the above reports is that it did not examine cybercrimes but

instead overgeneralized it as a crime like most traditional forms of crimes despite its uniqueness. In

addition (Reiner,n.d) argues that news reporting of crime and, further, of the particular types of crime

on which journalists disproportionately focus, is selective and unrepresentative. News reporting of

crime victims is equally so.

3.2.1. Theoretical Frameworks

In most qualitative researches such this one I concur with Given, (2008) argument that the term

theoretical frameworks does not have a clear and consistent definition, but for the purpose of this

research it shall be defined as any empirical or quasi-empirical theory17 of social and/or psychological

processes, at a variety of levels (e.g., grand, mid-range, and explanatory), that can be applied to the

understanding of phenomena such as examining the causes of media representations of cybercrimes.

One theoretical concept that is utilized by almost all crime news studies, regardless of other

methodological and theoretical differences, is that of newsworthiness as argued by (Maguire,

Morgan, & Reiner, 2012). News content is generated and filtered primarily through reporters sense

of newsworthiness, what makes a good story that their audience wants to know about. On the issue

of cybercrime media reporting I shall look at the United States of America (USA) and Botswana to

establish the discrepancies and similarities.

3.2.2. United States America (USA)

Researchers such as (Clough, 2007) argued that media reporting of cybercrime may present a

distorted picture. As with other forms of crime, it is tempting to focus on the novel and/or the

17 A theory, in both every day and scientific use, is normally used to denote a model or set of concepts and propositions that pertains to some actual phenomena; a theory can provide understanding of these phenomena or form the basis for action with respect to them. Qualitative researcher do no usually design their research primarily to apply or test formally constructed theories about the topics and settings they study. Instead they normally seek to better understand these topics and settings through their investigations and to inductively develop theory about these from their data. (Given, 2008).

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sensational rather than the mainstream, and stories of computer misuse may be uncritically accepted

and repeated by the journalists. A case in point is that of Aron Caffrey an 18-year-old hacker who was

charged with a target cybercrime18, the defense he pioneered (Trojan horse defence) was that

someone hacked into his computer Turkish hackers and tried to frame him, claiming they regularly

seized control of chat rooms and other Internet sites. He said his computer operating system allowed

remote access and control and therefore was vulnerable to Trojan horse programs and this defence

has been used successfully in cases in which the use of a computer was incidental to the crime.

Brenner, (2010) argued in his observation that If the Trojan horse defense is routinely used to win

acquittals in U.S. cybercrime cases, that is not being reported by the media. Because the media tends

to report the outcome of cases that go to trial, the lack of media reports of Caffrey-style victories

suggests his success may be something of an aberration.


There is very little research conducted in Botswana on the topic Media Representations of

Cybercrime. According to a study conducted by Ernest and Young in Sekgwathe and Talib, (2014) their

findings were that the exact impact of e-crime is often underestimated or unknown hence the

disastrous economic impact of these attacks is not well established. When discussing cybercrime

media reporting in Botswana, it important to highlight the state of press freedom which may be a

factor in cybercrime media reporting and in a report from Botswana Freedom House, (2015) it shows

that while press freedom is not explicitly guaranteed in the constitution of Botswana, clauses

safeguarding freedoms of speech and expression undergird extensive legal protections for media

outlets, and the government generally respects these freedoms in practice. However, the

constitution contains a number of provisions concerning national security, public order and public

morality that can be used to limit media freedom. Moreover cybercrimes are national security issues

so media reporting will be relatively low as opposed to other traditional forms of crimes.

A typical case in point to illustrate the nature of media freedom in Botswana is the recent case that

was published online in the MISA website19 titled Botswana Gazette journalists, Lawyer arrested

over story wherein, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) officers raided the

18 They include hacking, malware, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks 19 (Anonymous, Botswana Gazette Journalist, Lawyer arrested over Story, 2015)

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Botswana Gazette offices shortly after 1400Hrs on May 6, 2015 with a warrant to confiscate

computers and documents of the organization. The following day (May 7), DCEC officers returned

and placed under arrest Shike Olsen, acting Editor Lawrence Seretse and the journalist Innocent

Selatlhwa. It later became evident that the arrests were related to an article published by the Gazette,

titled DCEC foils Chitube, Reatile and Moumakwas alleged P150 million oil deals. The article linked

a deported Zambian national, Jerry Chitube, to illegal activities for Botswanas intelligence arm, the

Directorate on Intelligence and Security Services (DISS), and the ruling Botswana Democratic Party.

