Y. Z. Ya’u is the Executive Director of the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), an ICT-focus NGO. He had before joining CITAD, lectured in the Depart of Electrical Engineering, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria and worked as a journalist. In CITAD, he led the pioneering work of monitoring and countering of hate speech in Nigeria for the last 15 years. He been working addressing harmful contents in the cyberspace to make it safer for women and other vulnerable groups. As a researcher, he coordinated several research projects, including the research on Documenting Civil Society and Pro-democracy Movement Experience in Nigeria, jointly undertaken by the Centre for Research and Documentation (CRD), Kano and the Politics for Development Group, Stockholm University, Sweden and the the CODESRIA Multinational Working Group (GMG) on the theme of “Africa in the Information Society Era (2014-2017). He also served as the Director, CODESRIA Child Institute, Dakar, Senegal, 2007. YZ has authored/edited over 20 books, published more than 30 peer reviewed papers. As a civil society activist, he has served on the boards of several organizations, including West Africa Network for Peacebuilding Nigeria (WANEP-Nigeria), Board Chairman, CISLAC and is presently the Convener, Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room.