TikTok and the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) convened a roundtable in Lagos to address tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) targeting women and girls in Nigeria.
The gathering centred on content moderation methods, particularly those aimed at curbing hate speech disproportionately affecting females. This meeting set the stage for a joint campaign focused on monitoring and disrupting damaging online narratives while empowering digital communities.
Jesse Cann, Head of Research at CABC, a Cape Town-based non-profit, remarked, their collaboration with TikTok is about protecting users from harmful material online and that they are dedicating their efforts to tackling hate speech, especially that which is gendered, placing women and girls front and centre in critical conversation.
The session assembled various stakeholders united in fighting online abuse. TikTok representatives, including Tokunbo Ibrahim-Okuribido, West Africa’s government relations and public policy head, and Keagile Makgoba, communications lead for sub-Saharan Africa, shared insights on platform strategies tailored for the region. Dudu Mkhize, outreach and partnership manager, also emphasized TikTok’s proactive engagement with local experts to craft relevant solutions for the Nigerian context.
The Lagos forum featured an agenda overview, TikTok’s content moderation presentation, followed by robust discussions and breakout groups, all aimed at tackling gendered hate speech and safeguarding women and girls.
Founded in 2019, the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change is South Africa’s pioneering independent non-profit powered by data storytelling and dedicated to social transformation. Their work spans social divisions, prejudices, public health, and platform safety. Partnering with platforms like TikTok, they expose harmful coded language, including pedophile networks’ communication on platforms like X. CABC counters internet weaponization by exposing and dismantling divisive online content while fostering secure digital communities.
TikTok continues to reinforce its commitment to protecting African users. According to its Q2 2024 Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, over 2.1 million videos were removed in Nigeria, equating to less than 1% of uploads.
In November 2022, TikTok launched the #SaferTogether campaign in Nigeria, its first in Sub-Saharan Africa. It partnered with the Data Scientists Network (DSN) to conduct community workshops educating parents, teachers, and guardians about digital safety in Abuja and Lagos.
The platform pledges enhancements to content moderation technology, marked by removing over 178 million videos globally in June 2024, with 144 million filtered automatically. These technological gains decrease human moderator exposure to violent content, ensuring stronger safety for its diverse users.
TikTok, known for entertainment, now thrives as a platform for education, activism, and community building, connecting creators and businesses with vast, engaged audiences.