This was a concern for MISA Botswana because three Gazette employees were arrested and detained

for almost five (5) hours inside the holding cells of the DCEC. Their lawyer, Joao Salbany was also

arrested and detained, but at a different location at Mogoditshane Police Station (Anonymous,

Botswana Gazette Journalist, Lawyer arrested over Story, 2015).

3.3. Legal Situation of Cyber-crimes (Intra-jurisdictional and Inter-jurisdictional

Measures)


According to Clough, (2007) criminal law is traditionally regarded as local in nature, being restricted

to the territorial jurisdiction in which the offence occurred. Modern computer networks have

challenged that paradigm. As individuals may now communicate overseas as easily as next door,

offenders may be present, and cause harm, anywhere there is an Internet connection. To bring these

statements into context, the Botswana Penal Code of 2005 does not succinctly acknowledge or

capture cybercrimes as offences and has constraints but the Extradition Act addresses issues of

jurisdiction amongst the states provided such states had entered into some extradition treaty with

Botswana. The law enforcement officers are faced with enormous challenges when dealing with

cybercrimes and this was seen in the Voice newspaper claim that Modipane Sex Spree turns into

Rape20, which was later amended in the charge sheet to electronic traffic in pornographic or obscene

material21

The former prosecutor Mr. Ngakaagae, (2010) who was from time to time prosecuting cybercrimes,

explained that whereas there is a framework for mutual legal assistance (MLA) between Botswana

and the countries involved in the fight against cybercrimes, there are no clear lines of communication

20 (Anonymous, Modipane Sex Spree turns into Rape, 2015) 21 Section 16 of Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, CAP: 08:06

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or service level agreements to make cooperation smooth and effective. This legal assistance (MLA)

which form an important part of the fight against cybercrime, are handled by the Directorate of Public

Prosecutions. Notwithstanding that, Botswana has a generous mutual legal assistance legislation

which makes possible, assistance to any country with which Botswana has some reciprocal form of

MLA arrangement. Ngakaagae, (2010) asserted that no agreement exists with the European Union

(EU), and Botswana has not acceded to the EU convention on cybercrime. Botswana cybercrime

legislation however is based on the EU model and borrows heavily (almost word for word) from the

same. With the exception of the absence of a provision specifically enabling real time interception of

traffic data there would appear to be little, if any, legal impediment to requirements for accession,

but in attempting to address the issues relating to the current cybercrime and computed related

crimes act, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security, Segakweng

Tsiane outlined the following strategies put in place by Botswana Government in dealing with cyber

security such as the drafting and reviewing of laws such as Counter terrorism Bill, Proceeds and

Instruments of serious Crime Bill, Human trafficking Bill, Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act and so

on (Anonymous, Botswana workshop advances SADC Cyber Security reforms, 2015).

Ngakaagae, (2010) further alludes to the fact that although it is desirable that Botswana accede to

the EU Convention, true consensus is unachievable. Countries are understandably protective of their

right to impose their own standards under their domestic criminal law, particularly when we consider

the myriad of interests that come into play when seeking to regulate the Internet and other new

technologies. What may be achieved, however, is a broad consensus which can then be built upon in

the future for those areas where there is less international agreement. This is the approach adopted

by the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, the first, and so far the only, multinational

instrument to address issues of cybercrime. (Clough, 2007)

3.3.2. Republic of South Africa (RSA)

It is worth mentioning that South Africa has been ahead of Botswana especially on issues of

legislation in place that deals primarily with cybercrimes. Supplementary this was shown by Snail S.,

(2009) who argued that prior to the enactment of the Electronic Communications Transactions Act

(ECTA), Act 25 of 2002, the common and statutory law at that time could be extended as widely as

possible so as to cater for the arrest and successful prosecution of online offenders in South Africa.

One can easily apply the common law crimes of defamation, indecency (Online child pornography,

decimation of child porn) among other things. There are also other statutes viz; The Interception and

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Monitoring Act, the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication

Related Information Act (RICPCRIA) Act 70 of 2002, the Electronic Communications and Transactions

Act (ECTA) and the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PROATIA) all of which generally prohibits

the unlawful interception or monitoring of any data message which could be used in prosecuting

hacker and crackers.

