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08Oct

Freedom on the Net 2013: An African Review

admin October 8, 2013

The increasing use of the Internet worldwide has continued to see governments put caveats on its openness and the range of freedoms users enjoy online. According to the 2013 Freedom on the Net report, in the period May 2012–April 2013, the global number of censored websites has increased, while internet users in various countries have been arrested, tortured, and killed over the information they posted online.
In Sub Saharan Africa, Freedom House found that both physical and technical mechanisms of filtering, monitoring or otherwise obstructing free speech online have been employed by states concerned with the power of internet-based technologies.
“All 10 of the African countries examined in this report have stepped up their online monitoring efforts in the past year, either by obtaining new technical capabilities or by expanding the government’s legal authority,” says the report which was published by Freedom House on October 3, 2013. Last year, Ethiopia was the only country in the region found to implement nationwide internet filtering.
In its study, Freedom House covered developments in internet freedom in 60 countries around the world. Based on an examination of obstacles to access, limits to content, and violation of user rights on the internet, countries were scored as ‘Free’, ‘Partly Free’ or ‘Not Free’.
Table 1: Summary of Global Freedom on the Net Rankings (Source: by author based on Freedom on the Net 2013 report)

Continent	Free	Not Free	Partly Free	Total
Asia	2	8	4	14
Eurasia	3	5	2	10
Australia, EU, Iceland and the United States	9			9
Latin America	1	4	1	6
Middle East and North Africa		5	6	11
Sub-Saharan Africa	2	6	2	10
Total	17	28	15	60

Free
South Africa and Kenya were the two countries reported as Free. In Kenya, mention was made of the communications regulatory authority issuing guidelines to internet service providers not to allow services to be used to spread hate speech. Service providers were also reportedly required to install internet traffic monitoring equipment.
In South Africa, the proposed Protection of State Information bill which criminalises reporting on classified state information and accessing leaked information online would violate user rights if passed into law. Another legislation, the General Intelligence Laws Amendment 2013, which gives authorities the power to intercept bulk communications known as “foreign signals intelligence” was passed in July 2013. The partially state-owned Telkom network was also said to have installed servers to harvest data and user information. The extent to which this spyware has been deployed in the country was unknown.
Partly Free
Freedom house ranked Malawi, Nigeria, Angola, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe as ‘Partly Free’. A draft Interception of Communications law in Nigeria was criticised for potentially infringing on user’s right to privacy. There were also reports that the Nigerian government had awarded a contract to an Israeli based company to monitor internet communications. A privately owned ISP was said to have installed surveillance malware. It is unclear if the installation was at the bidding of the state.
Suspicions of online government surveillance in Uganda increased in part due to officials publically expressing “the need” for policing Internet mediums. A new communications law, the Uganda Communications Act, passed in September 2012 created a regulatory authority with sweeping powers to oversee electronic, print and broadcast media. The body’s independence has been called into question. As a sim card (including mobile internet) registration exercises drew to a close, there were privacy concerns due to the country’s lack of data protection legislation. The country already has lawful interception of communications regulations.
There were no reports of internet content being blocked or filtered in Zimbabwe. However, ruling party officials were said to have publicly expressed the desire to increase control over ICTs, particularly in the lead-up to the July 2013 general elections. Zimbabwe was also said to be seeking foreign support for surveillance in Iran. “Personnel from the Zimbabwean armed forces and the Central Intelligence Organisation have been undergoing intensive cyber training in technological warfare techniques, counter-intelligence and methods of suppressing popular revolts among others, every six months,” says the report.
Egypt was also reported to be seeking surveillance assistance from Iran. Activists and social media users were also targeted by security forces during protests either through abductions, killings or prosecution.
In Libya, surveillance equipment from the Muammar Gaddafi regime remained in operation.
Despite being reported as a ”country at risk” in 2013 owing to its “strict” controls over traditional media which were feared may extend to digital media, improvements were reported in Rwanda. An amended media law expanded the rights of journalists and recognised freedom for online communications.
Meanwhile, Angola’s State Security Services, with assistance from Germany, were planning to implement an electronic monitoring system to track digital communications.
Not Free
The Sudanese government was accused of surveillance particularly during protests. In addition to harassment and arrest of journalists during and following the protests, intelligence services are said to have “ramped up” efforts to censor antigovernment content, target cyber-dissidents, and manipulate online information.
In September 2012, Ethiopia “toughened” restrictions on electronic communications by passing the Telecom Fraud Offence Proclamation law. The government was also allegedly increasing its technical capacity to filter, block and monitor the internet with assistance from the Chinese authorities and the use of Finfisher – a commercial spyware software.
Globally, Iceland and Estonia were ranked the freest while China, Cuba and Iran were said to be the “most repressive countries” in terms of internet freedom.
Under the OpenNetAfrica initiative, CIPESA researches into internet freedoms in various African countries. To learn more, to share an idea or report a violation, write to programmes @cipesa.org.

