TikTok has announced a partnership with the African Union Commission’s Women, Gender, and Youth Directorate (WGYD). The campaign is an online safety awareness among the youth as well as parents, teachers and guardians in Africa.
The Chinese Social media platform and the AUC multi-year initiative was unveiled at the Safer Internet Summit in Accra. During the event, they launched the #SaferTogether Campaign. This Africa-wide campaign aims to educate and engage youngsters, parents, teachers, as well as community leaders on digital safety through in-app and on-ground activities.
TikTok is a short-form mobile video platform with a 60% active user rate in Africa. Given its popularity, crafting a positive and secure online journey for everyone is important.
They’ll launch educational in-app videos with safety tips, plus fun hashtag challenges and endorsements from trusted creators. It’s worth noting the campaign goes beyond the app. To empower adults too, TikTok and the AUC are creating downloadable “Digital Safety Toolkits” for teachers and guardians. These toolkits will also be available on a dedicated section within the TikTok app, offering interactive guidance for fostering safe online habits.
Ms. Prudence Nonkululeko Ngwenya, Director of the Women, Gender, and Youth Directorate African Union, said. “While access to internet can help children and young people stay connected, improve their digital literacy, and diversify their livelihoods, it is crucial that they are provided with a safe environment to reap the benefits of digital platforms. “
Last year, TikTok was handed a hefty fine in the EU due to the platform’s mishandling of Children’s data. The Byte Dance owned app also came under fire in Kenya for allowing explicit livestreams that were potentially accessible to minors.
Currently, the United States government is planning to ban TikTok. The app has 170 million American users with half this audience being under 25.