The ECTA in its entirety comprehensively deals with Cyber-crimes in Chapter XIII and has now created

legal certainty as to what may and not constitute Cyber-crime. (Snail S. , 2009) further contends that

it is refreshing to note that the South African legislature did not make cybercrimes an abstract

concept of legal writing and logically created crimes that do not only cover crime after the advent of

the computer but also before the advent of the computer and that the mere attempt of these crimes

also constitutes a criminal transgression. The crimes as stated in the ECTA are however not exempt

from scrutiny. The enforceability of the ECTA provisions are still to be tested in South African courts

and some legal practitioners and adjudicators (magistrates and judges) need to be educated and

mentally conditioned to embrace the cybercrime provisions of the ECTA. In the case of R v Douvenga

(District Court of the Northern Transvaal, Pretoria, case no 111/150/2003, 19 August 2003,

unreported) the accused, on or about 21 January 2003, in or near Pretoria and in the district of the

Northern Transvaal, intentionally and without permission to do so, gained entry to data which she

knew was contained in confidential databases and/or contravened the provision by sending this data

per e-mail to her fiance (as he then was) to hou (keep). The accused was found guilty of

contravening section 86(1) of the ECT Act and sentenced to a R1 000 fine or imprisonment for a

period of three months. (S L. Geredal (2006) 282). Hacking has now been entrenched in our law in

s86 (1) of the ECTA which makes any unlawful access and interception of data a criminal offence. The

above case illustrate the effectiveness of the South African Cyber law.

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1. Research Design

The research in its entirety was a qualitative research and exploratory22 because the researcher

wanted get an insight on cybercrime media reporting and on this basis, attempt to explain why the

media represents cybercrimes the way they do. Given the short time for this research (3 months),

22 Research in which social phenomena are investigated without priory expectations, in order to develop explanations of them (Bachman & Schutt, 2014)

13 | P a g e

the research was cross-sectional23 that is, data was collected there and then within a period of a

semester (March, April and May 2015). In addition, this was a case study24 in the Botswana context

and relied heavily on secondary data analysis hence most online-newspapers were analysed both

public and private media. The research entailed an extended literature review to supplement the

findings.

4.2. Sample and Sampling Method

Since the research was conducted within a short period of time, for the purpose of Botswana, It was

imperative to provide an overview of the Botswana media by categorizing it into two namely; i) Print

media (Botswana Gazette, Botswana Guardian, Botswana Daily News, Midweek Sun, Sunday

Standard, The Voice and Ngami Times) ii) Broadcast Media (Television: Botswana Television-BTV

which is state owned, Radio: Gabz FM, Radio Botswana 1, Radio Botswana 2, Yarona FM and Duma

FM) (Republic of Botswana-Government portal, 2014). In addition, Radio Botswana and Botswana

Television falls under the department of Broadcasting Services. So my sample was based on online

print media thus simple random sampling25 because there are very few online newspapers to deal

with so, I used (7) private newspapers26 and one (1) public newspaper. The reason being that I had

to be as objective as possible because private media has been framed to be anti-government and

state media pro-government, so I had to consider them both despite the fact that there is only one

state online newspaper.

4.3. Data Collection

As elucidated in the research design above, the research was qualitative therefore the data collection

instrument employed was the document study or analysis of documents27. The newspaper articles

which were perused online from their respective websites were; the Botswana Daily News, Botswana

23 A study in which data are collected at only one point in time. 24 A research approach in which one or more social phenomenon are studied in depth and the advantages are; case studies have been the major source of theoretical innovation and also case studies has an affinity towards descriptive goals (Given, 2008). 25 A method of sampling in which every sample element (e.g. online newspaper) is selected only on the basis of chance, through random process. 26 Botswana Gazette, Botswana Guardian, Botswana Daily News, Sunday Standard, Mmegi, MidWeek Sun, Echo and The Voice 27 The standard approach to the analysis of documents focuses primarily on what is contained within them. In this frame, documents which in my case were online newspapers are viewed as conduits of communication between a writer and a reader-conduits that contain meaningful messages. The most straightforward approach to document content involves the adoption of content analysis which allowed me to concentrate on word and phrase counts as well as numerical measures of textual expression (Given, 2008).

