Seyi Akiwowo

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Seyi Akiwowo is a British-Nigerian women’s rights activist who campaigns to stop online abuse. She founded Glitch, a non-profit that helps people protect themselves online and works to end gender-based harassment. Her work has earned major recognitions, including Amnesty International’s Human Rights Defender in 2018 and Digital Leader of the Year in 2019.

Early life and education
Seyi grew up in the London Borough of Newham. She studied at Sir George Monoux College, where she completed A-Levels in law, history, government, and politics. She campaigned to join the Newham Youth Council and later took part in the UK Youth Parliament to push for better sexual health policy. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in social policy from the London School of Economics, researching questions about accountability in education trusts.

Research and career
After university, Seyi interned at the UK House of Commons and the European Youth Forum. In 2014, at 23, she became the youngest Black woman elected as a Labour councillor in East London. She has also worked as a senior project coordinator for Teach First and helped found Spark+Mettle, a charity that helps young people build resilience and skills through technology and coaching.

Seyi spoke at the European Parliament about colonialism, and her speech was met with boos. A video of the talk went viral, and she faced racist abuse on Twitter. She helped raise awareness about online harassment and urged platforms to take action.

She created the Fix the Glitch toolkit to help organizations prevent gender-based online abuse. The program focuses on awareness, advocacy, and action, and encourages women to reclaim their digital space without restricting free speech. Glitch provides guidance for young people online and has support from Amnesty International and a Fairer Tech grant from Dot Everyone. Seyi also co-founded the #ToxicTwitter campaign and has written for Gender IT, HuffPost, and The Guardian. In 2019, she gave a TEDxLondon talk about fixing the glitch in online communities.

Recognition and honours
In 2018, Amnesty International named Seyi a Human Rights Defender and Stylist magazine named her Woman of the Week. She was highlighted as a future shaper by Marie Claire in 2019 and was listed by the Evening Standard as one of London’s most influential people in the social media stars category. Her work has been covered by major outlets and organizations, and she continues to lead initiatives to create a safer online space for women.