L-R: 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)

In a significant move to enhance user safety, TikTok has unveiled its first-ever Safety Advisory Council for Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside the expansion of its #SaferTogether initiative.

The social media giant announced its collaboration with regional policymakers, academics, NGOs, and community leaders at its Safety Summit held on 21 August in Nairobi, Kenya. This, according to TikTok, marks a major push towards creating a secure and welcoming online environment for users across the continent.

As part of its ongoing investment initiatives, since 2020 TikTok has established nine regional Safety Advisory Councils, in addition to the US Content Advisory Council. Each council includes experts in areas such as youth safety, free expression, and hate speech.

According to TikTok, these councils play a crucial role in shaping its policies, product features, and safety processes, ensuring the platform remains responsive to evolving challenges.

The newly launched Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council is expected to further these efforts by bringing together local experts to collaborate with TikTok in developing forward-looking policies and addressing 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.

The local experts making up the 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)

"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," says Valiant Richey, global head of outreach and partnerships, Trust and Safety, TikTok..

#SaferTogether campaign

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

TikTok is one of the most followed social media platforms in South Africa. As of early 2024, TikTok's user base in South Africa numbered 17.46 million individuals aged 18 and older, according to data released by ByteDance.

TikTok is also popular among children under the age of 18, who are attracted to its trending challenges. However, parents have a responsibility to monitor their children’s activity on the platform, and TikTok offers tools that allow parents to set controls on teens’ accounts.

According to TikTok, their community guidelines are central to the platform's safety efforts. Developed through comprehensive research and input from various stakeholders, including safety experts and community members, these guidelines set the standard for acceptable behaviour and content on the platform. They are designed to foster a safe and welcoming environment, ensuring that users can express themselves freely and creatively while remaining protected from potential harm. The guidelines are continuously updated to address emerging safety concerns and support a respectful online community.

In Kenya, TikTok has achieved remarkable milestones with its flagship #SaferTogether workshops. The workshops have reached students and youth aged 13 to 24, from secondary schools to universities, across 26 out of 47 counties in Kenya. They continue to promote best practices on online platforms and have benefitted over 64 000 students, more than 467 parents, and 346 teachers.

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

Earlier this year, TikTok announced an 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 aims to 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.