14 | P a g e

Gazette, Botswana Guardian, Mmegi, The Voice, The Echo and Sunday standard online newspapers,

reported online stories from 2008 to 2015 the reason being that the cyber laws were assented by the

cabinet on 2007 so the idea was to see whether the media view this law as a deterrent measure of

these cybercrimes and how this law is administered by courts both on victims and offenders of

cybercrimes.

4.4. Data Display and Analysis

In my blueprint of data analysis, the intention was to analyse the data using the thematic coding and

analysis28 where data collected would be categorised into themes29 all of which describes the various

dimensions of the fact in issue, how the media in Botswana frames cybercrimes so as to ascertain the

trends and patterns of words used, their frequency, their relationships, the structures and discourses

of communication. In addition as stated from above, the research was a case study and the data

collection method was content analysis which is the intellectual process of categorizing qualitative

textual data into clusters of similar entities, or conceptual categories, to identify consistent patterns

and relationships between variables or themes. Lastly, the styles of data display adopted was mixed

methods that is graphic summaries30 and quotes31.

5. LIMITATION(S) OF THE STUDY

This was a desktop research and time factor was the main challenge of this research because three

(3) months was not enough to conduct a well ground-breaking and extensive research on cybercrime

and media reporting which appears on the face of it to be the first of its kind in Botswana as indicated

above in the literature review.

28 Thematic analysis is a data reduction and analysis strategy by which qualitative data are segmented, categorized, summarized and reconstructed in a way that captures the important concepts within the data set (Given, 2008). 29 An idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art or literature, themes typically are derived from codes generated by a qualitative researcher (Given, 2008). 30 These include tables, bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs, matrices, hierarchical relationship indicators and flow charts. All of these provide a quick summary of considerable chunks of data, producing an overall snapshot which can then be more fully explained and illustrated with other forms of qualitative display such as quotes or case studies (Grbich, 2007). 31 This usually involves the display of key quotes. When more than one quote is displayed, the purpose is to demonstrate the variety in responses or to emphasise the concordance of a range of views on a particular issue. In both cases, the display acts as a starter for more detailed explanations or discussions (Grbich, 2007).

15 | P a g e

6. ETHICAL CONCERNS

For this section even though it is important for every academic research, in my case it does not apply

in the sense that the research relied heavily on secondary data and content analysis unlike if it

involved dealing with human beings directly.

7. DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION

As highlighted above, thematic coding was used to analyse the following data. Below is a coding

frame presented in tables showing the hierarchy of codes extracted from various newspapers that I

have perused.

7.1. Daily News Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)

NEWS PAPER

ARTICLE(S)

CODE CATEGORIES/THEMES ANALYTIC CODE

Ballout goes to Jail Cybercrime court

case

Incidence of

cybercrimes

Offender

representation

Anti-cybercrime

workshops

important

Education on

Cybercrime

Vulnerability of the

users of the

cyberspace

Victim

representation

Cybercrimes

extraditable-

Minister

Cybercrime

Legislation

Types of cybercrimes Reporting patterns

and journalists

The coding frame above illustrates how Botswana Daily newspaper which is a state owned newspaper

displays cybercrimes and their occurrence. I must state that from their database within a period of 7

years (2008-2015) only eight (8) articles were retrieved which discussed specifically cybercrimes. This

clearly shows that cybercrimes are underreported as they should. What can be deciphered from the

above table is that the reporter(s) of the daily newspapers tend to focus more on the offenders and

thats what I learned from four (4) Articles which focused more on Joseph Ballout who was facing

cybercrime offenses. On the victim aspect, only one article discussed the vulnerability of the users of

the cyberspace because it stressed on the essence of cybersecurity, this was indicted when it was

16 | P a g e

reported that Ms. Segakweng the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Justice and

Security contended for the need for public education on cybercrime32. The problem with the 8 articles

I read was that daily news journalists tend to omit other important information which would

otherwise give credit to the story such as the case of Ballout where they did not report the victims

position his/her whereabouts and so on. In short the state media does not report incidence of

cybercrimes more often than other crimes in general.

