Google has announced two initiatives to strengthen child online safety in Nigeria, combining the country’s first nationwide study of young people’s digital experiences with practical training for parents, teachers and community leaders.
Gatekeepers News reports that the initiatives follow public consultations by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), which found that 93.5 per cent of Nigerians were concerned about online harms affecting minors.
Through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, the technology company is providing $550,000 in funding and $50,000 in Google Ad Grants to the TechSocietal Development Foundation, bringing its total support to $600,000.
The foundation will use the support to conduct Nigeria’s first baseline study of youth digital risks, covering 2,000 adolescents across the country’s six geopolitical zones. It will also deliver its Safety First curriculum to 5,000 teachers and school administrators and train 200 community champions, who are expected to reach up to 10,000 parents and caregivers.
Google is also introducing Meet LEO, meaning Learn and Explore Online, to Nigeria. The programme’s first pilot in Sub-Saharan Africa will be delivered by Tech Hive Advisory across four states.
It will train 500 educators and youth leaders to establish digital safety rules using tools such as Google Family Link, SafeSearch and YouTube Supervised Experiences. The trainees will, in turn, extend the training to another 2,500 students and community members.
The initiatives come amid growing concerns about children’s exposure to online risks, as more than 22 million Africans turn 18 annually. Many young people access the internet through mobile phones shared by several family members, while governments consider ways to protect children online without limiting their access to educational opportunities.
Country Director of Google Nigeria, Olumide Balogun, said protecting children online should not mean disconnecting them from opportunities in the digital world.
“It takes a village to raise a child, and today that village extends into the digital world, where protecting our children must never mean disconnecting them from their future,” he said.
Balogun added that Google builds safety protections into its products by default and was combining those measures with local research and educator training to help Nigerian children use the internet safely.
National Commissioner of the NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, said protecting children online required cooperation among government agencies, technology companies, educators and families.
He said the commission’s national consultations had shown that Nigerians were deeply concerned about the risks young people face online.
“Google’s support for nationwide research through TechSocietal, alongside the practical, grassroots safety training being delivered with Tech Hive Advisory through the Meet LEO program, marks a significant and commendable step forward,” Olatunji said.
He added that combining local evidence with practical digital skills would help create a safer online environment in which Nigerian children could learn, explore and thrive.
Lead Partner at Tech Hive Advisory, Ridwan Oloyede, said bringing the Meet LEO pilot to Nigeria would put practical online safety tools in the hands of 500 educators and youth leaders, with the training expected to reach 2,500 additional learners.
Executive Director of the TechSocietal Development Foundation, Tope Ogundipe, said the Google.org support would enable the organisation to launch the nationwide study of 2,000 adolescents across the six geopolitical zones.
He also said the foundation would equip 15,000 teachers and caregivers with the skills to guide young people in navigating the digital world safely.
The latest commitments build on more than $3.5 million in funding Google.org has provided for online safety initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa since 2020.
According to the announcement, previous interventions have reached 2.3 million Nigerians through 10 local organisations, while a partnership with Junior Achievement Africa has trained more than 43,000 young people.
