The Horn of Africa – a region encompassing Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti – has long been at the epicentre of political instability, protracted conflicts, and violent extremism. Gaining access to digital technologies has been a notable shift in the region’s social and political landscape, opening both opportunities and risks. In Somalia, for instance, internet penetration has surged in recent years, with an internet penetration rate of over 55% as of earlier this year. Ethiopia’s internet penetration rate, meanwhile, is considerably lower, with about 21.3% internet penetration as of early 2025. Nonetheless, while extremist groups increasingly exploit digital spaces to recruit and radicalise vulnerable youth, these same technologies offer critical opportunities for engagement, empowerment, and peacebuilding. Within this duality lies the need to understand how youth in the Horn of Africa, particularly in Ethiopia and Somalia, can be supported in creating digital trust frameworks to resist radicalisation and build inclusive, resilient societies.
Youth in this region represent a majority demographic, often marginalised economically, politically, and socially. This exclusion has made many susceptible to the lure of extremist ideologies that promise identity, purpose, and belonging. However, the same youth also possess the creativity, technological adaptability, and grassroots insight necessary to drive community transformation. Increasingly, young people in Ethiopia and Somalia are turning to digital tools not only for self-expression but as a means to challenge violent narratives, bridge inter-communal divides, and create localised peace initiatives. This Insight proposes that youth-led, tech-driven interventions — particularly those centred on digital storytelling and community-based cyber hubs — can serve as sensitive and sustainable mechanisms to prevent violent extremism. Unlike conventional counter-terrorism efforts that often rely on top-down or securitised strategies, youth-led initiatives foster trust, dialogue, and agency from within communities. Ethiopia and Somalia offer compelling case studies: in Somalia, youth-run media and peace platforms are reclaiming narrative spaces from terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab; in Ethiopia, digital activism is emerging amidst ethnic and political tensions as a force for reconciliation and civic engagement.
Youth-Driven Digital Storytelling to Counter Extremist Narratives
Youth in Somalia and Ethiopia are increasingly harnessing digital storytelling as a proactive means to challenge violent extremist propaganda. In Somalia, organisations such as the Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ), supported by BBC Media Action and EU funding, have trained journalists and young content creators in Mogadishu to produce social media content focused on conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
Figure 1: FESOJ Conducted Training for Youth on Co-Producing Social Media Content for Conflict Prevention and Peace building in Mogadishu, April 2025. Source: FESOJ.
These trainings – which cover ethics, storytelling, vox-pop interviews (brief, informal street-style interviews), and social media strategy – equip youth to craft narratives that counter violent extremist discourse while modelling digitally safe and responsible practices. A powerful example is the work of Nairobi-based Somali youth collective Badbaado Team, which produces short films and talk shows addressing issues like tribalism, human trafficking, and drug abuse. Their visual dramas reach growing audiences across social media, and in one instance, reportedly dissuaded a young man from pursuing smuggling, demonstrating the immediate personal impact of locally relevant storytelling.
Parallel initiatives in Ethiopia emphasise digital literacy as a foundation for resilient digital communities. The #DefyHateNow project works across Oromia, Dire Dawa, and other regions to train youth, educators, and content creators in fact-checking, media literacy, and responding to hate speech online. By elevating youth voices to debunk disinformation and hate rhetoric, #DefyHateNow builds a digital movement of peer educators and storytellers promoting inclusive narratives. In Dire Dawa, a USAID-funded program led by Synergie for Community Development engaged hundreds of high school and university students, and local influencers, to create positive social media campaigns under the banner of #HateFreeEthiopia. These campaigns, rooted in peer-to-peer digital storytelling, foster civic participation and reinforce a collective identity resistant to extremist messaging.
