Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has sounded a strong alarm over what he describes as a growing wave of algorithmic manipulation reshaping the minds and values of African children without parental consent.
Speaking at the 4th African Regional Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Accra, the minister warned that Africa’s family structure is facing an “unprecedented digital assault”, driven largely by foreign-controlled platforms and powerful recommendation systems.
At the heart of his concern is what he termed “algorithmic parenting”, a phenomenon where digital platforms increasingly dictate what children see, learn, and engage with online.
“There’s algorithmic parenting,” he stated. “Platforms are giving recommendations on a daily basis to deliver content to African children that the parents never see, the parents never approve of, and often contradicts what our household values are.”
According to him, with foreign platforms accounting for nearly 78% of content consumed by children across the continent, the influence of these algorithms is not only pervasive but deeply intrusive, quietly overriding traditional parental guidance and cultural norms.
The minister’s remarks highlight a growing global concern about the unchecked power of artificial intelligence systems and their ability to shape behaviour, preferences, and even identity—particularly among vulnerable young users.
However, Ghana is positioning itself at the forefront of the response. Samuel Nartey George revealed that the country’s National Artificial Intelligence Policy is designed to ensure that digital technologies serve local needs rather than replicate foreign models.
Central to this strategy is the development of a national AI compute centre and indigenous language models that will allow citizens, including farmers and rural communities, to interact with technology in their native languages.
“Today we want to give solutions to our farmers,” he explained. “We’re building national language models so that a farmer in the Bono Region can speak to an application in Bono and receive responses in the same language.”
Beyond Ghana’s borders, the minister issued a rallying call to African lawmakers to take decisive steps to reclaim control over the continent’s digital ecosystem.
He outlined five urgent actions, including the passage of a Digital Family Protection Act, the establishment of parliamentary AI oversight committees, the ratification of the Malabo Convention to strengthen data sovereignty, and the rejection of international agreements that undermine Africa’s digital independence.
He also called for a unified African Digital Family Protection Declaration to safeguard the continent’s cultural and social fabric in the digital age.
“The children of Africa did not ask to be born into a digital age,” he emphasised. “That responsibility belongs to us, the legislators. Every lawmaker who stands up to say ‘Not in our homes’ is defending the very foundation of African governance.”
