Digital Literacy and Youth-Led Protest Movements in Africa: Navigating Socio-Political Challenges and Building Cross-Generational Solidarities.

TITLEDigital Literacy and Youth-Led Protest Movements in Africa: Navigating Socio-Political Challenges and Building Cross-Generational Solidarities AUTHORAbiola Moses Akinwale, University of Ibadan, Nigeria CONFERENCEDSA2025, Navigating crisis: dangers and opportunities in development; University of Bath; 25 to 27 June 2025 SESSIONPE07 Youth in urban social movements, Session 1, 26 June 2025, 09:00 to 10:30 TYPEConference presentation, slides ABSTRACTThis presentation analyzes how contextualized digital literacy, including advanced search, rapid fact-checking, secure communication, and multimedia storytelling, shapes protest organization, narrative control, and sustainability across Lagos, Nairobi, Windhoek, and related urban hubs. A convergent mixed-methods design combines a survey (n=350) with semi-structured interviews (n=15). Findings show that applied search navigation and content creation strongly predict high engagement, while security practices and algorithm awareness show context-sensitive effects. Qualitative evidence highlights intergenerational mentorship, verification cells, and offline contingencies during throttling or shutdowns. The updated TRAC framework integrates these insights and yields practitioner-facing recommendations for education ministries, civil society, and digital rights coalitions. METHODS- Convergent-parallel mixed methods- Survey of youth activists and supporters, March to April 2024- Semi-structured interviews, April to May 2024- Field challenges included respondent safety concerns and intermittent site outages KEY FINDINGS- Search navigation and rapid verification correlate with higher engagement and sustained mobilization- Multimedia content, localized in language and culture, can force mainstream coverage- Digital security skills are necessary but not sufficient without offline fallback plans- Intergenerational knowledge exchange increases resources and movement resilience TRAC FRAMEWORK UPDATE- Transparency: platform policies, algorithm signals, moderation clarity- Relevance: locally tuned content formats and channels- Accountability: verification cells, documented corrections, platform audits- Community participation: youth-elder mentorships, community media, rights coalitions IMPLICATIONS- Embed advanced search and verification drills in curricula and NGO programs- Stand up Digital Resilience Hubs with offline contingencies- Fund city-specific content labs to test algorithm dynamics- Pair youth mentors and elder activists for structured digital training LIMITATIONS AND NEXT STEPS- Urban focus; plan a rural-urban comparative- Cross-sectional design; add longitudinal follow-ups- Self-report bias; integrate timed performance tasks- Pilot Digital Resilience Hubs and measure outcomes over 12 months ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThanks to participating youth communities and partner organizations for their time and insights. LINKSConference page: nomadit.co.uk