Archive post. Issued by SAMNET on 10 March 2026 and published here as part of SAMNET’s advocacy archive. The proposal it sets out remains open.

SAMNET calls on Muslim organisations and leadership to educate themselves on how far the legal implications of social media posts now reach.

Much of the guidance our young people receive about the harms of social media arrives as condemnation rather than education — and that is happening within the Muslim community, among our youth, by them and against them.

We need to develop expert insight before we expect people to give guidance. And we need to act now, rather than waiting for a public incident or for someone’s child to face a personal consequence.

Many of the people we are expecting to speak on what is a psycho-social, legal and youth issue are too far removed from it, or insufficiently skilled, to guide anyone through it. This cannot be tackled in isolation by separate parts of the community. It needs coordination across medical, legal, religious, civil society, youth, sport, parent and school bodies.

A proposed coalition programme

  1. An “educate the experts” programme grounded in education and youth psychology, producing a single strategic message.
  2. Training regional and community-based experts on the issue, the messaging and its management.
  3. Workshops for educators and parents, through Musaajid and organisations.
  4. Messaging across all platforms, digital and physical.
  5. Regular refresh of that message.
  6. Taking it beyond the Muslim community to South African society generally.

This is part of the existential set of challenges facing our young people. It is not about point-scoring, building bases or theological positioning. It is about producing an informed and prepared generation. The prevailing strategy of building walls and isolating ourselves from the reality will not work. We need to be bold and proactive.

We encourage you to watch this clip, and the work of Emma Sadleir, who has become one of the leading voices on this. This is no longer an obscure exception. It is an active, everyday reality.

Related

Social Media Is Powerful — When Used Effectively · Teaching Activism

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of building consensus and a cross-disciplinary network among Muslim leadership, for a stronger and future-ready youth.