30Sep

A Review of the Uganda Internet Governance Forum 2013

admin September 30, 2013

By Mugabi Samuel
“Harnessing Internet development in Uganda: Connecting the last mile” was the theme of the 6^th Uganda Internet Governance Forum (UIGF) which took place on September 18, 2013. During the event, stakeholder representatives from academia, government, civil society, private sector and telecommunications discussed the emerging opportunities in availability and access, as well as challenges to the Internet in Uganda.
In his keynote address, Dr. David Turahi the Director for Information Technology and Information Management Services in the Ministry of ICT stated that initiatives were underway to harness Internet connectivity and access within government agencies. According to Dr. Turahi, up to 27 government ministries and entities are currently managed under the DOTug domain in a drive to promote and manage Uganda’s ICT and e-governance policy. The Government has also put in place a strategy for the IPv6 upgrade from IPv4 for better connectivity, increased number of connections and also for providing a solution to IPv4 roaming issues especially in mobile networks.
He also said that a Data Protection and Privacy Act aimed at protecting the privacy of online users in Uganda was being drafted. “The increasing participation of citizens online means that we need to look at issues such as open data and cyber security to ensure an effective online community,” said Dr. Turahi. Dr. Turahi was speaking at the forum on behalf of the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Jimmy Pat Sammanya.
Presenting the UIGF online discussions report, Daniel Nanghaka of Internet Society Uganda Chapter stated that whereas connectivity and accessibility to the internet have improved over the years (from Cafes and a few elite establishments in the 1990s to wireless modems and Internet enabled phones today) slow speeds and prohibitive costs were still affecting its use especially in the rural areas. The urban-rural divide was being further enhanced by limited infrastructure set up in the rural areas due to the areas lack of economic viability for service providers. In addition to the above, the findings of a research study by Joseph Munuulo indicated, that limited local content and illiteracy were further barriers to Internet access at the rural level.
The issue of infrastructure sharing was central to the discussions. It was pointed out that infrastructure sharing was key to improving and lowering costs of connectivity. Vivian Ddambya of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA) – Uganda proposed that physical infrastructure providers for roads, power and rail should be required to make provisions for future installation of ICT facilitates. “Currently, Uganda National Roads Authority pays for repair to any damaged optical fibre cables during road repairs and maintenance”, she said that this should not be the case.
Mike Barnard from the Uganda Internet Exchange Point (UIXP) stated that as a means of reducing costs and increasing speeds, UIXP has improved local traffic exchange of ISPs in Uganda. He encouraged ISPs to peer through UIXP in order to offer a better internet experience to Ugandan citizens. With support from Google, Orange Uganda and the Internet Society, UIXP has recently upgraded its switches, servers and power back up systems. It has also acquired an IPv6 assignment from AfriNIC and addresses have been issued to all its member networks.
Access, affordability and capacity to use the internet are not the only challenges to its proliferation in Uganda. Peter Kahiigi the director of Information Security NITA Uganda citied cyber security threats. According to Mr. Kahiigi, the increased uptake of internet services in Uganda, had also seen an increase in cases of child pornography, cyber bullying, identity theft, financial crimes, distributed denial of service attacks and cyber terrorism among others. He stated that on-going projects to address these issues included the setting up of an advisory group on information security to liase between government and the private sector. Furthermore, that government was developing a classification framework for information aimed at promoting open data and better e-governance as well as improved information security management. Mr. Kahiigi stressed the importance of having a national information security framework to protect citizens online and also noted that the currently available cyber laws were helping but needed better enforcement.
He also spoke about the national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) centre an initiative of the Ministry of ICT, NITA Uganda and Uganda Communications Commission (UCC). Launched in June 2013, the CERT will equip and organize Uganda to respond to cyber threats, ensure better protection of Uganda’s ICT infrastructure and the availability of dependent services provided to government agencies, citizens and businesses.
From civil society, Ashnah kalemera of the OpenNet Africa initiative urged ICT sector stakeholders to be advocates of online freedoms by seeking to “educate citizens on responsible behavior and promoting liberal regimes of online rights.” This was in light of recent developments including the set-up of a government social media monitoring Centre, a request to Facebook for user account information and prohibitive legislation such as the Interception of Communications Act.
Her remarks were echoed by Dr. Peter Mwesigye from the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) who pointed at numerous legislations that provide for freedom of expression in Uganda through any media including the internet. He also pointed out that Uganda, as a signatory to the International convention on civil and political rights should ensure adherence to freedoms of expressions. He called for the independence of oversight bodies such as Uganda Communications Commission and NITA-U in addressing issues related to press and online media freedoms.
“In addition to the curtailing of civil liberties, government policies and practices with regard to online freedoms pose a threat to democracy by stifling critical debate, civic participation and demand for transparency and accountability through platforms like social media,” said Ms. Kalemera.
Overall, participants called for more research to inform government in planning efforts to extend internet access and internet-based services to citizens. Partnerships between civil society, private sector, academia and government were also encouraged.
The Uganda Internet Governance Forum 2013 was organised by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in partnership with the Internet Society Uganda Chapter and the ICT Association of Uganda.
Since its inauguration in 2006, the UIGF has continued to discuss and address internet policy issues in Uganda and East Africa. The proceedings of this year’s Forum were presented at the Second African Internet Governance Forum which was held in Nairobi, Kenya September 24-26, 2013. They will also be presented at the global Internet Governance Forum in Bali, Indonesia October 22-25, 2013.
Speaker Presentations available for download here: UIGF Online Presentation, OpenNet Africa, UIXP,