7.2. Sunday Standard Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)

NEWS PAPER ARTICLE(S) CODE CATEGORIES/THEMES ANALYTIC CODE

Cybercrime suspects

remanded

Cybercrime

court case

Incidence of

cybercrimes

Offender

representation

Police commissioner

issues alert on cybercrime

Cybercrime

policing

Reporting patterns of

cybercrime

Offender

representation

Cybercrimes and

cybercriminals

Cybercrime

specific

reporting

Types of cybercrimes Extent of

Cybercrimes

AON survey shows

cybercrime, terror risk are

under-rated by captive

directors

Cybercrime

specific

reporting

Vulnerability of Users

of the cyberspace

Victim

representation

Botswana is global

cybercrime hotspot

Cybercrime

specific

reporting


of the cyberspace

Victim

representation

On the face of it, what can be deduced from the above Sunday standard coding frame is that,

cybercrime representation is fairly good as opposed to the Daily News. From the sixteen (16) articles

I perused where detailed and succinct portraying both offenders and potential victims equally. I must

also state that some reporters of Sunday standard where contradictory in their stories in the sense

that a there would be a mismatch in the title of the story an example is an article titled No Laws in

32 (BOPA, Anti-cybercrime workshops important, 2014)

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Botswana to combat Internet crime published on the 9th February 2012 by Calistus Bosaletswe33,

when you read the contends you will discover that there are laws that attempts to address internet

crimes as he put it, the issue was the difficulty faced by law enforcement to extradite offenders who

committed cybercrime outside Botswana and also to indicate that Cybercrime and Computer Related

crime Act was enacted in 2007 so this results in misinformation. The problem I observed which was

similar to online Daily Newspaper was that the reporting patterns of journalist are more or less the

same in the sense that when they report cybercrimes they either focus solely on the offender or

victim not both which is ideal so that a reader may be able to conclude that the victim of cybercrime

incurred financial losses and the type of assistance he sought. What I can say is that Sunday Standard

reports incidence of cybercrimes in a satisfactory manner because from their stories it clearly shows

various business companies in the private sector and some in the public sector are vulnerable and

likely to become victims of cybercrime should it happen.

7.3. The Voice Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)


Dan Kenosi denied

Bai

Cybercrime court

case

Incidence of

cybercrimes

Offender

representation

An obvious assumption looking at the above coding frame would be under-reporting of cybercrimes

in general by the voice newspaper. It barely reports cybercrime and I must indicate that I managed

to retrieve seven (7) articles all of which had the key word cybercrime. Moreover what I learnt from

this newspaper was that it sensationalise issues before they are verified and title of the stories and

the contents of the story are almost invariably haphazard and inconsistent particularly on

cybercrimes. The way this newspaper reports stories is more of exaggeration which has the effect of

defaming victims of cybercrimes in general. Out of the 7 articles, only one reports on the offender

who was alleged to have committed a cybercrime offence hereinafter Dan Kenosi who was denied

bail34. The type of cybercrime that was reported is distribution of pornographic materials online.

33 (Bosaletswe, 2012) 34 (Matota, 2015)

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7.4. The Mmegi Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)


Cybercrime law gets

teeth

Cybercrime

legislation

Types of cybercrimes Extent of cybercrimes

Facebook, SMS bill

passes

Cybercrime

prosecutorial

procedure

Types of cybercrime Extent of cybercrimes

Cybercrime cases on

the increase

Cybercrime specific

reporting

Types of cybercrime Extent of cybercrimes

cybercrime poses

challenge to the

police

Cybercrime policing Types of cybercrimes Extent of cybercrimes

MISA Press release

on Daniel Kenosi

Cybercrime court

case

Incidence of

cybercrimes

Offender

representation

From the above mmegi coding frame, of the ten (10) articles I perused so far the conclusion would

be that the focus is more on addressing the extent of cybercrime, but there is no specific reference

to victims of cybercrimes at all rather only offenders are included in the story. Mmegi newspaper

acknowledges that cybercrime cases are on the increase and by far the types of cybercrimes reported

involve fraudulent commercial or monetary transactions; and card cloning where skimming devices

are placed in ATM machines to duplicate information from a victims debit card. In fraudulent online

shopping, victims are lured into fully paying for non-existent goods before delivery35.

