Technology and Access to Information: Effect of Search Algorithms on Access to Information
Posted: 12 June, 2024 Filed under: Wendy Ashikomela Ashilenje | Tags: Access to Information, Access to the internet, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blocking and filtering, Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), freedom of expression, increased internet use, right of access to information, Search Algorithms, social media platforms, specific behavioural patterns, technological advances, technology, Universal Declaration of Human Rights Leave a comment
Author: Wendy Ashikomela Ashilenje
Advocate of the High Court of Kenya
Introduction
Are you accessing all the information on your Facebook, Threads, Google, Bing or Instagram? The increased technological advances in Africa have been characterised by the increased use of the internet which is driven by the increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), hence confirming that we are in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Statistics by Statista show that as at 2024, Africa had approximately 646 million internet users which is a slight increase from the 570 million internet users in 2022. As a result of the increased internet use, there is a lot of information that is out there which can be accessed through the various search engines or social media platforms. The science behind the internet may be complicated but it can easily be described by one word – algorithms. Algorithms are machine learning techniques that have been programmed to provide certain output based on the information that they are fed. Tarleton Gillespie attempts to give context as to what algorithms are and states that they are encoded procedures that transform the input data into a desired or specific output based on certain calculations.
The election of Mahamat Idriss Déby: What are the security issues for Chad and beyond?
Posted: 5 June, 2024 Filed under: Joris Joël Fomba Tala | Tags: fight against terrorism, freedom of expression, human rights violations, human trafficking, inclusive dialogue, Mahamat Idriss Déby, national unity, political transition, politico-armed groups, President of Chad, regional challenges, Republic of Chad, social inequalities, Succès Masra, violent extremism, Yaya Dillo Leave a comment
Author: Joris Joël Fomba Tala
Researcher, Centre for International and Community Law
On 23 May 2024, Mahamat Idriss Déby was sworn in as the new President of Chad. On 16 May 2024, the Constitutional council officially declared Mahamat Idriss Déby the winner of the presidential election. According to results, Deby won 61 per cent of the votes cast, compared with 18.53 per cent for his main rival Succès Masra. This election brings to an end three years of political transition in the country led by the president-elect. According to some sources, the presidential election in Chad was marred by irregularities and was neither free, credible nor democratic, in a context marked by human rights violations. It is important to remember that the junta had excluded General Déby’s most dangerous opponents from the ballot, in particular his cousin and fierce rival Yaya Dillo, who was assassinated two months before the election. After the proclamation of the results, a few shots were fired by soldiers in the district housing the headquarters of the Succès Masra Les Transformeurs party, forcing people to take refuge in their homes. It has been reported that around twenty people died from gunshot wounds and 60 others were admitted to hospital.
#gameofphones: Examining the social media regulatory regimes across Africa
Posted: 22 June, 2023 Filed under: Blessing Temitope Oguntuase | Tags: Access to Information, Africa, corruption, Facebook, freedom of expression, fundamental human rights, gender-based violence, ideological conflicts, information, Instagram, internet shutdown, military operations, political campaigns, social media, social media movements, social media tax, warfare, Whatsapp Leave a comment
Author: Blessing Temitope Oguntuase
Lawyer
Blood, gore, and broken human bones sprawled across the blood tainted soil for miles and miles, the stereotypical image of a war-torn battlefield. Over a century ago, one might have thought it impossible for the iconic swords and bullets to be traded for smartphones and twiddling fingers. Who could have imagined the metal battle armours being replaced with the anonymity of a social media profile?
Senegal’s future hangs in the balance – #GardonsLesYeuxSurLeSénégal, West Africa’s longest-standing democracy!
Posted: 12 June, 2023 Filed under: Nyasha Mcbride Mpani, Uncategorized | Tags: Afrobarometer, civil rights, civil society organisations, constitutional term limits, death threats, democracy, democratic change, freedom of expression, human rights, injustice, one-man rule, one-party rule, rape, repression, Senegal, use of force, violent demonstrations, youth corruption Leave a comment
Author: Nyasha Mcbride Mpani
Southern African project leader, Data for Governance Alliance
While the world is still grappling with the complexities arising from power struggles in Sudan, with two warlords vying for control, the situation in Senegal has added to the mounting problems on the African continent. Since February 2021, Ousmane Sonko, the leader of the Senegalese opposition, has faced charges of rape and of sending death threats. However, what started as a legal matter seems to have turned into a politically charged trial. Unfolding events have revealed a deeply troubling pattern of repression and injustice in Senegal.