09Sep

Online Freedoms Under Siege as African Countries Seek Social Media Users’ Information

admin September 9, 2013

Only a small fraction of requests made by law enforcement officials to Facebook, Google and Twitter for users’ identities or to block content originate from Africa, but there is cause to worry.
Facebook, whose popularity across Africa is growing exponentially, lists Botswana, Egypt, Ivory Coast, South Africa, and Uganda among the countries that requested users’ details in the first half of 2013. Meanwhile, last year saw seven African countries ask Google to remove content compared to only one request from the continent – by Libya – in 2010 and 2011. The beauty is that most of those requests were rejected.
No African country made a request for user account information either to Google or Twitter in the first half of 2013.
Facebook
In the first half of 2013, Botswana made three requests to Facebook related to seven users. Egypt had eight requests regarding 11 accounts, the Ivory Coast lodged four requests, Uganda one request and South Africa 14 requests on nine users. All requests from Africa were denied.
Table 1: Facebook Data Requests (By Author from Facebook Global Government Requests Report)

*Country*	*Total Requests*	*Users/Accounts requested*	*Compliance rate*
Botswana	3	7	0%
Egypt	8	11
Ivory Coast	4	4
Uganda	1	1
South Africa	14	9
*Global Highest*
India	3,245	4,144	50%
United States of America	11,000 – 12,000	20,000 – 21,000	79%