35 (Anonymous, Cyber crime poses challenge to police, 2015)

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7.5. The Midweek Sun Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)


Modipane trio

arrested on

electronic trafficking

in pornographic

material

Cybercrime reporting Incidence of

cybercrimes

Reporting patterns

and journalists

Guilty verdict test

Botswanas

cybercrime law

Cybercrime court

case

Incidence of

cybercrimes

Cybercrime penalty

Convicted

cybercriminal

thrown in jail

Cybercrime court

case

Incidence of

cybercrimes

Offender

representation

The above Midweek Sun coding frame shows that cybercrime media reporting is poor because I was

able to retrieve only three (3) articles from the database. The problem with these articles was,

cybercrimes were not discussed in detail instead there was constant reference to the Cybercrime and

Computer Related crimes Act. Just like the voice newspaper the, the stories portrays only offenders

of cybercrimes but very little reference is done to the victims thereof.

7.6. Online Botswana Guardian Newspaper (From 2008-2015)


DCEC investigates

digital migration

Cybercrime reporting Incidence of

cybercrime

Extent of cybercrimes

What I can deduce from the four (4) articles that I have read together with interpreting the above

coding frame, firstly Botswana guardian newspaper reports incidence of cybercrime piecemeal and

the way it reports its stories would persuade a reader that cybercrimes are not of public concern.

Secondly, it does not establish both the victims and offenders of cybercrimes but will give a vague

20 | P a g e

reference and only financial consequences of such crimes because in one of the articles was claimed

that Botswanas digital migration will cost the government 1 billion pula (BWP)36.

7.7. Botswana Gazette Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)


Lack of cybercrime

legislation putting

you at risk

Cybercrime

Legislation


of the cyberspace

Victim protection

Botswana gazette has only one (1) article on cybercrimes in their online data base up to date. This

also shows that cybercrimes are under-reported by the newspaper. What can be said is that the

above article or story merely criticizes the Cybercrime and Computer Related crimes Act in that it

does not fully protect victims of cybercrime. The newspaper alleges that 60% of people still use a

single email for everything, not knowing that it provides easy access for hackers which shows that a

significant number of people are vulnerable to cybercrimes.

7.8. Echo Online Newspaper (From 2008-2015)


Cyber-crime biggest

threat to economy

Education on

Cybercrime

Types of cybercrimes Extent of cybercrimes

Cyber-criminal jailed Cybercrime court

case

Incidence of

cybercrimes

Offender

representation

Metrotech to Host

cyber-crime summit

Education on

Cybercrime

Incidence of

cybercrimes

Extent of cybercrimes

Apart from the obvious contention that Echo online newspaper under-reports cybercrimes, on the

article cyber-crime biggest threat to economy37 has unpacked the complexities of cybercrimes and

has clearly defined cybercrime in express terms to mean illegal or illicit activity committed through

the use of computers and internet which was their first point of discussion. Moreover the reporter

also claims that human trafficking and illegal money transfer and fraud which are now thriving

36 (Anonymous, DCEC investigates digital migration, 2013) 37 (Anonymous, Cyber-Crime; Biggest Threat to Economy, 2014)

21 | P a g e

through the use of computers and internet are now categorized as cyber-crimes. I must also indicate

that the reporter also claims that Botswana has also been ranked as one of the most secretive country

where fraud and illegal financial deals thrive, thus fraud and tax evasion in the business and financial

sector has expressed concern that millions of swindled money from Botswana is siphoned through

countries such as Zimbabwe. The aforesaid article is detailed and satisfactory because it discusses

the types of cybercrimes that occur, the extent of cybercrimes particularly the banking sector and

the report further claims that there is an Non-Governmental Organization called African Cyber Risk

Institute (ACRI) that have a research department, which gathers information from the public and

receive first-hand information from victims who lost money from their banks and it was indicated

that cyber-crime is increasing in phenomenal speed. Botswana have been subjected to millions of

spam the past decade, customers lost money through cyber dating scam, and people lost money

from banks. A lot was learnt from this article and on a lighter note just like other journalists from

other papers, when reporting cybercrime court cases the attention is more on the offender only

which is something common so far.

8. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

It is important to allude to the fact that there is little to no research conducted on media

representation of cybercrimes particularly in Botswana therefore the prime focus in this section

predominantly lies on the correlates between this study and international research as discussed from

the literature review. The findings of this research echoes most of the findings that were discovered

before and upon analysing most online newspaper articles, there was a pattern of reporting that I

observed and some overarching themes which will be discussed in detail in this section. By and large

the media in Botswana generally underreports incidence of cybercrimes because from a period seven

(7) years i.e. from 2008-2015 one would find a range of 1-16 articles/stories on cybercrimes from

each newspaper database as opposed to traditional crimes generally. This finding however affirms

the study that was conducted by (Reiner,n.d) who suggested that news reporting of crime and,

further, of the particular types of crime on which journalists disproportionately focus, is selective and

unrepresentative.

