The cover of Meta's new comic book #EBASafeOnline. Photo: Meta
Meta has launched its first youth and safety comic book, #EbaSafeOnline, in partnership with Ethnikids Publishers in an effort to encourage online safety.
Meta said the comic book is a powerful tool dedicated to empowering parents and teens on how to navigate social media safely.
The comic book, which is available in all eleven languages except sign language, was unveiled at Tasha’s at Mandela Square in Sandton on Monday.
The characters in the comic book share issues that the youth are facing in a bid to have open communication between parents and their children.
Oluwasola Obagbemi, corporate communications manager at Meta, said the company has a very holistic approach when it comes to safety.
Obagbemi said the launch of the book is a first of its kind in South Africa by Meta and demonstrates its concerted effort towards fostering a safer online environment for young people.
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“The comic book would fall under our resources, and resources are there to promote more awareness for people who are using our platform about how to stay safe online.
“If you think about how we started this approach, the first thing was the youth safety day, where we launched the campaign to address safety concerns. In June, we did a youth safety summit, and in October, we are launching a comic book and it will not end there. We will continue to ensure that we are sharing good materials that people who are leveraging Meta’s platforms to ensure that they stay safe online,” Obagbemi said.
Sylvia Musalangani, Meta Safety Policy Manager, said the youth of today are extremely tech-savvy.
“The greatest challenge is as technology evolves, the teenagers, the young children tend to be more tech-savvy than us parents… conversations are very important and I have seen it in my work and my home where I open up that space for conversation than I also allow them to have their own urgency which is also very import because I’m not there to guide 24/7.
“So, how will I ensure that they are able to make the right decision when I am not hovering over them? So, I should empower them to make the right decisions,” Musalangani said.
The #EbaSafeOnline comic book is free of charge.
Physical copies of the publication will be handed out to schools that Meta to visit to promote the comic book, while the online version is also free and can be downloaded by scanning the QR code.
You can also download a copy by clicking here.
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