Spotlighting ACHPR Resolution 522: Protecting Women Against Digital Violence in Africa
Posted: 11 December, 2024 Filed under: Hlengiwe Dube | Tags: 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, ACHPR Resolution 522, Africa, Cultural and social norms, cultural norms, cyberstalking, digital gender gap, Digital Violence, doxxing, gender inequality, gender-based violence, gender-sensitive media literacy, harmful surveillance laws, online harassment, social media platforms, violence against women, women’s rights Leave a comment
Author: Hlengiwe Dube
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
The rise of digital technology has reshaped the world in various ways. While it has promoted progress in communication, education, and economic empowerment, it has also given rise to new forms of gender-based violence. In particular, women in Africa face unique challenges in the digital space, where digital violence, such as cyberstalking, online harassment, and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, is becoming increasingly prevalent. In response to this growing issue, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) adopted a landmark resolution in 2022 aimed at addressing the protection of women from digital violence. This resolution (ACHPR/Res. 522 (LXXII) 2022) is an important step in ensuring that women’s rights are upheld in the digital realm, as part of the broader agenda of combating gender-based violence.
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.
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.
AfricLaw 