Navigating a restrictive access to information infrastructure in Uganda through the use of social media
Posted: 2 September, 2024 Filed under: Kansiime Mukama Taremwa | Tags: #MeToo, #UgandaParliamentaryExhibition, Access to Information, Access to Information Act, Arab Spring, costs of access to information, dictatorship, digital technologies, human rights law instruments, informed decision-making, internet, political development, political issues, social media, Social media activism, socio-economic development, street protests, traditional media, transparency, Uganda, youthful demonstrators Leave a comment
Author: Kansiime Mukama Taremwa
LLM Candidate, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
From late February into March 2024, a hashtag ran on X (formerly Twitter) under the designation #UgandaParliamentaryExhibition. According to the protagonists behind this hashtag, the purpose of this move was to cast light on the outrageous spending within Uganda’s parliament.
The internet is considered to be the most disruptive piece of technology that enables the receipt and dissemination of information. Uganda is home to 2.6 million social media users. Few people can doubt the power of the internet in general and social media specifically, in stimulating democratic culture. Even some of the critics of digitisation accept that digital technologies lower the costs of access to information. The use of social media to organise and mobilise persons for action came to the fore in the early 2010s in what was known as the Arab Spring; a series of protests that led to the ousting of dictatorial governments in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. It was known for the youthful demonstrators that staged street protests and used social media to coordinate, raise awareness of the political issues, and record the events on the ground. The results of the Arab Spring are that dictatorships that had managed to stifle access to information and free flow of ideas for many years were toppled in part, due to the mobilisational capacities of social media.
Beyond Crisis: The State of Access to Information and the Internet for Rural Dwellers in South Africa
Posted: 1 July, 2024 Filed under: Ompha Tshamano | Tags: Access to Information, access to socio-economic rights, apartheid, ATI, digital communication, digital divide, digital technology, fundamental human rights, ICT, internet, post-apartheid, real-time information, right to access information, right to information, rural communities, social media, socio-economic underdevelopment, South Africa 7 Comments
Author: Ompha Tshamano
Project Associate, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
1 Overview
South Africa has a long history of socio-economic underdevelopment, largely resulting from the sustained effects of apartheid. Despite the end of apartheid, the position of rural communities in South Africa remains precarious, with limited access to resources and infrastructure. The creation of Bantustans during apartheid further exacerbated economic disparities amongst different racial groups, leading to poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Slow technological adoption and development in South African rural areas also contribute to limited access to information and restricted opportunities. This situation has resulted in the maintenance of the status quo, with socio-economic underdevelopment and inequality continuing to be major challenges in post-apartheid South Africa. In this context, this article seeks to critically examine the state of access to information for rural dwellers in South Africa and the initiatives being taken to improve this situation.
Addressing Challenges in Information Access: Navigating State-Imposed Internet Shutdowns in Africa
Posted: 28 June, 2024 Filed under: Muhammed Bello Buhari | Tags: Access to Information, ATI, civic engagement, digital communication, digital technology, freedom of expression, fundamental human rights, ICT, information and communication technologies, information dissemination, internet, real-time information, right to access information, right to information, social media, state-imposed internet shutdowns, transparency Leave a comment
Author: Muhammed Bello Buhari
Digital rights activist
In Africa’s dynamic digital landscape, technology has emerged as a double-edged sword, promising to revolutionise access to information while simultaneously presenting unprecedented challenges, notably through state-imposed internet shutdowns. The delicate interplay between technology, information access, and the persistent disruptions, particularly the alarming rise of state-imposed internet shutdowns, has become a defining narrative in the continent’s quest for equitable information dissemination. This article focuses on exploring the many-sided relationship between technology and access to information, specifically addressing the intricate challenges posed by state-imposed internet shutdowns.
