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 original social network. Chinese legislation on personal data, in particular concerning children and minors. Interview with Moustapha Diakhate, Executive Secretary General of Restic.
RFI: Why are you filing a complaint against TikTok and its parent company BytDance?
Moustapha Diakhate : We started from an extremely simple observation. TikTok is growing a lot in Senegal, an extremely dynamic market for social networks. Very recently, we have seen that TikTok has developed on a very specific demographic segment made up mainly of children and adolescents. You know that the average age in Senegal is around 18-19 years old. TikTok interests children, adolescents and young people between 16 and 17 years old, up to 23-24 years old. And we think that often these young people 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 reproach to these contents?
A certain amount of content that comes from outside is often very violent. We wonder 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 that children should not be exposed to.
So you blame TikTok for a lack of moderation of this content for the Senegalese public and the adolescent public?
Let’s say especially for children. Because in Senegal, the TikTok audience is mainly a child audience. It’s a platform that kids get hooked on 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 off the data of Senegalese users…
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 which can be amplified with TikTok, because it is the fastest growing social network in our countries. There are a lot of very active social networks in Africa that collect a lot of data about us. Pictures, 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 was initially intended.
Do you ask TikTok to store Senegalese data in Senegal?
Quite recently in Senegal, we have seen a lot of private initiatives investing in data centers, what we call data center. And I think there is an opportunity for these platforms to come to our countries and seize these opportunities. I think they should be able to contribute to expanding the local offer that is already available.
You are also asking that TikTok allow Senegalese content creators to benefit from the 250 million euro fund set up. Tell us why.
Among our members, we have a lot of freelancers, people who produce content, this content is broadcast on TikTok and other social networks. Unfortunately, in order to be 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 content producers in Africa. It is not because they are housed in Africa that we should not pay them.