Youth creators in Southeast Asia will participate in a creative training initiative announced today by the United Nations Development Programme and TikTok. Titled Creators Forward, the programme aims to use peer networks to reach, empower and educate young people in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines on an online culture of respect, kindness, tolerance, and equality.  

As part of the programme, online youth influencers from Southeast Asia aged 18 to 25 will undergo a six-week boot camp that offers training, mentorship, and tools to create engaging and positive narratives on their platforms. The workshops will be facilitated by experts from TikTok, UNDP, civil society organizations, and well-established creators from the region.  

Participants will use their strengthened digital skills and creative thinking to engage their community on diverse topics, including countering cyberbullying, celebrating cultural diversity, and advocating for global empathy. The training will support the participants in creating digital campaigns with positive social media messages that are expected to go viral and reach young people across the region. 

Over recent years, Southeast Asia has witnessed a surge of hate speech that goes beyond hurtful content with a tendency to result in physical violence and socio-religious disharmony.  Harmful content is a challenge that all social media platforms are facing, but at the same time, we have seen the power of social media in bringing the global community together to spread positive messages of tolerance and respect.  

With a track record of productive synergies between UNDP and tech giants, this programme will build on Creators for Change (2018 and 2020) and  United Creatives (2021) initiatives, where UNDP and partners successfully trained and built the capacity of talented young creators to produce digital content that challenges hateful messages in order to create a positive impact.  

This initiative is supported by the joint EU-UN action “Preventing Violent Extremism Through Promoting Tolerance and Respect for Diversity in Southeast Asia”, which aims to strengthen the ability of Southeast Asian countries to identify, respond to and prevent violent extremism.