Following increasing national concern about inappropriate and exploitative content of children on digital platforms, Betty Ann Blaine, child advocate and founder of Hear the Children’s Cry (HTCC), has acted on a promise to tackle the issue.

Blaine’s organisation is partnering with leading entertainment platform TikTok to build what they hope ot be a positive and supportive digital community in Jamaica.

The partnership is believed to be the first of its kind in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Blaine had her commitment following the surfacing in early February of a video that was in violation of TikTok’s community guidelines, which are a common code of conduct aimed at providing a safe and welcoming space for everyone on the platform.

DIRECT EMAIL CHANNEL TO BE ESTABLISHED

As part of their collaboration, TikTok is to establish a direct email channel with Hear The Children’s Cry to the platform’s Trust and Safety team to be able to immediately report content that violates the platform’s community guidelines.

“We promised the Jamaican people that we would not only reach out to TikTok, but would work with them for the effective protection of our youths,” Blaine said.

“I am happy to share that we found the TikTok team more than willing to work with us. We were impressed with how swiftly they took action to investigate the inappropriate content we reported, and their unwavering commitment to building a positive community.”

Tom Lehmann, TikTok’s public policy manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, said: “TikTok’s mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy and, as a part of that, we are committed to making TikTok a safe and inclusive space for everyone, especially young people, while protecting against industry-wide challenges around platform misuse.”

Lehmann added: “We recognise how important it is to work together with organisations and other stakeholders to empower young people and keep them safe on and off the platform. With this partnership, HTCC will be able to quickly report content that violates our community guidelines. We look forward to working with HTCC in this and other capacities going forward.”

Blaine noted that TikTok recently provided the Hear The Children’s Cry team with virtual training on how to interact most effectively with the Community Partner Channel.

This included a briefing on the platform’s policies and tools.

“We are looking forward with TikTok to addressing online safety issues, and fostering a safe and positive online environment for our community,” Blaine said.

“Also, very important, through Hear The Children’s Cry’s partnership with TikTok, the way has now been paved for the Jamaican Cybercrimes Unit to link up, for the first time, with the TikTok team in the fight against cyber-related violations against young people.”