Does this comic by EBASafe really teach about the importance of online safety for teens?
Meta's news site reports on a comic produced for teenagers in Africa that's allegedly about how to keep safe online:
As part of our commitment to fostering a safer online environment, we’re partnering with Ethnikids, to launch #EbaSafeOnline, a youth and safety comic book, designed to help young people stay safe online. The comic book offers a glimpse into the exciting journey of a group of South African teens as they navigate the intricacies that come with using social media. Through these real-life scenarios, we want to equip teens, as well as their parents with the knowledge and skills they need when engaging on Meta platforms.If the purpose of this comic is to help teens be careful of predators and other bad influences online, then does that include staying away from sites that encourage all sorts of sick lifestyles, pornography and even enable sexual abuse? Unless the comic in focus confronts serious issues like those, there's no chance it'll provide teens or even their parents with any of the information they need to avoid these horrible influences. And then, the report says:
Over 30 parent and youth creators joined the engaging launch event in Johannesburg to celebrate the much-anticipated launch of the comic book and learn about our ongoing commitment to educating parents, and teens and the safety tools available across our platforms.
Speaking on the collaboration as the publishing partner, Khumo Tapumaneyi, co-founder of Ethnikids said: “It’s been a wonderful honour and privilege to work on this project with the amazing storyteller that is Lebohang Masango and the gifted talent that is Mfundo Ndevu! It’s aligned with everything we believe in – inclusivity and literacy in all spaces! As parents, it has been eye-opening to learn about all the things that Meta is doing to promote safety online.”The mention of "inclusivity" is why this decidedly calls for some awareness as to whether the whole project builds on left-wing ideology more than it does on actual safety lessons. Again, if they don't confront the most meaty issues the internet's become poisoned with, and care more about "inclusivity", then this comic project will be nothing more than a farce.
Labels: Africa, golden calf of LGBT, misogyny and racism, msm propaganda, politics, technology
