For many centuries, African artists don dey carve motherhood for wood, stone and metal. For example, for Central Africa, Yombe people for Congo dey make sculptures of mothers wey bare chest wey dey breast-feed their pikin.

Also, for present-day Côte d’Ivoire, Baoulé artists dey carve wooden figures of women carrying pikin for lap, for arm or for back.

For both kinds of carved maternity figures, the mother's exposed breast na symbol of life, fertility, family line, spiritual continuity and the holy bond between mother and pikin.

But today, these strong symbols of African cultural identity dey face one unexpected threat — no be war, neglect or colonial plunder, na artificial intelligence (AI) dey threaten dem.

Digital police

As social media platforms dey more and more depend on automated moderation systems to police content, artists wey dey show traditional African cultural practices dey find themselves stuck for one digital paradox.

Works wey get bare-chested human images, wey many times get root for African heritage and history, dey get flagged as explicit content because AI bots dey struggle to sabi the difference between cultural expression and nudity.

Research wey Association for Computing Machinery publish for 2024 show the level of automated enforcement.

According to the study, Facebook AI moderation systems automatically remove 99.2% of content wey them identify as adult nudity or sexual activity without any human intervention, and this fit make historical and contemporary art dem dey delete together with real prohibited material.

This matter because social media don become the modern gallery. Artists dey rely on digital platforms to show their work, build audience, connect with collectors and make money. But wetin human moderators used to do now na mainly machine-learning algorithms wey dey enforce community standards across billions of posts.

Lacking cultural context

Art advocacy group Don't Delete Art dey argue say this shift don turn algorithms into gatekeepers of artistic expression.

Decisions wey humans bin dey make with judgement don dey give to AI bot systems wey no get the ability to judge based on cultural context.

Small group sabi this reality well pass, one of dem na 26-year-old Ghanaian artist Oscar Korbla Mawuli Awuku.

Oscar, graduate from Takoradi Technical University, don spend more than five years dey create intricate body art wey African traditions inspire. His work don get international recognition and don dey exhibited for South Africa's Melrose Gallery together with celebrated African artists like Esther Mahlangu, Professor Pitika Ntuli, Mam Noria Mabasa, and Willie Bester.

But despite the acclaim, Oscar talk say AI moderation don do serious damage to im career.

"I lose my YouTube page wey get more than 100,000 subscribers for January (2026) because my content dem flag as nudity," he tell TRT Afrika. "Then I lose my Facebook page wey get over 140,000 followers. I wake up, the page just disappear."

For Oscar, the yawa pass just lost followers. His social media accounts bin monetised and dem dey give am important income wey allow am to dey produce art full-time. Dem remove dem don make am dey question not only him future online but also whether e fit continue to dey true to him artistic vision.

Self doubt

"E dey force my hand," he say. "E dey make you dey ask yourself whether you go stay authentic or change your style to satisfy the algorithm. Most artists dey struggle to raise funds, and social media dey give opportunities for monetisation. If e no dey again, how you go continue?"

To sabi wetin fit lost culturally, you must look the deep roots of body art for African societies. According to Elijah Sofo, lecturer for Department of Industrial Art for Ghana’s Takoradi Technical University, body painting don long time dey serve purposes wey pass beauty.

"Body painting mean different things to different cultures," Sofo explain. "For Ghana, for example, dem dey use am during Dipo rites to mark when small girl dey enter womanhood. The patterns dem dey put for body and people believe say dem dey give spiritual protection. E be both artistic and metaphysical."

Across the continent, similar traditions dey flourish. For Xhosa-speaking communities for Southern Africa, white body paint dey use for hunting rituals and religious ceremonies. For southeastern Nigeria, women dey adorn their bodies with intricate black patterns using uli dye wey dem take from local plants, turning the human body to living canvas.

These traditions still dey inspire contemporary artists like Oscar, wey see themselves as custodians of cultural practices wey fit disappear otherwise.

But the digital landscape dey more hard. For March, Meta announce say dem dey do years-long transition to put more advanced AI systems to handle content-enforcement tasks, including detection of scams and illegal content. Even though the move promise better efficiency, artists dey fear say automated systems fit dey even less able to recognise cultural nuance.

For Sofo, the matter show broader struggle wey many societies with deep cultural expressions dey face.

"This na the predicament of cultures for the global south," he say. "The internet and other forms of cultural imperialism don further separate us from our roots and identity. E dey hurt us."

However, social media companies dey defend their decision to use AI for moderation.

Facebook say for community guidelines note: 'Artificial intelligence (AI) technology na central to our content review process. AI fit detect and remove content wey go against our Community Standards before anybody reports am. Other times, our technology go send content to human review teams make dem look am well and decide.'

Opaque systems

But some analysts talk say lack of transparency wey dey surround moderation decisions dey deepen artists frustration. When accounts dey remove or content dey flag, creators dey find themselves face opaque systems wey get small chance for appeal.

Without those social media platforms, Oscar now dey face hard questions about future of him career and how dem go preserve the traditions wey dey inspire am.

Make e adapt him work to suit algorithmic standards? Make e sacrifice authenticity for visibility? And if cultural expression no fit survive online, where future generations go see these traditions?

Oscar talk say e dey look for allies and advocacy groups wey ready to challenge wetin e see as a growing blind spot for the digital age.

"I no want give up on my dreams. I sure say many creatives dey face same problem. We need make our voices heard."