Google
Eight African countries have made at least one content removal request to Google since 2010. Djibouti’s 2012 request to block YouTube videos containing the movie Innocence of Muslims on the grounds of “religious offense” was rejected. But a similar request by Egypt was temporarily complied with, because of the “difficult circumstances” in this country at the time.
Meanwhile, a Kenyan request to remove content from blogger, arising out of a court order in a defamation case, was rejected. The Island nation of Mauritius made two content removal requests in the first half of 2012. Both were for reasons of defamation; both were rejected. Madagascar’s two requests were court-mandated on defamation grounds but Google accepted only one. Sierra Leone made one request regarding 60 items on Youtube which it wanted blocked as they portrayed or promoted violence. Google declined the request, which was made by executive not court order.
In the first half of 2012, South Africa had three court-ordered removal requests related to 11 items and Google fully complied. In the second half of 2012, Pretoria made three court ordered requests related to eight items and 33% was complied with. All South African requests were related to defamation.
Previous Google reports show that in the period July – December 2010, Libya made 68 requests for a total of 203 items to be removed from Youtube. Of these requests, 31% were complied with, either by some or all of the content being removed. In the subsequent six months, Libya’s two requests regarding five items were denied. All of Libya’s requests were not backed by a court order
Twitter
South Sudan, the continent’s youngest nation, is the only African country that made a user information request to Twitter between July and December 2012. Juba’s request was denied.

A Catalogue of Infringements
While only a handful of African countries are making these requests, there is nonetheless evidence of a worrying trend, in which African countries are taking both legal and non-legal measures to curtail the freedoms of individuals to express themselves on the internet.

The last year has seen a spiral of activity against online freedom of expression in numerous African countries. In fact, 2013 might go down as a record year in terms of curtails on internet rights on the continent.
Gambia has passed a law under which those who publish “false news” online about the government can be handed a 15 year jail term and fined up to US$90,000. Meanwhile, Zambia president Michael Sata’s government in July blocked access to the Zambian Watchdog website, accusing it of promoting hate speech. Two journalists arrested on suspicion of working with the online publishers were due to appear in court. Another website, Zambia Reports, was blocked too. Some observers said blocking the websites was part of the government’s campaign to silence independent critics.
Next door in Zimbabwe, security agencies spent several weeks in the run-up to the July 2013 general elections looking for ‘Baba Jukwa’, whose Facebook page published popular exposes of the excesses of President Robert Mugabe’s government. Three weeks before election day, there were reports Mr. Mugabe’s machinery had staked a US$300,000 bounty to unearth the identity of the whistleblower as it moved to block access to the site.
There have also been cases of bloggers charged in court in Kenya and others sought by authorities over their Facebook, blogger and Twitter posts, amidst concerns that authorities were infringing citizens’ right to free expression. The country also asked internet intermediaries to monitor their traffic for messages deemed “inflammatory” or “divisive” in a move some observers believed could be an invasion of privacy. Kenya has also ordered the blocking of access to some websites, such as Mashada.
Burundi – always a high-flying culprit in clamping on free expression – in May ordered the online newspaper www.iwacu-burundi.org to block readers’ comments for 30 days, after accusing it of publishing comments that violated media law on “national unity, public order and security, inciting ethnic hatred, defending criminal activity and insulting the head of state.”
Perhaps more than any other country in Africa, Ethiopia regularly blocks websites, undertakes surveillance of websites and social media, and charges journalists over content published offline and online. In May 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and 18-year prison sentence for journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega, convicted last year of “terrorism acts” related to his writing. The state-run telecom monopoly Ethiopia Telecom has for many years been used to filter content and hundreds of websites remain blocked. These include blogs and websites of a number of recently convicted individuals, news organisations, political parties, bloggers, and international organisations.
In Uganda, where authorities have in the past ordered internet service providers to block access to certain websites and services, the government announced it would form a social media monitoring center “to weed out those who use this media to damage the government and people’s reputations” and also targeted at those “bent to cause a security threat to the nation.” Many other countries on the continent have variously interfered with citizen’s internet rights – many times unjustifiably.
The number of requests made by African countries is therefore not reflective of the state of online freedom on the continent. This is because most governments have unilateral means of dealing with situations they do not like, without going through multilateral intermediaries. As we are witnessing, they can enact national legislations, issue uncontested orders to local intermediaries, or use extra-legal measures.
With more people on the continent getting online (mobile penetration in Africa stands at 63%, internet usage at 16% of the population), governments are likely to infringe more on citizens’ online freedoms. A challenge then is to promote awareness about protecting and promoting online freedoms. There is also a need to continuously promote responsible user behaviour online, as not all state efforts to monitor citizens’ actions online are unjustifiable.
Download the full OpenNet Africa Brief here.
To learn more about CIPESA’s OpenNet Africa project and its monitoring of online freedoms, or to share an idea or report a violation, write to: [email protected].

