Abstract:
The rise of the digital age has seen an increase in the production of Indigenous Knowledge
(IK)-based content by digital content creators. However, Afrocentric digital content creation
ethical guidelines for producing IK-based content are barely covered in the literature and are
not popularised. Thus, this study’s aim was to co-create Afrocentric ethical guidelines for
digital content creators producing IK-based content. The Afrocentric ethical guidelines that
do exist in the literature are for research and are not fully applicable to digital content
creation. I have followed the work of Smith (1999), Wilson (2008), Chilisa (2012), Kovach
(2013), and Shokane and Masoga (2020), in building this study’s foundation and in
preparation for the co-creation of Afrocentric digital content creation ethical guidelines. The
data generated was analysed through a thematic analysis technique. Key findings in this study
include that stakeholders have experienced a violation of their knowledge’s boundaries and
sacredness, its ownership often challenged after its shared with creators and the lack of
long-term partnerships from the creators’ end. The co-created Afrocentric ethical guidelines
have also been documented in this study’s findings and have included a three-step process as
follows: (i) Preparing to engage with an indigenous community, (ii) The process of engaging
and, (iii) Presenting/posting IK-based content on digital/social media platforms. The study
also found that IK Holders are often not involved in the process of telling stories about their
knowledge. This study’s recommendations include the inclusion and involvement of
Indigenous Knowledge Holders (IKHs) in the presentation of IK-based content on
digital/social media platforms. The content should be presented by IK Holders or at least
through their lens. This recommendation is based on the idea that their involvement will
ensure an emancipatory digital content creation process.