The theoretical rationale behind these interventions lies in narrative psychology: stories anchor identity and shape meaning, especially for young people navigating conflict-prone environments. Violent extremist groups often fill vacuums left by social or economic exclusion, offering simplistic, emotionally compelling stories. Youth-led digital storytelling counters this by empowering communities to craft and circulate counter-narratives rooted in local languages, cultural nuance, and lived reality. Training initiatives that focus on digital safety and ethical media use not only enable impactful storytelling but also foster trust in youth-generated content—increasing its visibility and acceptance. These projects demonstrate how, in both Somalia and Ethiopia, youth can reclaim the digital sphere through artful, grounded storytelling that promotes resilience, dialogue, and peace. Their work offers a scalable model: by investing in digital media skills, cultural authenticity, and locally driven narratives, peacebuilders can chip away at extremist appeal and nurture a generation able to redefine the dominant narrative from within.
Community-Based Digital Hubs for Trust-Building and Early Warning
In Somalia, grassroots digital platforms are forming vital bridges between young citizens and community institutions, fostering trust and enabling early detection of conflict dynamics. The Daldhis initiative, for instance, combines SMS-based citizen scorecards, radio call-ins, and local government feedback loops to create an interactive civic-feedback mechanism in towns like Baidoa and Kismayo. These digital hubs don’t just relay grievances—they amplify youth voices and translate real-time concerns into governmental responses, gradually building institutional credibility and social cohesion. This two-way communication structure also encourages young people to share emerging community tensions or rumours, effectively functioning as grassroots early warning systems against radicalisation or violence. Across Somalia, platforms such as Daldhis and early warning systems implemented by NGOs like Manaal Relief Foundation (MRF) gather information about land disputes, competition over natural resources, election and clan tension, and livelihood insecurity. These grievances – linked to service delivery, political marginalisation, and communal tension – are collected via SMS, radio call-ins, and digital scorecards, allowing communities to report concerns as they emerge. In particular, the technology-enabled early warning systems in Somalia enable local youth and community volunteers—sometimes called EWER “champions”—to capture reports of potential violence or rumour-based tensions. These reports are collected through mobile phones (SMS) or voice-based systems and are processed through cloud-based reporting platforms such as WikiRumours. Community platforms verify, analyse, and share the alerts with local authorities and peace committees, triggering timely mediation or response.
Complementing such local efforts, broader regional platforms like IGAD’s trainings for Somali youth showcase the connective potential of regional digital hubs. Workshops held in Jigjiga engaged Somali participants with Ethiopian facilitators in creating youth-driven counter-extremism strategies—embedding technology, dialogue, and community-based early warning into program design and policy development. At the regional level, the IGAD Center of Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (ICEPCVE) plays a coordinating role in knowledge-sharing and disseminating best practices for community-based digital approaches across the Horn of Africa. What makes these hubs most effective is their grounding in local social infrastructure and trust. In both contexts, community leaders, educators, and youth co-create digital spaces where sharing critical information doesn’t threaten personal safety or social reputation. Parallel to hubs, national-level digital youth portals such as the Somali Youth Hub – run by the Ministry of Youth and Sports – offer virtual forums, idea submission sections, blogs, and storytelling features built with accessible, mobile-friendly web design using platforms like WordPress. These platforms enable youth to share experiences, pose questions, contribute ideas, and engage with peers and policymakers in a moderated digital setting. Technology-driven co-working spaces and innovation labs, such as the iRise Tech Hub and SiHUB in Somalia, offer digital infrastructure, mentoring, and incubation services. These hubs support mobile-first initiatives and leverage social media, workshops, and networking to produce tech-enabled peace and civic campaigns. This trust is built through transparency, inclusive participation, and partnership with local institutions. These initiatives gain legitimacy and attract youth participation by embedding digital hubs in existing communal frameworks – schools, religious networks, and local radio stations. The early warning function emerges naturally as youth report localised tensions or misinformation through trusted channels, triggering peer-led responses or stakeholder dialogues.
Together, the Somali and Ethiopian case studies illustrate how community-based digital hubs can serve dual functions: strengthening trust between youth and institutions while enabling the timely detection of conflict drivers. These hubs model a transition from securitised, outsider-imposed counter-extremism to participatory, tech-enabled resilience built from the ground up.