Read the rest of this entry »Freedom of expression and combating terrorism in Mozambique: the challenge of enacting laws in a context of conflict
Posted: 6 February, 2023 Filed under: Dércio Tsandzana | Tags: Countering Terrorism, data protection, disappearance of journalists, false news, freedom of expression, freedom of press, fundamental freedoms, human rights, international human rights standards, Mozambique, Social Communications Law, terrorism 1 Comment
Author: Dércio Tsandzana
Researcher / Professor of political science at Eduardo Mondlane University
- Introduction
This article analyses two laws that are undermining freedom of expression (and freedom of press) in the context of conflict in Mozambique. The first is the proposed Law of Communications that intends to review the press law[1] and the second is a law aimed at fighting terrorism in Mozambique.[2] Both were proposed at a time when Mozambique has been experiencing ongoing armed conflict in Northern Mozambique since October 2017.[3] Since then, several cases of human rights violations, imprisonment and disappearance of journalists have been reported.[4] On 29 October 2022, a Mozambican journalist was forcibly disappeared in Cabo Delgado – he had been arrested while in the course of his trade.[5] Thus, the approval of new laws in contexts of military tension may not only undermine freedom of expression in the country, but can also violate human rights in general. It is necessary to understand what impact these laws may have on the respect for freedom of expression and how they can affect the way information is disseminated in the context of conflict, where the spread of false news tends to increase.[6]
The role of African governments in the implementation of the Revised Declaration on freedom of expression online in Africa
Posted: 24 November, 2021 Filed under: Ayowole Olotupa-Adetona, Bitebo Gogo, Imani Henrick, Ogah Peter Ejegwoya | Tags: Access to Information, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, domestic laws, freedom of expression, freedom of expression online, human rights, illegitimate restrictions, international human rights standards, Legal reform, multistakeholderism, online content regulation, privacy protection, Regulating online content, right to opinion 4 Comments
Authors: Imani Henrick, Bitebo Gogo, Ogah Peter Ejegwoya & Ayowole Olotupa-Adetona
The rights to freedom of expression, access to information and opinion are three distinct yet interconnected rights. The right to freedom of expression includes overt or covert communication through any medium including the Internet while access to information is being able to get information through any means. Both rights can be limited under international human rights standards. However, the right to opinion which is broader than both rights cannot be limited under international human rights standards.
This article identifies the role of African governments in implementing freedom of expression online. In doing so, it focuses on the provisions of the recent Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa (Revised Declaration) 2019.
Time to consider decriminalising homosexuality in Ethiopia
Posted: 1 October, 2021 Filed under: Rehim Baharu Elala | Tags: anti-gay sentiment, child abusers, consensual same sex relations, conversation, decriminalise, Dr. Daniel Bekele, Ethiopia, Ethiopian values, federal legislation, freedom of expression, gender identity, harassment, homosexuality, Human Rights Watch, imprisonment, no study, political leaders, religion, religious influences, societal influences, societal norms, stigmatisation, violence, Zenebu Tadesse 3 Comments
Author: Rehim Baharu Elala
Intern, Ethiopian Community Development Council
LGBT data in Ethiopia
Ethiopia revised its Criminal Code in 2004 and criminalised homosexual or indecent acts both between men and women, with those convicted facing terms of imprisonment.[1] Same-sex acts will be punished with imprisonment of not less than a year, or in ‘grave’ cases, rigorous imprisonment of up to 15 years.[2] The justifications for criminalising the acts are mostly associated with the strict societal norms and religion.
