By Perpetua Onuegbu
A coalition of civil society organisations has called for stronger media partnerships to protect digital rights, promote online safety and hold technology platforms accountable ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The coalition made the call at a media hangout in Abuja on Friday, aimed at strengthening collaboration to protect citizens, especially women, from digital violence and intimidation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the coalition comprises Digital Africa Research and Safety Lab, DigiCivic Initiative and TechHer.
Rosemary Ajayi, Executive Director of Digital Africa Research and Safety Lab (DigiAfricaLab), said the organisations sought to ensure that everyone could participate in online spaces without fear of attacks.
“Can a journalist do the reporting work safely? Can a woman contest for office safely? Can you register to vote safely without intimidation, without fear or any harms from the digital space?
“How can we hold platforms, tech platforms, your Facebook, your Twitter, or Meta, X accountable for any harm that come to people on these platforms?” she asked.
Ajayi said the organisations provided psychosocial support, legal aid and platform engagement for victims of digital harassment.
She said they also pooled evidence to challenge regulatory violations, citing alleged breaches of electoral laws by technology companies that ran paid campaigns within the 24-hour restriction period before the 2023 elections.
Ajayi said digital violence also included targeted harassment of women in politics, public figures and their families, including spouses and children.
She cited the prolonged online targeting of Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as an example.
Gbemisola Adebowale, Women’s Digital Rights and Safety Officer at TechHer, said digital platforms and artificial intelligence could be weaponised to intimidate women candidates, silence their voices and discourage political participation.
She said TechHer operated Kuram, a chatbot that received reports of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, including cyber harassment, doxxing and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
Adebowale said the organisation collaborated with Meta and TikTok to facilitate the removal of harmful content and provided survivors with access to volunteer lawyers across Nigeria’s 36 states.
She said women politicians, journalists and other prominent women faced targeted online attacks, including body shaming and threats to release fabricated or intimate images, to force them out of public spaces.
Adebowale urged journalists to adopt gender-sensitive reporting ahead of the elections, noting that women occupied fewer than six per cent of political positions in Nigeria.
She called for measures to protect female candidates from digital intimidation, warning that the monetisation of social media could incentivise harmful online attacks.
“We need to look at how these women who are coming out, these women who are in the public space, how the internet is being weaponised against them.
“Social media, our culture is being used to quieten them using social media as a vehicle. And what is our role as journalists and people who report this news?” she asked.
Ifiokobong Uko, Programme Assistant at DigiCivic Initiative, said the organisation focused on protecting fundamental human rights guaranteed under Chapter Four of the Nigerian Constitution, including freedom of expression and association.
He said digital rights violations extended beyond misinformation and disinformation to include abuses by government agencies and other institutions.
Uko said DigiCivic Initiative was developing an artificial intelligence-powered tool to collect evidence from journalists and other online users and cross-reference reported violations with relevant legal provisions.
He said the organisation also supported people whose digital rights had been violated by individuals, institutions or government agencies, provided they had evidence of the alleged violations.
The coalition called for sustained media partnerships ahead of the 2027 general elections to strengthen digital accountability and protect citizens’ rights online.
It urged journalists to avoid amplifying harmful content by sharing or reposting it, even when condemning it, and to document evidence using accessible digital tools to support their reports against possible intimidation.
The organisations also advised journalists to verify information, avoid reporting practices that could violate digital rights and use simple, relatable language to explain complex technical issues to the public. (NAN) www.nannews.ng
PUO/TAK
Edited by Tosin Kolade
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