Introduction 

With the development of new information and communication technologies, the world has become a global village. Millions of people from all over the world meet on platforms like networks to exchange views on almost everything. Some are there for professional purposes, others just to spend time with real or virtual friends. And Africans are not left behind in this digital globalisation. But alongside all the good things that can be found on social networks, there are other, much less glamorous things that could have terrible consequences for living together between different communities, particularly on the African continent, if we are not careful. 

Violence incited

Recently, on networks such as Facebook and Tiktok, especially in the context of the African Cup of Nations, we have seen acts that could incite people to resort to inter-community violence, as has already happened on the continent. These include the actions of pseudo-supporters of certain national teams, who have taken the liberty, through videos or written publications, of denigrating, stigmatising, insulting or even sometimes calling for physical attacks against supporters of other nations if their teams lose to their teams. 

Possible consequences 

This type of behaviour on social networks could easily lead communities that have lived peacefully for millennia to perpetrate regrettable acts against each other, as was the case in Rwanda. By way of example, tensions were raised to such an extent around the quarter-final match between Côte d’Ivoire, the host country of the competition, and its neighbour Mali, which has millions of nationals in that country, that the Ivorian authorities had to deploy the police to raise awareness. 

Conclusion 

To avoid falling into the trap of social networks, which could help our countries in Africa and the rest of the world in general to live together, the political authorities need to assume their responsibilities by effectively regulating the use of these platforms. Each of us, as users of these platforms, also needs to work on ourselves in terms of what we publish and what we share. This is the only way we will be able to effectively combat this type of behaviour, comparable to that of Radio mille collines, which led to the massacre of thousands of people in Rwanda.