FACEBOOK KICKS OFF GLOBAL EFFORT ON WOMEN’S SAFETY IN KENYA

 Facebook hosted a Women’s Safety roundtable in Kenya on February 10 with
participants from NGOs, academia, women’s rights groups, and safety
organisations from Kenya and across Sub-Saharan Africa to highlight how the
community can work together to create a harassment-free online environment
where everyone can feel safe to share and interact. The roundtable coincided
with Safer Internet Day (February 9, 2016), a 100-country effort to make the
Internet a better place for everyone who uses it.

The Kenyan roundtable was the first to be held around the world, with
others to follow in Ireland, the Middle East, India and the US. The focus was
on addressing the issues of online harassment of women.

“At Facebook, safety is at the centre of how we build products,” said
Antigone Davis, Head of Global Safety for Facebook. “We have a community of
nearly 1.6 billion people, and we work hard to develop our global policies that
focus on safety, encouraging online respect, and honouring the cultural
diversity of our platform. It is absolutely critical that we spend time with
our partners around the world to listen and learn how we can do better as we
develop our policies and educate people about how they can stay safe.”

“Facebook is an important way for people in Africa to connect and share,
and we’re committed to working with our partners to ensure our community,
especially women, feel safe when they use our platform,” said Ebele Okobi, Head
of Public Policy Africa for Facebook. “This roundtable, our first in a global
series, has proved invaluable to gaining insight to our approach in Kenya and
across Sub-Sarahan Africa. We look forward to continuing the conversation in
order to better reflect our community and develop the right policies.”

This year’s Safer Internet Day’s theme is Play Your Part for a Better
Internet. Facebook is working with partners such as Watoto Watch in Kenya,
SHIFT in Nigeria and J Initiative in Ghana to ensure the safety and education
of their communities and address the needs of vulnerable people.

Thirty organisations were represented at the roundtable in Nairobi,
including participants from NGOs, academia, women’s rights groups, and safety
organisations. Representatives from the following organisations participated in
the roundtable: S.K.I.R.T.S. (Socially Keen Individuals Redefining Tech Spaces,
Women in Tech Africa, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development
(AWARD), The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), Her Zimbabwe,
Digital Ubuntu, Hivos East Africa, Coalition On Violence Against Women (COVAW),
Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), UN Habitat, iHub, NEST, Association for
Progressive Communications (APC), Roshani Consultancy Services, Si Jeunesse
Savait (SJS), Spinlet, Local Development Research Institute (LDRI), Research
ICT Africa (RIA), Botswana Information Technology Society (BITS), International
Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), Misa Malawi, Isis Women
International Cross Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE), Media Institute of Southern
Africa (MISA)-Zambia Chapter, Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK),
Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa
(CIPESA), OpenNet Africa initiative, Akili Dada, FRIDA The Young Feminist Fund
and Safaricom.

African countries represented included Kenya, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe,
South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, and Zambia.