TikTok Joins Forces with Women in Media to Safeguard Kenya’s Digital Spaces

TikTok and Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) have launched a series of Women in Media Safety Roundtables across Sub-Saharan Africa, starting in Kenya.

The roundtables are part of a comprehensive effort by TikTok to make the online space safer and more inclusive.

The forums seek to tackle tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), an issue that has persisted to victimize many women in the media.

The forums bring together journalists, digital security experts, civil society, regulators, and online content providers to a point of convergence regarding solutions that protect women’s online voices.

“Responding to technology-enabled gender-based violence requires more than policy, it requires listening, learning, and collaboration,” stressed Kim Thipe, CABC Executive Director. “We are thrilled to be partnering with TikTok on an initiative that makes community voice and everyday experience the focus of the conversation.”

CABC’s community-led insight is assisting in the detection of harmful online trends as well as enhancing moderation of gender-based hate speech.

Our work comes from the people who have to go through abusive content daily,” Kyle Janse, CABC Research Lead said. “That makes us that much stronger in knowing and doing about gender-based abuse.”

TikTok claims that its goal is to hear straight from the affected communities. As the world digital sphere continues to grow, women and marginalized communities continue to battle obstacles that usually keep them quiet.

“To understand our community, we must understand their world,” explains Duduzile Mkhize, TikTok’s Sub-Saharan Africa Outreach and Partnerships Manager. “The views of media professionals and the opinions of journalists help us improve our tools and make TikTok a safe platform for everyone.”

The roundtables are not small talk but rather a space to envision safety and belonging online. CABC and TikTok are bringing together survivors, media representatives, and community leaders to make solutions survivor-led.

TikTok is complementing its safety efforts in Kenya and across the wider region through these conversations, and raising awareness of the safety features already in existence on the app.

“Safeguarding the safety of women to work and express themselves freely online is not a technology issueit’s a democracy issue,” Kenya Editors’ Guild President Zubeida Kananu added. “We appreciate TikTok’s willingness to be open to hearing and collaborating with industries to make online communities safer.”

Women in Media Safety Roundtables are the latest step towards a long-term commitment by TikTok to a safer and more respectful online community throughout all of Africa.

“Safety are things that matter most to us,” Mkhize said. “By listening and learning from our users, we’re co-creating with them because making spaces on the internet safe isn’t necessarily about the tech, it’s people.”