About
An institute for Somali-language digital evidence.
Afka exists to study, document, and publish on how digital platforms shape Somali-speaking public life.
Institution
Why Afka exists
Afka Digital Institute exists because Somali-speaking communities are deeply shaped by digital platforms, but rarely studied on their own terms.
Moderation systems, monetisation rules, recommendation feeds and AI tools affect visibility, income, safety, trust and speech. Global systems often misread language, dialect, diaspora context and political meaning in Somali spaces.
Afka turns that gap into a research agenda: documenting cases, analysing platform behaviour and translating lived digital realities into public-interest knowledge.
Public-interest frame
Digital harm is not only a technology issue. It is a question of language, trust, safety, livelihoods, and public knowledge.
Language as evidence
Somali language, dialect, slang, coded speech, and cultural context are treated as central evidence, not background detail.
Platforms as public space
Visibility, moderation, monetisation, verification, and recommendation systems shape safety and civic life.
Lived reality as data
Cases are documented with attention to gender, diaspora, journalism, youth, creators, and community context.
Policy-relevant knowledge
Research is written for communities, journalists, civil society, policymakers, researchers, and institutions.
Approach
Careful documentation, public reasoning.
Independent
Afka is non-partisan and not directed by platforms, state actors, political groups, or commercial interests.
Evidence-led
Research is built from documented cases, community context, platform behaviour, and publicly reasoned analysis.
Public-interest
The work is designed for researchers, journalists, civil society, policymakers, and Somali-speaking communities affected by digital systems.