A young girl stands before a lens. A microphone is thrust toward her face. The questions come quickly, one after another.
What is your nationality? She responds, “Potato greens rice.”
What class are you in? What is your gender? Would you marry a Homo sapien? Why not? Can you “defecate”? Do you even understand what that means?
The words are asked casually, but they are not always understood. The questions shift from simple to complex to inappropriate, leaving the child to respond in a moment she does not fully grasp. She laughs nervously. She hesitates. She answers anyway.
The record button is pressed, video is uploaded, it trends for entertainment. In seconds, a fleeting moment is frozen into a digital identity she did not choose.
We often consume these clips as filler entertainment, quick laughs between our daily routines. But beneath the scroll lies a predatory reality. What we are witnessing is not just content creation. It is a dangerous and growing form of technology facilitated gender based violence (TFGBV).
When confusion becomes content and vulnerability becomes entertainment, we are no longer creating, we are exploiting.
In Liberia, we are beginning to recognize that violence against women and girls is no longer confined to physical spaces. According to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection 2024 Annual GBV Report, Liberia recorded 3,591 cases of gender based violence, with statutory rape accounting for 1,485 of those cases.
While these statistics largely reflect physical acts, UNDP and UN Women have warned that digital violence is now one of the fastest growing forms of abuse.
In a context where Montserrado County alone reported over 2,100 GBV cases in 2024, the normalization of so called street interviews that mock, confuse, or sexualize minors contributes to a culture of impunity. When a girl is recorded in a suggestive or degrading context for engagement, we are reinforcing the same systems that undermine her safety offline.
Let us be honest about what we are seeing.
These are not thoughtful conversations. They are rapid, disjointed, and often inappropriate lines of questioning directed at young girls who are still developing their sense of identity and boundaries. Questions move abruptly from basic identity to sexuality to adult hypotheticals, leaving the child confused but still expected to respond.
In these moments, confusion is not accidental. It is the content. Vulnerability is not incidental. It is the hook.
A nervous laugh or a hesitant answer under the pressure of a camera is not consent. True consent requires understanding. It requires awareness of the audience, the implications, and the permanence of the digital space.
Without that understanding, what appears to be consent is actually exposure.
A child’s yes without understanding is not consent. It is exposure.
The UNDP 2025 Unite to End Digital Violence campaign highlights how digital transformation can reinforce existing power imbalances. When a content creator with a large following records a minor, the power dynamic is entirely one sided. The creator controls the narrative, the platform, and the audience. The girl does not control how her words will be interpreted, reshaped, or remembered.
What happens after the camera is turned off is just as critical as what happens in front of it.
The video circulates. It is reshared, commented on, and often distorted. The girl becomes the subject of ridicule, not only online but within her own community. What was intended as content becomes a source of prolonged humiliation.
Some girls are asked explicitly sexual or inappropriate questions they do not fully understand, exposing them to public embarrassment and long term stigma. Others are targeted based on appearance, dress, or perceived social standing. A microphone is placed before them not to hear them, but to expose them.
These clips become labels. They follow these girls beyond the moment.
In some cases, the psychological impact is severe, leading to isolation, shame, and even suicidal thoughts.
The camera may leave, but the consequences remain.
To address this growing threat, we must move beyond awareness and toward digital sovereignty.
Safe spaces must evolve beyond basic online safety to include empowerment. Girls must be taught what I call the power of the pivot, the confidence to look into a lens and say, I do not consent to being recorded.
Schools must integrate digital literacy into the national curriculum, emphasizing that a child’s image is personal property, not public content.
Churches and mosques must reinforce that a child’s dignity is sacred and should never be reduced to entertainment.
Mental health support must also be prioritized. Girls who experience digital humiliation require safe channels for healing, including counseling, peer support systems, and school based psychosocial services.
The responsibility for protection cannot rest solely on the child.
As Liberia advances its ARREST Agenda, the following actions are critical:
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection must lead efforts on prevention, awareness, and survivor support related to TFGBV
The Liberia Telecommunications Authority must enforce digital safety standards and penalize exploitative content
The Ministry of Information must establish ethical guidelines for digital media and influencers
The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications must ensure timely removal of non consensual content involving minors
The Ministry of Health must integrate mental health services into GBV response frameworks
When we normalize this content, we enter a dangerous exchange. We trade the dignity of young girls for engagement. We signal that their boundaries are negotiable and their discomfort is acceptable.
This is not about restricting creativity. It is about demanding responsibility.
Our girls are not content. They are not material to be edited, filtered, and consumed. They are individuals deserving of dignity, protection, and the right to define their own futures.
The question is no longer whether the content is entertaining.
The question is:
At what cost to our nation’s future?