On African Youth Day, African Youth Survey 2024 Zooms In On Digital Divide And Concerns About Fake News And The Possible Misuse Of Artificial Intelligence (ai)
Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, November 4th, 2024 — In observance of African Youth Day (November 1st), the Ichikowitz Family Foundation released detailed findings from its African Youth Survey 2024 about digital connectivity, a theme of critical importance to the rising generation.
While improving, access to the Internet remains a barrier, but it is the perceived surge in fake news and concerns about how artificial intelligence (‘A.I.’) could be misused that worry young Africans when it comes to technology, the survey found.
Commissioned by the Ichikowitz Foundation, a leading African nongovernmental organization (NGO), the African Youth Survey offers an unprecedented sounding as to how Africa’s youth sees their current situation, highlighting today advances made particularly in the arena of digital connectivity over recent years, as well as forecasting the challenges lying ahead.
Some key findings from this year’s survey include:
- Three-out-of-four (75%) young Africans polled say “fake news is a serious problem in my community today,” which impacts safety, sovereignty (i.e. influence being asserted from foreign nations), social accord and democracy;
- 71% fear that Artificial Intelligence (‘A.I.’) will make it easier to create and disseminate fake news, while more than a third of respondents (38%) worry A.I. may do more harm than good – although over half (51%) ultimately see it as a positive force;
- Facebook (56% say its their primary source) and WhatsApp (41% say the same) are the second and third-ranked news sources for young people today, still trailing television (64%), but leapfrogging radio (39%), newspapers (14%) and even long-trusted friends and family (30%); and…
- More than two-thirds (68%) of young people spend three hours a day or more on their cell-phones
Four-of-five young Africans polled continue to view internet connectivity as a fundamental human right; this sentiment, which has returned to pre-COVID levels, is particularly strong in Nigeria (93%), Rwanda (92%), Côte d’Ivoire (91%), and Ghana (90%), where over nine-of-ten youth endorse this view.
However only two-of-three have regular, private, internet access. Nonetheless, access to digital connectivity is expanding in terms of reach and affordability, as the survey found, and the demand for faster growth is strong.
Notably, 41% of respondents consider the price of data in 2024 to be “fair”, or even “a bargain,” which is ten points higher than when the survey was last fielded two years ago. The percentage of those who cannot afford digital connectivity at all has also fallen markedly, from 23% in the 2022 survey, to only 10% this year.
But at the same time young Africans are getting online in greater numbers, obstacles such as corruption and well-paying jobs persist, clouding their perceptions of their future opportunities.
Ichikowitz Foundation Founder and Executive Chairman, Ivor Ichikowitz, stated that, “It is fascinating to compare and contrast the results of this year’s African Youth Survey with the recent soundings from powerful influencers and organizations across the world in prognosticating the future of the continent. Google, for example, has just declared the next ten years as Africa’s ‘digital decade,’ driven by developments in artificial intelligence (‘A.I.’), cloud computing and digital infrastructure.”
“While challenges such as Fake News persist and may even increase in nature and resonance, Google’s statement is accurate – Reduced costs, increased competition leading to greater ease of access to data is empowering Africa’s next generation to harness their technological prowess, embrace STEM education (sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics), and rightfully take for themselves the opportunity to compete with their counterparts in the Global North for the jobs and careers of the globalizing future.”
Other Key Findings on Digital Connectivity
- 77% of the African Youth Survey’s 2024 respondents believe internet access should be freely available in all major cities, while 76% say it should also be expanded to the remaining, rural parts of their country (where access is most likely to be limited);
- Meanwhile, 40% of young Africans say they spend “about the right amount of time online,” while 29% believe they spend too much time looking at screens, and another 24% whish they spent more. This differs markedly from a survey in the United States conducted by the Pew Research Group that found more than half (55%) suggesting that they spend “about the right amount of time online”, but more than a third (36%) fear they spend too much, with access to the Internet being a critical component to this distinction;
- Three-in-five say that online dating apps allow them to meet people they would have never met before and over half say they would be open to meeting others through online dating. However, a similar proportion say that online dating is ruining social norms and traditional dating, and just under half say their family would be accepting of someone they met through online dating;
- Overwhelmingly, young Africans spend most of their time online using social media apps, 74% of respondents said. Trailing behind these are multi-media apps (39%), productivity apps (32%), commuting apps (30%), photo apps (28%) and news and information apps (22%).
“As we mark African Youth Day, this survey again points to vital metrics of how we are doing when in comes to keeping pace with technology in contrast to the rest of the world, as well as flagging areas requiring direct address - contemporary areas like bridging the data divide and tackling the as yet unabated spread of Fake News, ultimately in doing so ensuring our youth are going to have the future they deserve,” Ichikowitz continued.