Personal data: "TikTok must respect Senegalese rules"

TikTok claims 300 million accounts in Africa, according to Restic. REUTERS - DADO RUVIC

Text by: Olivier Rogez Follow

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In Senegal, the Gathering of Companies in the Information and Communication Technology Sector (Restic) will file a complaint against TikTok before the Personal Data Protection Commission of Senegal, for non-compliance by the social network of Chinese origin with the legislation on personal data, especially about children and minors. Interview with Moustapha Diakhaté, Executive Secretary General of Restic.

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RFI: Why are you filing a complaint against TikTok and its parent company BytDance?

Moustapha Diakhaté: We started from an extremely simple observation. TikTok is growing a lot in Senegal, an extremely dynamic market for social networks. Just recently, we have seen that TikTok has grown in a very specific demographic composed mainly of children and teenagers. You know that the average age in Senegal is around 18-19 years. TikTok is of interest to children, teenagers and young people between 16 and 17 years old, up to 23-24 years old. And we believe that these young people often do not have the maturity to deal with certain content to which they are exposed. This is a major concern for us, first as professionals in the sector, but also as parents.

What do you complain about this content?

A number of contents that come from outside are often very violent. We ask ourselves whether we should let our children be exposed to this content. Other content is simply banned by our habits and customs, here in Senegal and in Africa.

Which ones, for example?

There is sexual content and obscene content to which children should not be exposed.

So you blame TikTok for a lack of moderation of this content for the Senegalese public and the adolescent audience?

Let's say especially for children. Because in Senegal, the audience of TikTok is mainly a child audience. It is a platform that children cling to extremely quickly. And we see this as a risk to our youth.

You note in your complaint, the fact that there is also a risk of siphoning Senegalese users' data...

We share the same concern as other countries, whether in America or Europe. This is also a phenomenon that is not limited to TikTok., but that can be amplified with TikTok, because it is the social network that grows the fastest in our countries. There are a lot of very active social networks in Africa that collect a lot of data about us. Images, messages, etc. And for which we have no visibility so far. Where is this data located? How are they kept and stored? So we would like social networks in general and TikTok in particular to be able to open up to us, to the official authorities of this country, to at least clarify these mechanisms for storing data on children and adolescents who open accounts in these networks. And see under what conditions this data is preserved so that it cannot be used for another purpose for which it is originally intended.

Are you asking TikTok to keep Senegalese data in Senegal?

Just recently in Senegal, we have seen many private initiatives invest in data centers, so-called data centers. And I think there is an opportunity for these platforms to come to our countries and seize these opportunities. I think they must be able to contribute to expanding the local offer that is already available.

You are also asking that TikTok make Senegalese content creators benefit from the €250 million fund set up. Tell us why.

Among our members, we have a lot of freelancers, people who produce content, this content is disseminated on TikTok and other social networks. Unfortunately, in order to get paid, people are forced to open accounts in Europe, Asia or America. From Senegal or Africa, they cannot benefit from these remuneration mechanisms. However, their content is viewed by millions of TikTok users. These funds need to be better endowed and open to African content producers. Just because they are housed in Africa does not mean they should not be paid.

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• Senegal
• Technologies
• Internet
• Social Media