Notwithstanding the above, I must also indicate that the findings of this research shows that,

Botswana media tends to report cybercrime court cases and narrates what transpired from the case.

This reflects (Brenner, 2010) findings that as with other forms of crime, the media tends to report

22 | P a g e

the outcome of cases that go to trial, and stories of computer misuse may be uncritically accepted

and repeated by the journalists. In addition, the findings of this research furthers shows that the story

of Joseph Ballout38 and Daniel Kenosi39 was often repeated by six (6) newspapers from different

media houses i.e. Daily newspaper, Sunday standard newspaper, The Voice newspaper, Mmegi

newspaper, Midweek Sun newspaper and the echo. Furthermore, majority of journalists from various

media house tend to report cybercrimes as crimes that offenders would hardly get bail, which gives

an implication that the courts are unjust in handling cybercriminals, thereby labelling cybercriminals

as guilty before they go to trial. An example was when a journalist (Shapi, 2014) from Daily

Newspaper reports that the presiding magistrate Mrs. Linah Oahile-Mokibe uttered a statement

during trial to the effect that Ballout was man enough to take care of his actions, noting that the

sentence was meant to send a strong message to would-be criminals who might be tempted to act

likewise, another journalist (Pheko, 2014) from The Echo newspaper had the same perspective;

Joseph Ballout found out the hard way that crime does not pay silver haired cybercrime convict

Joseph Ballout will learn his fate today a strong statement that which incriminates an offender. The

findings of this research showed that the media is biased because unlike Joseph Ballouts court case

the perspective was to prejudge him as guilty and that he should taste his own medicine but for

Daniel Kenosis case the perspective was that the state was arbitrarily using its power to persecute

and label innocent offenders. The issue was diverted from cybercrimes as Kenosi was facing to

infringement of media freedom because Daniel Kenosi was and is still a journalist. This is how it was

reported (Matota, 2015); Scores of journalists and members of the public thronged the Village

Magistrate Court on Wednesday morning to offer support to Daniel Kenosi, a young journalist and

publisher who was arrested and jailed last week and also more people were interviewed namely;

BPS Public Relations Officer Mr. Christopher Mbulawa and MISA Botswana spokesperson, an extract

from the voice newspaper and mmegi newspaper (Matota, 2015: MISA press release on Daniel

Kenosi, 2015);

In a press statement MISA noted that the Acts used to charge Kenosi may not pass

constitutional muster because they are too wide and, therefore, are an unreasonable

infringement of section 12 (1) of the Constitution which provides for freedom of expression,

38 convicted on single charge of unlawful possession of computer devices and 14 cashing and paying cards designed for the commission of cyber fraud crimes has been fined P10 000 and sentenced to six months prison term (Shapi, 2014). 39 A suspect in a case of unlawful distribution of pornographic or obscene material contrary to section 16 of the Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act (Matota, 2015).

23 | P a g e

which includes freedom by the media to communicate information without hindrance In our

view, all these blanket provisions ought to be challenged in court for breaching freedom of

expression.

Cybercrimes are portrayed to have negative effects and consequences which are detrimental to the

economy of a country as a whole and Mowaneng, (2015) gave this report the effects of cyber-crime

can affect the development of businesses in a bad manner thus denting the image of an organisation.

I must also indicate that the findings shows that some private newspapers tends to blame the

government for not doing enough to fight cybercrimes despite the continuously increasing levels of

cybercrimes, example from a report from Botswana gazette; On the governments side, Deputy E-

Government Controller, John Vassiliadis agreed that the cyber law had been surpassed by the

advancement of technology (Mogende, 2013) this affirms (Sekgwathe, 2014) findings that the exact

impact of cybercrime is often underestimated or unknown hence the disastrous economic impact of

these attacks are not well established, one journalist reported this in the echo

newspaper(Anonymous, Cyber-Crime; Biggest Threat to Economy, 2014); While there are no

statistics on cyber-crime activities in this country, human trafficking and cagey illegal financial deals

are among the worrying cyber-crime activities which are threatening the local Gross Domestic

Product (GDP). Lastly the findings further gives an impression is that there are more potential victims

of cybercrime in Botswana because there is lack of awareness of cybersecurity measures, training

and education all of which coincide with (Olowu, 2009) findings there is a need to educate users in

security awareness, and develop cybercrime regulations.

