TikTok, a short video-sharing platform, has partnered with Youth Policy Forum (YPF), a youth knowledge sharing platform, to create a secure virtual ecosystem for Internet users in Bangladesh. As part of this, YPF is conducting a series of dialogues, campaigns and workshops on behalf of Tiktok. Through this, internet users are being encouraged to use social media responsibly.
The first dialogue of the series titled ‘Moving towards digital space’ was conducted by the director and scientist of Bangladesh Child Health Research Foundation, Dr. Senjuti Saha. The panel discussion was attended by Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto; Shakib bin Rashid, a BRAC youth platform curriculum and materials development expert, and Muktashree Chakma Sathi, founder and executive director of the Supporting People and Rebuilding Community (SPaRc).
All of the discussants discussed ways to maximize the welfare of all in the digital age.
In the dialogue on digital wellness Senjuti Saha presents a straightforward comparison. How we teach children all kinds of social etiquette in school- from table manners to general manners, which is not common online. Kids have no formal education for digital etiquette. This can be a big problem in this growing digital age.
“People need to understand where you are, whether it’s on the screen (online) or sitting next to someone in a room, it doesn’t matter, harassment means harassment, security means security, privacy means privacy.”
Shakib bin Rashid thinks the lack of adequate regulatory agencies is a threat to security and digital security in the internet space. In our real life we see law enforcement appearing to stop any injustice, but it is not seen on the internet.
The extent to which someone else has unrestricted access to any social media user’s ‘Visual Diary’ is a threat to the user’s health and safety. Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed thinks it can be a solution through content moderation.
“When we moderate or control content, we must do it democratically and it must have a pluralistic value,” he said. When it comes to content moderation, we must show respect to people from different socio-economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The idea of the best solution, is not true either. Our criminal justice system has yet to adapt to the digital world. Digital crime can be easily documented, but people don’t know who to report it to and how to get justice.
Muktashree Chakma Sathi mentions that language is the main barrier to content moderation for minorities. Technology companies have very little algorithmic ability to detect unsafe content in the language of minority communities. Big tech companies need to take responsibility for failing to identify such content and come up with better solutions.
The participants in the dialogue emphasized education for digital security. At the same time, they called on the government to take steps to improve digital law. Apart from this, governmental and non-governmental organizations and voluntary organizations like YPF have an important role to play in this. The panelists point out that keeping people away from the Internet is not an effective solution. We need to use digital space and learn to use it responsibly.