The Role of ICT in Promoting the Rule of Law in Ethiopia: The Impact of Social Media
Posted: 3 June, 2021 Filed under: Henok Kebede | Tags: accountable, anti-terrorism, civil society, communication, Ethiopia, good governance, hate speech, ICT, identifying crime suspects, Impact of Social Media, internet, law, mass atrocities, OECD, order, rule of law, tax laws, timeliness of information, transparent Leave a comment
Author: Henok Kebede
Lecturer, School of Law at Hawassa University, Ethiopia
The Role of ICT in Promoting the Rule of Law
Various scholars have defined the phrase from different perspectives, therefore, defining rule of law in a universally agreeable manner is not an easy task. The most known definition is the one provided by Aristotle: “Rule of law is an absence of rule of man”. But this definition is very general with the need for elaboration. A more elaborated, perhaps understandable, definition of rule of law is by Lord Bingham, essentially said that “…all persons and authorities within the state, whether public or private, should be bound by and entitled to the benefit of laws publicly and prospectively promulgated and publicly administered in the courts”.
The future of technology: a human rights perspective
Posted: 2 December, 2020 Filed under: Tatiana Makunike | Tags: African countries, Artificial intelligence, ‘citizen journalism’, human rights agenda, Human rights issues, human rights violations, inaccessible areas, internet, public data, technology 1 Comment
Author: Tatiana Makunike
Freelance writer
From a constructive perspective, technology has the potential to significantly contribute to the progress of the human rights agenda, especially in Africa. Healthcare, education, emerging laws that restrict freedom of speech, and abuses by armed groups are some of the Human rights issues that technology could positively impact. Technology is increasingly becoming the backbone of most infrastructures and playing an important role in modern humanity; so automatically, its necessity as a tool for human rights has also increased.
The need for digital structures that improve the predictions of pressing human rights situations is evident. Fortunately, the tools for analysing the situations and strategising ideal responses exist and continue to improve. For instance, remote sensing and satellite data analysis systems now identify patterns indicating humanitarian disasters and displaced groups which may be useful when monitoring inaccessible areas or countries such as Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia which are currently home to over 3 million refugees. Decentralised technologies like BlockChain are also proving valuable when it comes to eliminating labor exploitation issues in certain supply chains and forensic technology can reconstruct crime scenes.
COVID-19 and the access to information conundrum in Africa
Posted: 10 April, 2020 Filed under: Hlengiwe Dube | Tags: Access to Information, barriers, corona virus, COVID-19, data costs, Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, digital divide, disabilities, flatten the curve, girls, indigenous communities, information accessibility, internet, internet access, internet taxation, lockdowns, Model Law on Access to Inofmration in Africa, nationwide crisis management, older persons, Open Government Partnership, pandemic, PWD, right to health, South Africa, women, Zimbabwe 1 Comment
Author: Hlengiwe Dube
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
As the world grapples with the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the disease caused by the novel Corona-virus, Africa has not been spared. Although the rate of infection is still lower than the rest of the world, it is rising steadily. Governments across the world have initiated partial or nationwide crisis management measures including curfews, lockdowns, contact tracing, surveillance and testing to curb the spread of the virus, which has been coined as measures to ‘flatten the curve’. For these government-initiated emergency measures to be effective in curbing the spread of the virus, the public must comply with the government regulations. Access to information becomes very essential for the realisation of this objective and by extension other equally essential goals such as achieving the human right to health.
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 Comment
Author: 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 »
The impact of Internet shutdowns in Africa
Posted: 21 February, 2019 Filed under: Tomiwa Ilori | Tags: ACHPR, Africa, African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Governments, Arab-spring, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), digital rights, Egypt, electoral malpractices, Freedom of Expression And Access to Information, general elections, ICCPR, ICESCR, internet, internet shutdown, Johannesburg Principles on National Security, national security, public protests, shutdown, Siracusa Principles, state power, Sudan, technology, violations, Zimbabwe 2 Comments
Author: Tomiwa Ilori
LLD Candidate, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
In the past, authoritarianism like any other form of illegitimacy has always been paranoid of disruptions. The internet, since its decentralisation in the last century, has blurred boundary lines, projected a classless society and looked to upset apple carts in political spaces. It is typical that this form of “magic” that could redefine state power rattled many governments. African governments soon began to show overt signs of paranoia and not too long, Africa became the first continent to experience an internet shutdown in Egypt on 28 January 2011. Since then, several governments in Africa have constantly violated digital rights with the justification of national security which supposes that both are mutually exclusive.
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