TikTok is taking major steps to boost safety on its platform across Sub-Saharan Africa with the launch of its inaugural Safety Advisory Council and the expansion of its #SaferTogether community education campaign.
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.
According to Valiant Richey, Global Head of Outreach and Partnerships, Trust and Safety, TikTok, “With the launch of the Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council, we are demonstrating our commitment to including expert African voices in our Trust and Safety work. This group of leaders was chosen for their broad range of expertise and experience, and we look forward to working with them over the coming years.”
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.
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)
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.
Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, Director of Government Relations & Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa emphasised, “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.”
Understanding TikTok’s Community Guidelines
TikTok’s Community Guidelines are integral to the platform’s safety efforts as they set the standard for acceptable behaviour and content on the platform to make TikTok a safe and welcoming environment.
Impact of the #SaferTogether Partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa
In Kenya, TikTok has so far achieved remarkable milestones with its flagship #SaferTogether workshops reaching students and youth aged 13 to 24 from secondary schools to universities which have benefitted over 64,000 students, more than 467 parents, and 346 teachers
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 to help deliver digital literacy programmes across Africa.