There is no study or research conducted to know the exact number of LGBTQ people in Ethiopia. I interviewed two members of the LGBTQ in Ethiopia who are working in legal and health professions when I was writing a Seminar Paper for my LGBTQ Health Law and Policy class.[3] My informants told me that the estimate data shows that there are around 50,000-60,000 people who identify themselves as LGBTQ in the capital Addis Ababa alone.[4] They also stated that the major source of the anti-gay sentiment originates from the religious authorities.[5] This is because homosexuals are always portrayed in a dangerous manner by the religious institutions as child abusers and destroyers of Ethiopian values.[6] An Ethiopian law professor states the influence of religious groups in the following words:
“There is complete silence around LGBT experiences because there is no forum for stories about the violence meted out by the state and family members on a day-to-day basis… My biggest fear is that these religious organisations are monopolising the conversation and perpetuating a fear that is becoming impossible to combat.”[7]
African Commission’s Revised Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa should be a call to action
Posted: 21 February, 2020 Filed under: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn | Tags: Access to Information, ACHPR, African Commission, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Union, Cyber Security, Declaration, Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, election violence, free speech, freedom of expression, online media, Personal Data Protection, social media surveillance, Special Rapporteur, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, United Nations Leave a comment
Author: Dunia Mekonnen
Almami Cyllah Fellow, Amnesty International, USA
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) revised its Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa to address new technological advances, online activity, and internet restrictions throughout Africa, after deliberating on the draft beginning from April 2018. The Special Rapporteur collected comments from civil society, States parties, and others on the new draft Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. The Declaration, is based on a series of resolutions adopted by the African Commission in 2012 and 2016.
A socio-legal analysis of Nigeria’s Protection from Internet Falsehoods, Manipulations and Other Related Matters Bill
Posted: 5 December, 2019 Filed under: Tomiwa Ilori | Tags: Africa, Bill, Constitution of Nigeria, dissemination of information, ECOWAS, Fake News, false statements, freedom of expression, Frivolous Petitions Bill of 2015, ICCPR, internal rules, Internet Falsehoods, legislation, Manipulation, Manipulation and Other Related Matters Bill, Nigeria, Nigerian Communications Commission, online freedom of expression, platform regulation, Protection from Internet Falsehoods, restriction of content, social media, social media platforms 5 Comments
Author: Tomiwa Ilori
HRDA Alumni Coordinator/Researcher: Democracy, Transparency and Digital Rights Unit, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Introduction
The curbing of information disorder online has become one of the most contentious areas in platform regulation. Not only do states struggle with the best approach to fulfill their responsibility to safeguard human rights, non-state actors, especially social media platforms are stepping in with self-imposed rules that may reflect scale but struggle with context on regulating free speech. The most prevalent challenge facing social media regulation, especially outside the United States whose free speech regime is regarded as liberal, is the varying degrees of the protection of free speech in other jurisdictions. Social media platforms also face the challenge of protecting free speech on one hand and catering to national contexts on the other. These variations are often due to the different socio-political local context of each country.
A human rights approach to internet taxes in Africa
Posted: 17 September, 2019 Filed under: Tomiwa Ilori | Tags: African Charter, bloggers, Communication Service Tax, digital rights, e-commerce, expensive broadband, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, Ghana, ICESRC, ICTs, internet, internet taxation, Kenya, Nigeria, Online Content Regulations, protecting internet rights, right to access information, sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania, tax, taxation, Uganda, UN Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty 1 CommentAuthor: Tomiwa Ilori
HRDA Alumni Coordinator/Researcher: Democracy, Transparency and Digital Rights Unit, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Due to increasing underdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa, many governments have looked towards several means to make up for deficits in domestic fiscal planning. One of the means through which governments have financed their budgets is by levying higher taxes on companies and individuals to be able to raise revenue.
While there may be legitimate reasons for states to levy taxes, in order for a tax system to be regarded as good and effective it needs to comply with at least five basic conditions: ensure a beneficial system; transparent in collection and use; less bureaucratic and equitable – every person should pay a fair amount of taxes not injurious to their well-being. While Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) potentially impact the global economy, not all economies have thrived equally. In most sub-Saharan African countries, the impacts of ICTs have been least felt which damages the prospects of democratic development in the region. Read the rest of this entry »
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