The Role of Online Safety Behaviour in Digital Platforms for Indigenous Knowledge Preservation: Challenges and Opportunities.

Abstract

Indigenous Knowledge is arguably one of the oldest and most valuable forms of knowledge, involving ecological practice, knowledge of medicine, languages, folklores, rituals, and sustainability of resources that have evolved over centuries. Digital technologies have provided unique ways of recording, preserving, and spreading indigenous knowledge beyond geographic barriers. However, the use of digital technology for such purposes poses several dangers for indigenous people including cyber attacks, fake news, unethical appropriation of culture, invasion of privacy, theft of intellectual property, and abuse of traditional knowledge. Therefore, online safety behavior has become a key factor in determining the success of digital preservation projects.
In this paper, we are going to explore the part that online safety behavior plays in guaranteeing the safe preservation and ethical distribution of indigenous knowledge via digital media. The relationship between cybersecurity consciousness, ethical digital citizenship, digital ethics, privacy protection and indigenous data sovereignty will be analyzed. Key problems, such as digital exclusion, poor technological infrastructure, lack of cybersecurity consciousness, cultural misrepresentation, and poor legal protection systems will be discussed. On the other hand, the authors point out the possibilities emerging due to digital archiving, the use of artificial intelligence, cloud solutions, blockchain technology for authentication, multilingual systems, and community-controlled digital archives.
Recent UNESCO projects show that digital technologies can play an important role in the preservation of indigenous languages and indigenous knowledge if indigenous people remain in charge of their cultural data. According to UNESCO, about 1,500 languages are in danger of losing users, whereas 4,244 communities have been involved in initiatives within the framework of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032). Online safety practices do not only involve issues of cybersecurity but are crucial elements for the cultural survival of indigenous groups. Sustainable indigenous knowledge retention necessitates collective actions by governments, schools, tech developers, scholars, and indigenous people for the creation of secure and ethical digital worlds.

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