04Sep

CIPESA, Partners to Host Uganda Internet Governance Forum 2013

admin September 4, 2013

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in partnership with the Internet Society Chapter Uganda and the ICT Association of Uganda (ICTAU) will host the Uganda Internet Governance Forum (UIGF) at the Hive Colab, Kamyokya on September 18, 2013.
The one-day Forum, whose theme is “Harnessing Internet Development in Uganda: Connecting the last mile”, is a multi-stakeholder event that involves representatives from government, civil society, academia, private sector entities and individuals interested in Internet Governance (IG) issues.
The objectives of this Forum are to discuss obstacles to internet access in Uganda, establish the key current internet governance issues relevant to the country, and build consensus on national and regional positions around IG issues. The national forum will also discuss the outcomes from the regional East Africa Internet Governance Forum held in Burundi last month.
Since its inauguration in 2006, the UIGF has continued to discuss and address internet policy issues in Uganda and East Africa. The proceedings of this year’s Forum will also be presented at the Second African Internet Governance Forum to be held in Nairobi September 24-26, 2013 and the global Internet Governance Forum in Bali, Indonesia October 22-25, 2013.
Tentative Programme

Time	Activity	Speaker/moderator
08:00am – 08:30am	Arrival and registration of participants	ISOC Uganda
08:30am – 08.45am	Welcome Remarks	Lillian Nalwoga
08:45am – 09:00am	Keynote Address	Dr. David Turahi, Director for Information Technology and Information Management Services – Ministry of ICT]
09:00am – 09:30am	Presentation: Online discussions report	Daniel Nanghaka (ISOC Uganda)
09:30am – 10:00am	Q&A session	Sarah Kiden (ISOC Uganda)
10:00 am – 10:15am	Morning break
10:15am – 11:15am	Panel discussion (15 mins each): – Achieving affordable internet access in Uganda – infrastructure and affordability; what have we achieved so far and how can we utilise the existing infrastructure	Mr. Bob Lyazi, Director RCDF – UCC (TBD)Mr. Mike Barnard, Director – Uganda Internet Exchange Point (UIXP)Mr. Julius Torach, Director of egovernment, NITA – UJoseph Munuulo, Systems Administrator – Uganda Registration Services Bureau. Hari Kurup – Roke Telecom
11:15 am – 11:45am	Q&A session and discussion	Sarah Kiden
11:45am – 12:45pm	Panel Discussion (15 mins each): Online freedoms – Privacy, data protection, surveillance and censorship: what needs to be balanced?	Mr. Peter Kahiigi, Director Information Security – NITA – UMs. Ashnah Kalemera, OpenNet Africa Initiative.Mr. Peter G. Mwesige, Director Africa Center for Media Excellence.
12:45pm – 01:15pm	Q&A session and discussion	Mr. Albert Mucunguzi – ICTAU
01:15pm – 02:00pm	Way forward, closure and Lunch	Lillian Nalwoga

See past reports from the Uganda IGF here: 2011 Forum Report, 2011 Online Discussions and 2012 Forum Report.
See past reports from the East Africa IGF here:

