ELIZABETH MUSYIMI ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST

22 August 2024

• The platform aims to foster a collaborative approach to ensuring a secure and positive platform environment

From Left to Right: Ms Mary Kerema (Secretary ICT, e-Government and Digital Economy, Ministry of Information, Communications and Digital Economy), Lillian Kariuki (newly appointed TikTok SSA Safety Advisory Council Member), Dudu Mkhize (Outreach Partnerships Manager, TikTok SSA), Raymond Ochieng, Secretary Youth Development, State Department for Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports, Fortune Mgiwli-Sibanda (Director: Government Relations & Public Policy, TikTok SSA)
Image: COURTESY

On Wednesday, TikTok brought together content creators, media and industry stakeholders in Nairobi where they shared their move to boost safety on its platform across Sub-Saharan Africa with the launch of its inaugural Safety Advisory Council and the expansion of its Safer Together community education campaign.

The platform aims to foster a collaborative approach to ensuring a secure and positive platform environment. This announcement was made at TikTok's Safety Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Since 2020, TikTok has established nine regional Safety Advisory Councils alongside the U.S. Content Advisory Council, each composed of experts in areas such as youth safety, free expression, and hate speech. These councils play a vital role in shaping TikTok’s policies, product features, and safety processes, ensuring the platform remains responsive to evolving challenges.

The newly launched Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council will further this effort by bringing together local experts who will collaborate with TikTok to develop forward-looking policies and address regional safety concerns. Their input will help TikTok manage current issues and anticipate future challenges, reinforcing the platform’s commitment to user safety and fostering a positive online environment.

Members of the Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council include Kenya's very own Lillian Kariuki, who is the founder and Executive Director of Watoto Watch Network.

Members of the Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council are:

Prof Guy Berger, Rhodes University (South Africa)
Dennis Coffie, Content creator (Ghana)
Peter Cunliffe-Jones, University of Westminster Visiting Research Fellow (UK)
Aisha Dabo, Co-Founder and coordinator of AfricTivistes (Senegal)
Lillian Kariuki, Founder and Executive Director of Watoto Watch Network (Kenya)
Dr Akinola Olojo, Expert on preventing and countering violent extremism (Nigeria)
Prof Medhane Tadesse, Policy academic on peace and security issues (Ethiopia)
Berhan Taye, Independent Researcher (Ethiopia)

Speaking at the Summit held in Nairobi, Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, Director of Government Relations and Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa said;

“The community empowerment campaign highlights the importance of safety being a shared responsibility. This part of the campaign will speak directly to the TikTok community, to join us in making TikTok a safer space for all by ensuring they follow the Community Guidelines and use the safety features available to them. With the additional layer that the Safety Advisory Council presents, we believe that safety can be achieved, collectively.”

#SaferTogether: A Community-Centric Approach

This iteration of the #SaferTogether campaign is designed to engage the community actively in promoting a basic understanding of the platform's community guidelines and safety features. This initiative will include workshops, social media outreach, and partnerships with key stakeholders to raise awareness about the importance of following TikTok’s community standards. The campaign aims to foster a collaborative effort to ensure a secure environment for creative expression.

In 2022, the #SaferTogether workshops and campaign launched in Nigeria.

Earlier this year, TikTok announced the official partnership with the African Union Commission's Women, Gender, and Youth Directorate (WGYD) at the inaugural TikTok Safer Internet Summit in Ghana. This partnership will help deliver digital literacy programmes across Africa, guiding young people and their caregivers on how to diversify their livelihoods using digital platforms, in a safe and engaging way.

Safaricom has been a long-standing strategic partner of TikTok, collaborating on a number of mobile and network initiatives over the past several years, including TikTok data bundles and participating in the #LevelUpAfrica Creator event. In light of these ongoing collaborations, Safaricom expressed strong support for TikTok's recent efforts to enhance online safety in Africa. "At Safaricom, we see the internet as a resource that everyone should have access to, safely. Having witnessed the announcement of the TikTok Safety Advisory Council and the launch of the #SaferTogether campaign, we commend TikTok's efforts in bringing together various stakeholders for a common goal – ensuring online safety and promoting the safe use of its platform across Africa," said Fawzia Ali, Chief Consumer Business Officer, Safaricom PLC.