Facebook and nine partners to raise awareness about internet safety in Africa

“We're committed to ensuring Facebook and Instagram are places for everyone, especially the youth,” says Jocelyne Muhutu-Rémy: Strategic Media Partnerships Manager for Facebook in sub-Saharan Africa.

Facebook (Facebook.co.za) is partnering with nine non-profit organisations and government agencies throughout sub-Saharan Africa to raise awareness about Internet safety and security for Safer Internet Day, celebrated today, 11 February with the theme “Together for a better Internet”. The partners Facebook is working with this year include:

Digify Africa (DigifyAfrica.com), South Africa

Phambano Technology Development Centre NPC (Phambano.org.za), South Africa

Diana Schwarz Attorneys (DianaSchwarzAttorneys.co.za), South Africa

Watoto Watch Network (WatotoWatchNetwork.org), Kenya

Paradigm Initiative (paradigmhq.org), Nigeria

Child Online Africa (ChildOnlineAfrica.org), Ghana

Youth First Madagascar (YouthFirstMadagascar.org), Madagascar

Computing and Information Association (envaya.org/ciatz), Tanzania

Asikana Network (AsikanaNetwork.org), Zambia 

“We're committed to ensuring Facebook and Instagram are places for everyone, especially the youth,” says Jocelyne Muhutu-Rémy: Strategic Media Partnerships Manager for Facebook in sub-Saharan Africa. “That’s why we offer a range of tools on our platforms to give people full control over their experience and work with our partners to drive awareness about the practices, resources, and tools people can use to protect their online wellbeing.”

Young people can benefit from the following Facebook and Instagram safety tools and resources:

New tools on Instagram that filter comments that may be inappropriate, offensive or bullying - including keyword filtering, sensitivity screens, offensive comment, and bullying filters.

On Instagram, we've created new ways to help stop bullying before it happens. If someone writes a comment or caption for a feed post that our AI detects as potentially offensive, they will receive a prompt that the language used is similar to language that has been reported for bullying. They will then have an opportunity to edit the caption or comment before posting. 

The Instagram Safety Centre (instagram-together.com) is a place where you can learn more about the safety features on Instagram. 

The Youth Portal, which is a central place for teens to get a better understanding of Facebook’s products, hear from other peers, and get tips and advice on controlling their experience. This is part of the safety centre (bit.ly/2w5WoGp), a resource for topics like suicide prevention, social resolution and bullying prevention.

Use of artificial intelligence (bit.ly/38lGS7u), to help identify when someone might be expressing thoughts of suicide, including on Facebook Live and Instagram Live.

(With Inputs from APO)