14Aug

We are watching you! Tech helps Africans hold governments to account

admin August 14, 2013

By Loren Treisman
(CNN) — With hundreds of millions of Africans owning mobile phones, citizens are becoming increasingly well connected. This is providing a powerful opportunity for citizens to access critical information about their parliaments and to report on human rights violations, corruption and poor service delivery.
These interventions are amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and helping citizens to hold governments to account.
For citizens to actively participate in democracy, it is critical that they are able to access information on parliamentary proceedings and elected representatives. MySociety is contributing to this process. It has partnered with local organizations across Africa to build sites like Mzalendo in Kenya and Odekro in Ghana, which enable citizens to access information about parliamentary proceedings and their elected representatives, rate their MPs and gain a better understanding about government’s inner workings.
They’ve taken this process one step further in South Africa. The Open Democracy Advice Centre has created a platform where citizens can submit Freedom of Information Requests. A data repository has been created online, enabling journalists, analysts and campaigners to utilize this information to hold government to account and campaign for improved service delivery.
There’s a real thirst for this information in Africa. In Nigeria, a simple application created by developer Pledge 51 enables citizens to access their constitution by mobile phone and has been downloaded more than 750,000 times. During protests sparked by last year’s fuel crisis, where an increase in the price of fuel resulted in soaring commodity prices, this enabled citizens to exercise their rights against police forces.
Misinformation fueled this crisis, with few citizens understanding the new fuel subsidy payment or oil revenue share in their country. A local organization called BudgIT aimed to address this by generating simple infographics which took citizens through these complex processes in a visual format.
Utilizing the power of social media, this sparked more informed debates and dialogue that contributed to restoring order. The team has since produced a whole series of images that breakdown the Nigerian budget by state and sector, enabling citizens to better understand the country’s budget and to utilize this information to ensure that allocated funds are translated into improved services.
Across the continent, platforms are being developed that enable citizens to use SMS from basic phones to report challenges in service delivery. In the impoverished Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, residents have submitted around 3,000 reports on issues like poor sanitation, electricity and transport to the Lungisa platform from their mobile phones, Facebook and the web. Remarkably, most of the issues have been resolved by the city council.
In Northern Uganda, the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, leaving infrastructure and service delivery in dire straits. A Peace, Recovery and Development Plan has been put in place but progress is limited. Only a few health centers have been established, there’s a severe shortage of drugs, medical workers and equipment and corruption is commonplace.
CIPESA has created a platform populated with information on health programs being implemented in the region and citizen journalists are able to submit reports, photographs and audio footage describing the real situation on the ground, whilst Voluntary Sector Accountability Committees established by WOUGNET are utilizing a similar platform to report on corrupt practices and poor governance. The data collected is being used by the NGOs to hold government to account and advocate for improved services.
In many African countries, youth often feel excluded from the political process. As young people are the biggest consumers of technology, platforms are being developed that enable them to become more actively engaged. In Kenya, Youth Agenda is utilizing an SMS platform to encourage youth to vet their leaders according to policies and attributes instead of along tribal lines. The platform is also used to gauge political opinion. The feedback is collated into reports which are fed into government, giving youth a voice and allowing them to contribute to the development of policy.
Until 2009, Kibera — one of the world’s largest slums and home to more than 250,000 people — appeared only as a blank on online maps. This made it easy for government to ignore the needs of its citizens. Map Kibera has equipped young activists with GPS-enabled phones and has supported them in creating a map of the region, part of a wider program that empowers youth to raise awareness of the challenges faced by their communities and advocate for change.
Plan Cameroon has taken this process a step further in three districts. Once youth have mapped their area, they populate the map with data on service delivery such as access to water points, clean water and hygiene facilities. Local councilors and activists are utilizing this data to mobilize the involved communities to demand better services and advocate for change.

Technology applications can be developed anywhere and what’s exciting about many of these initiatives is that they’re being devised locally. Technology innovation hubs are springing up across the continent. These state-of-the-art facilities enable technologists and social activists to access high-speed internet, events and mentoring, as well as creating a collaborative environment that galvanizes the tech community. This is beginning to have a significant effect on the number and quality of projects being developed locally.

Homegrown solutions are often most effective, as local communities are best able to understand the complex local needs, behaviors and nuances. Some of these hubs such as Jozi Hub in Johannesburg and Co-Creation Hub in Lagos, Nigeria, have targeted programs to support transparency initiatives, thus catalyzing this process.
Undoubtedly, technology isn’t a panacea for all social problems. And at times, such as when the technology utilized isn’t locally available or where governments lack capacity to respond to issues being reported it can be entirely inappropriate. However, when combined with well devised programs, their power to reach the previously unreachable and to bring the voices of citizens closer to government makes them a significant contributor to the process of ensuring that government’s best serve the interests of their citizens.
This article was published by CNN on August 12, 2013

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