Cyber Allies Initiative 

Media Smart Youth Ethiopia and CIR launch the Cyber Allies Initiative: A new toolkit to combat technology-facilitated gender-based violence

The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) and Media Smart Youth Ethiopia (MeSY) are launching Cyber Allies, a new initiative providing individuals across Ethiopia with the knowledge, skills, and practical tools to recognise, prevent, document, and challenge technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). The initiative launches on 28 May 2026 with a public webinar and will be rolled out across Ethiopia over the coming year through a train-the-trainer programme.

The challenge

As digital access expands across Ethiopia, online spaces are becoming increasingly central to how people learn, work, connect, organise, and express themselves. But those same spaces can also become environments of intimidation, harassment, silencing, and harm. As a result, this has led to a rise in TFGBV, whereby gender-based violence is committed through or with the assistance of technology and digital tools, including social media.

TFGBV can affect women, young people, activists, journalists, public figures, and everyday internet users. As a direct response to this growing challenge, CIR and. MeSY developed the Cyber Allies initiative. The project recognises that anyone can unintentionally contribute to online harm, but that everyone also has the power to become part of the solution.

"Young people spend a huge part of their lives online, but too many still face harassment, intimidation, and abuse in digital spaces. This toolkit is important because online safety should not be a privilege. We wanted to create something practical, relatable, and youth-led that helps young people understand TFGBV, protect themselves, and support others with confidence." Edlawit Dereje, Project Manager and Youth Ambassador at Media Smart Youth Ethiopia

 About the initiative

Cyber Allies is built around four core pillars, designed to equip individuals with the knowledge, confidence, and practical tools to understand, prevent, document, and combat TFGBV:

Understand: Learn what TFGBV is, how it manifests online, and how to recognise harmful behaviour and digital abuse.

Defend: Develop practical digital safety skills and self-defence techniques that help protect privacy, security, and wellbeing online.

Expose: Build evidence and understanding through simple research methods, digital investigations, and open-source research techniques.

Counter: Take action by supporting survivors, challenging harmful behaviour, raising awareness, and contributing to safer online communities.

Through education, research, digital self-defence, and community action, the initiative encourages people across Ethiopia to become “cyber allies”: informed digital citizens who can help create safer, more inclusive digital spaces for all.

"We hope this initiative helps build a generation of young people who feel safer, more informed, and more empowered online. Beyond awareness, we want to spark action by encouraging young people to speak up against online abuse, support one another, and help create digital spaces where everyone can participate without fear." Edlawit Dereje, Project Manager and Youth Ambassador at Media Smart Youth Ethiopia

Rollout

The Cyber Allies initiative will be launched with a webinar on 28 May 2026. Following this, CIR and MeSY will deliver Cyber Allies through a train-the-trainer model, building a pool of trained facilitators who can bring the toolkit into schools, universities, community groups, and civil society organisations across Ethiopia. The initiative has been designed with expansion in mind, with plans to extend to additional countries and languages.

Register for the launch webinar on 28 May, 14:30 to 15:30 East Africa Time (12:30-13:30 BST)

About Media Smart Youth Ethiopia

Media Smart Youth Ethiopia (MeSY) is a consortium of youth-serving organisations in Ethiopia with a mission to promote media literacy and empower young people to become informed, responsible, and active participants in Ethiopia’s democratic life.

About the Centre for Information Resilience

CIR is an independent organisation dedicated to exposing human rights violations and threats to democracy. CIR was built on deep expertise in how information environments shape conflict, accountability, and democratic resilience. Today, the organisation works with a range of government and institutional partners to translate open-source research into real-world impact.