TikTok in collaboration with AfricTivistes, convened its inaugural West Africa Safety Summit in Dakar, Senegal, marking a significant step toward fostering safer digital spaces across the region. The summit brought together senior government officials, policy experts, regulators, media, NGOs, and industry leaders from Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Ethiopia to discuss strategies for enhancing user safety and effective content moderation tailored to West African realities.
Duduzile Mkhize, TikTok’s Outreach and Partnerships Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, highlighted the platform’s commitment to localised safety measures, emphasising the importance of collaborative stakeholder engagement. “While global, we remain hyper-local in our everyday efforts,” Mkhize said. “Only through dialogue and partnership with policymakers and local experts can we ensure a secure and inclusive digital environment for our community to discover, create, and connect responsibly.”
Among the key participants was Aisha Dabo, a member of TikTok’s Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council and co-founder of AfricTivistes. Dabo, a digital specialist with over 20 years of experience, underscored the importance of African-led solutions in shaping global digital safety policies. “This summit provides a platform to integrate regional perspectives into global safety discussions, ensuring the internet reflects Africa’s diversity and resilience,” she noted.
The summit also showcased TikTok’s ongoing efforts in proactive content moderation across West Africa. According to TikTok’s Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, more than 34 million videos have been removed in countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal since January 2024. In Q2 2025 alone, the platform removed 8.3 million videos, with 87% of these actions carried out through automated detection systems. Senegal accounted for over 2.5 million video removals and 16,000 LIVE session interruptions during this period, highlighting TikTok’s commitment to regional enforcement.
TikTok has also taken decisive action against coordinated influence operations targeting political discourse. In March 2025, a network of 129 inauthentic accounts originating from Togo was disrupted for attempting to influence narratives related to France’s policies in West Africa. Globally, over 189 million videos were removed in Q2 2025, representing just 0.7% of all uploaded content, while nearly 102 million accounts were removed or flagged for age violations.
The summit further emphasised TikTok LIVE safety measures. In Q2 2025, the platform took action on over 2.3 million LIVE sessions and more than one million LIVE creators who violated monetization guidelines, using warnings and demonetization to educate creators and maintain safe streaming experiences.
By combining advanced AI moderation technologies with the expertise of thousands of trust and safety professionals, TikTok continues to strengthen online security, mitigate misinformation, and foster a responsible digital ecosystem across West Africa.
