Webinar: Open Hearts, Open Mic: The Language of Love (and Not)

Date:  25 February 2026

Time: 1400H – 1500H (1 Hour)

Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/3rovN-u0S42W62Fxy0010g

Introduction

KICTANet is hosting a unique webinar that explores the double-edged sword of language in our digital intimacies. While we celebrate love with poetic words and affectionate terms, digital spaces are also misused to perpetuate harm through Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV).  As we celebrate the month of love, we bring you a session, structured as an engaging “Open Mic,” which will immerse its  audience into how love, courtship, conflict, and abuse are linguistically constructed in our local languages and online slang. We will examine how existing curated lexicons by KICTANet can help us not only celebrate the language of connection but also identify and disarm the language of coercion and violence.

Background and Context

Digital communication has reshaped how we express affection, forge relationships, and experience heartbreak. From sweet talk in DMs to catching up with Gen-Z slang on timelines, the “language of love” is evolving rapidly. However, these same platforms and linguistic innovations can be weaponised. TFGBV perpetrated in local languages and contemporary slang presents a tough challenge for platform moderation, as harmful phrases are often deeply embedded in cultural context and hidden in plain sight.

Building on KICTANet’s previous research titled “Unmasking the Trolls: Research on OGBV” and the development of comprehensive lexicons to combat TFGBV in languages including Ateso, Gikuyu, Luo, Kiswahili, Luhya, and Somali, this webinar flips the script. We start with the month of February’s global theme of love as an accessible entry point into a critical conversation about digital safety, respect, and consent. How does the language of Gen-Z romance differ? What do our local idioms reveal about societal attitudes towards love,gender and violence? This session aims to bridge generational and linguistic gaps, fostering a dialogue that is both timely for the month of love and pivotal for ongoing digital rights work.

Objectives

1. To explore evolving language,  connection, and conflict in digital spaces
2. To highlight how the same linguistic frameworks (lexicons) can be powerful tools for identifying harmful language related to TFGBV.
3. To brainstorm creative, language-centric strategies for promoting respectful online interactions and combating digitally-facilitated abuse.

Target Audience

Digital natives and Gen-Z content creators, civil society organizations working on gender, youth, and digital rights, linguists, cultural researchers, and academia, media professionals and social media influencers, ICT policymakers and development partners interested in digital culture and safety.

Expected Outcomes

1. A heightened awareness of the power of language in shaping digital experiences.
2. A clearer understanding of the link between cultural linguistics and online safety.
3. A vibrant, themed discussion that connects KICTANet’s technical work on TFGBV to broader, relatable experiences of love and connection online.

About the Organiser

KICTANet is a multistakeholder think tank for ICT policy and regulation. Guided by pillars of policy advocacy, stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and research, KICTANet acts as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector. This webinar reflects our commitment to fostering innovative, collaborative conversations on critical digital issues.