Digital Flames: How Western Social Media Platforms Ignite Ethnic Violence in Africa

“When I speak about ‘linguistic blindness,’ I'm talking about something you can actually observe. Imagine a post that doesn't contain any direct prep. No bent words, nothing that clearly violates the written rules. And the system lets it pass. But for people who read it locally, who are in this kind of context, the meaning is obvious [...] if you look a bit closer, you see that this is not only about technology. Look at how much effort goes into different regions, like in Europe, and there our platforms respond quickly. So posts are reviewed and often removed very fast and sometimes even too fast and too aggressive. And in many African contexts, the same level of attention is simply not there [...] the failure is not just about the language; it's also about the pure absence of cultural intelligence and sensibility for those behind the new technologies. [...] And of course, you need to understand that these technological platforms are made by big Western companies, and they have their own interests,” She explained.