The Targeted Rights Initiative Team embarked on a journey from Accra to the Odumase Krobo Town in the Eastern Region of Ghana. This journey was honored by the Miss Kloyo beauty pageants led by their patron, Miss Francisca Padikie Samadji.

The Executive Director of Targeted Rights, Ms. Doreen Raheena Sulleyman graced the occasion by providing insightful and engaging tips on staying safe in the digital era. She acknowledged the world’s evolution into the digital era but also cautions that we stay safe to avoid the negative implications the internet has on individuals. As part of our unwavering commitment to promote digital literacy and safeguarding the rights of individuals in online spaces, this event was designed to equip the contestants with practical knowledge to enable safety and responsible use of the internet.

A series of activities took place encouraging a proper interaction and inclusivity. The first activity which preceded the event was the ‘Google Yourself’ challenge in which the pageants searched for their names on the internet to see what the web holds about them. Interestingly, this sparked a lot of surprises among them as one of the men from their technical team found images of himself and other personal details that he has shared on the internet overtime. None of the ladies found information about them on Google which indicates their ‘low visibility’ on the internet. This segment of the program emphasized interaction and acted as a mood setter for an engaging session.

The attention of the beauty queens was finally on grasp followed by series of events. The unravelling of some technical terminologies in Digital Safety kindled the curiosity of the pageants as they were seemingly new to them.

Some of the technical words mentioned were; Doxing, Stalking, Nonconsensual sharing of intimate images also known as “Revenge Porn”, Cyberbullying and others. The contestants gained insights into these areas and shared their personal experiences with online abuse. Their feedback reaffirmed the negative impacts of the internet and provided a valuable ground for them to bounce back from any form of abuse they have encountered. Ms. Raheena enlightened the ladies on their ability to report, block or delete a harmful messages, comments or accounts.

There was a Dis/Misinformation session mediated by Chanda Chongo, Founder of and Director at Dikoding Deception in Zambia via zoom. Preceded by a series of images, where the contestants were made to separate the AI generated images from the real images. And then again, went across certain unfamiliar terminologies with regards to AI as the pageants were thrilled throughout the session. The term ‘Deep Fake’ stood out the most and had a proper delve into the area, its purpose, benefits and implications.

The talk emphasized practical, actionable tips for staying safe online from adjusting privacy settings on social media, to identifying phishing scams and safeguarding personal data.

Towards the end, a fun, engaging puzzle activity was introduced to test and improve the contestants’ knowledge on online safety practices, privacy settings, and digital rights. This activity saw the contestants in a competitive mood as they strive to find more words as possible.

Targeted Rights Initiative reaffirmed their mission to protect and promote the digital rights of vulnerable and marginalized communities, especially young women, in Ghana and beyond with the participants signing a pledge, to commit to being part of a safe and respectful digital community, stand with survivors, speak truth, protect their peace online.

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the organizers of Miss Kloyo Beauty Pageant for partnering with us, and to all the young women who participated with enthusiasm and curiosity. Together, we are building a generation that is informed, empowered, and safe online.