The literature shows the common types of cybercrimes reported are target cybercrimes, example

viruses, malwares and cyber fraud (Brenner, 2010: Sekgathe & Talib, 2011). The findings of this report

shows that cyber fraud, card cloning are the common types of cybercrimes reported by the media

(mmegi newspaper and the echo);

illegal money transfer and fraud which are now thriving through the use of computers

and internet are now categorized as cyber-crimes40... cybercrime cases on the increase Cyber

criminals have swindled over P9 million from Batswana, with cases of credit card fraud

increasingly41... the most common cybercrime involve fraudulent commercial or monetary

40 (Anonymous, Cyber-Crime; Biggest Threat to Economy, 2014) 41 (Anonymous, Cyber crime cases on the increase, 2014)

24 | P a g e

transactions; and card cloning where skimming devices are placed in ATM machines to

duplicate information from a victims debit card. In fraudulent online shopping, victims are

lured into fully paying for non-existent goods before delivery42.

The findings of this report shows that victims of cybercrimes are neglected because the focus tends

to be more on the offenders and only a few articles discusses the proactive measures that potential

victims of cybercrimes can employ, this was reported in the echo newspaper (Anonymous, Cyber-

Crime; Biggest Threat to Economy, 2014) in the following manner;

ACRI Managing Director Beza Belayneh made an observation that organizations are making

significant investments on security systems and processes he also emphasized that computer

and internet users must be educated continuously on emerging threats on cyber space..

Project 2020 will deliver information and recommendations that raise awareness amongst

governments, businesses and citizens to help them prepare their defences against future

threats43.

Lastly the literature shows that due to the lack of security awareness programmes or specialised

training for the law enforcement agencies, many online users are becoming victims of cyber-crime

attacks and the incidence of successful attacks is increasing with impunity (Olowu, 2009), the findings

of this report reflects the same and mmegi newspaper (Anonymous, Cyber crime poses challenge to

police, 2015) claims that Even though the offence of cybercrime is extraditable, it is often a challenge

for the police to utilise government resources in search of suspects who in the end will be charged

with minor offences such as insultSo far, there is no specialist unit in Botswana dealing with

cybercrime.

42 (Anonymous, Cyber crime poses challenge to police, 2015) 43 (Anonymous, Sunday Standard Online Edition. Botswana is Global Cybercrime Hotspot, 2012)

25 | P a g e

9. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION(S)

The general consensus is that, the media in Botswana i.e. both the state and private media

underreports incidence of cybercrimes as opposed to traditional crimes such as robbery, burglary

and so on. This however, gives an implication that journalists are selective and only reports crime

news that are newsworthy to their target audience. In addition, the media reports and narrates

outcomes of cases that go to courts, focusing more on offenders thus neglecting victims of

cybercrimes. Notwithstanding that, cybercrimes have economic and negative impacts on the victims

thus advocating for constant and continuous education on cybercrimes and cybersecurity. Lastly, the

types of cybercrimes reported by the media are cyber fraud and credit card cloning which calls for

public private partnership of all the stakeholders who are affected by these types of crimes, primarily

the banking sector as it appears to be the case at the moment.

26 | P a g e

Tshephaone Reasentse

15 May 2015

10. PLAGIARISM DECLARATION

I _____________________________, the author of this paper do hereby acknowledge that the

contents and information contained therein the report were compiled and analysed by myself thus

any other information forming part of this report were cited where necessary to acknowledge other

authors from whom I referred to. Hitherto, any deceiving information or suspicious content provided

thereof forming part of this despite this declaration shall be subjected to the provisions provided

therein the University of Botswana Academic Policies and upon perusal whether in full or partial,

plagiarized content of this paper shall result to a failing grade by the instructor. Any error(s) in this

report are/is of course my own.

Submitted on the __________Day of _____________ month, _______________ year

Authors Signature:

________________________________

27 | P a g e

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dissertation cover.pdf (p.1)FINAL 1 of 2.pdf (p.2-6)FINAL EDITION 2 OF 2 signed.pdf (p.7-39)

Documents

Examining Media Portrayals of and Approaches to Cybercrimes in Botswana