Lauded for its innovative, diverse community and the
family-friendly culture it has espoused, another factor that has led to
TikTok’s popularity has been its emphatic focus on user protection and safety.
TikTok’s tireless efforts to continuously build a safe
environment for its community is a commitment taken very pensively and has
resulted in the launch of the #SaferTogether campaign, which was announced at a
media event hosted in Lagos on Thursday evening 24, Novemebr, 2022.
This initiative is the first safety campaign for TikTok in
Sub-Saharan Africa and aims to empower creators, parents, teachers and
guardians with knowledge of TikTok’s safety features to ensure a positive
in-app experience for everyone.
Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, Public Policy & Government
Relations Director at TikTok in Africa, reaffirms that user safety is TikTok’s
top priority as the platform is committed to promoting a safe and welcoming app
environment for its community.
“With TikTok’s increased popularity in Nigeria and the
upcoming government elections, which typically have a huge online presence,
this is a good time to emphasise the importance of online safety. TikTok
remains dedicated to creating a safe space for Nigerian creators to thrive by
offering a number of tools and controls to help manage their experience on the
platform.
This campaign is a promise we made and are now fulfilling,
as we regularly engaged various stakeholders this year, with the goal of
understanding our community’s needs for online safety. This is our way of
saying to creators, parents and guardians and wider stakeholder community that
we are purposefully working with the TikTok community to establish a safe space
and are committed to making it better, together.”
Mgwili-Sibanda goes on to explain: “Our in-app safety
features help users manage their account, content and privacy settings
including who can see, like, or comment on their videos. We regularly work with
experts in online security, wellness, and digital literacy, as well as family
safety experts, to help provide advice and resources for our community”.
Furthermore, as part of TikTok’s commitment to ensuring
safety on the platform, the entertainment platform is delighted to announce its
partnership with the Data Scientists Networ k (DSN), an organisation that was
established to support and encourage an increase in safety awareness.
Through this partnership, DSN will conduct in-community
workshops with parents, teachers, and guardians in schools in Abuja and Lagos,
educating and empowering them to understand the digital world and how they can
help young people stay safe online.
Speaking on the partnership, Dr Olubayo Adekanmbi, founder
and CEO of DSN said: “The digital world is our new normal for learning,
engagement, and socialisation; hence, the need to make it safer has become our
shared responsibility. As practitioners in digital education, we are very
excited to promote the new safety features from TikTok and how they guarantee
digital wellness and the safety of every child online”.
At TikTok, there is a centralised location for safety updates
called the Safety Centre as well as the Guardian’s Guide that provides updated
resources available to the community. These are resources are also available to
parents and guardians. TikTok creators and users are encouraged to visit the
Safety Centre to stay up-to-date on the latest TikTok safety initiatives.
In addition to this, TikTok will also be hosting a TikTok
for Peace Live on Friday, 25th November to further unpack the realities of the
internet and how communities can encourage online safety awareness.
The session will be hosted by renowned Nigerian content
creator, actor and makeup artist, Tijani Aboh Alexander (i_am_tjan), and will
have Mr Lanre Olagunju, Fact-checker Editor at The Cableand, Babatope
Falade-Onikoyi, Managing Partner at Onikoyi Consulting as well as Dr Olubayo
Adekanmbi, Founder and CEO of DSN tackling dissecting this complex topic.
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