Policy Implications
Governments in Somalia and Ethiopia should adopt holistic digital governance strategies that align with continental best practices, such as the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms. National policies must guarantee equitable internet access while safeguarding freedom of expression, privacy, and anonymity—principles essential to fostering trust in youth-led digital civic spaces. By embedding these rights into legislative frameworks, authorities can legitimise community-based digital hubs and support youth-generated content that counters violent extremism without risking censorship or repression.
Tech firms operating in the Horn of Africa can play a transformative role in counter-extremism efforts by partnering deeply with the community-based digital infrastructure already being built. In Somalia, telecommunications firms like Hormuud Telecom have taken the lead in expanding 4G and even 5G connectivity across urban and rural areas, facilitating reliable access for underserved youth populations. As digital hubs and youth-driven initiatives emerge, tech companies should strategically integrate into these trusted local spaces. For instance, APIs or platform access agreements could empower digital hubs to stream their locally produced content, host interactive webinars, or use mobile money micropayments to incentivise positive engagement. Tech providers reinforce trust, visibility, and sustainability of community-led narratives by aligning with youth-run centres rather than only offering top-down programs. Advanced solutions such as AI-powered early warning analytics constitute another promising frontier. Youth-run hubs and civic technology centres already collect real-time input on tensions, rumours, or sensitive local developments. Tech companies could provide shared analytics tools—using natural language processing, sentiment analysis, or dashboard alerts—to detect rising narratives or sudden spikes in extremist-relevant terms, thereby supporting grassroots resilience efforts. These tools can be embedded in the civic-feedback mechanisms like Daldhis in Somalia or community hubs in Ethiopia to trigger peer-led interventions or escalate warnings to NGOs and local authorities. Crucially, this model centres youth and civil society as users of—but not substitutes for—digital intelligence, keeping ownership local while enhancing capacity.
In parallel, integrating counter-extremism objectives into local governance plans strengthens the impact of digital interventions. As research from East Africa confirms, placing P/CVE (Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism) responsibilities at the local government level allows tailored, context-responsive initiatives informed by youth most at risk. Ethiopia’s regional administrations and Somalia’s district councils can allocate resources to youth-run cyber hubs, ensuring these spaces are rooted in local institutions, staffed by trained facilitators, and supported with modest operational funding.
Investing in digital infrastructure and literacy is also vital. Reflecting lessons from Kenya and other African countries, policy must support the expansion of affordable broadband connectivity in underserved areas, while promoting digital literacy through schools and youth centres. In practice, the Ethiopian government could partner with telecom operators and community networks to improve access in rural Oromia or Somali regions, while simultaneously funding training in critical thinking, fact-checking, and media ethics.
Effective policies must also foster cooperative platforms between youth, civil society, religious and clan leaders, and institutions. Counter-extremism in Somalia requires not only a rapid national response but also a localised pushback: engaging clan elders, religious figures, women leaders, and youth influencers in crafting and disseminating counternarratives enhances credibility and reach.
Policymakers should formally support multi-stakeholder councils that guide digital hub content and amplify local voices. Lastly, regional coordination through entities like the Horn of Africa Digital Governance and Cybersecurity Initiative, supported by the EU and ITU, offers an important foundation for P/CVE policy coherence across Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and beyond. National governments should participate actively in such platforms to harmonise cybersecurity policies, share best practices for youth engagement, and ensure digital interventions respect human rights. A regional approach enables scalable models, peer learning, and pooled resources for sustainable support of youth-led digital resilience initiatives. Collectively, these policy directions—rooted in digital rights, local governance integration, infrastructure expansion, inclusive stakeholder engagement, and regional cooperation—can build an enabling environment where community-based digital hubs thrive. By translating policy into actionable support, governments empower youth to become digital peacebuilders, drive early warning mechanisms, and counter extremist narratives from within their communities.
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Abraham Ename Minko is a senior researcher and policy analyst in Peace, Security, and Conflict Resolution. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations. His research interests are UN Peace Operations, Terrorism and Counter Violent Extremism, Peace and Conflict Resolution, Mediation and Negotiation, International Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflicts, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding.
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