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18May

CIPESA Submits Comments on Uganda’s Proposed New Digital Tax 

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Edrine Wanyama |

On April 28, 2023, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)  submitted comments on the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development of the Uganda Parliament. The comments argue that the proposed law would  undermine access to and use of digital tools and services. 

The bill, among others, proposes to impose a tax of five percent on foreign-based entities that derive income from providing digital services to customers in Uganda. The proposals are contained in clause 16 which seeks to introduce a new section, 86A.

Clause 86A provides:

  1. A tax is imposed on every non-resident person deriving income from providing digital services in Uganda to a customer in Uganda at the rate prescribed in Part IV of the Third Schedule to this Act.
  2. For the purposes of subsection (1), income is derived from providing a digital service in Uganda to a customer in Uganda, if the digital service is delivered over the internet, electronic network or an online platform.
  3. For the purposes of this section “digital service” includes—
  1. online advertising services;
  2. data services;
  3. services delivered through an online marketplace or intermediation platform, including an accommodation online marketplace, a vehicle hire online marketplace and any other transport online marketplace;
  4. digital content services, including accessing and downloading of digital content;
  5. online gaming services;
  6. cloud computing services;
  7. data warehousing;
  8. services, other than those services in this subsection, delivered through a social media platform or an internet search engine; and
  9. any other digital services as the Minister may prescribe by statutory instrument made under this Act.”

While the clause targets non-residents, if enacted it would add to the digital taxes borne by the already tax-burdened consumers of digital services in Uganda. Since July 1, 2022, web hosting, software and streaming services in the country pay a mandatory value added tax of 18% chargeable on consumers of services offered by  platforms such as Amazon, Meta (Facebook), Twitter and Zoom. 

The tax would potentially hinder inclusive access and use of digital technologies and negatively affect Uganda’s digital economy. According to the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Uganda’s digital economy score is low, particularly in areas such as digital inclusiveness. According to the UNCDF Score Card of 2021 the digital divide or groups most excluded from the digital economy in Uganda are the elderly (80%), rural communities (64%), persons with disabilities (74%), the youth (33%), refugees (80%) and migrants (75%). The inclusion gap such as for persons with disabilities is attributed to the high cost of technologies. 

Innovation is a prerequisite for the provision of digital services including advertising, data services, marketing, cloud computing services, and data warehousing. Most of these tools and services are developed outside Uganda, hence imposing high taxes on non-residents that provide them could   limit access to these critical tools and services. That could push Ugandans further into the margins of the global digital economy.

The enjoyment of digital rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, access to information, and association, could also be limited by the imposition of high digital taxes. 

Accordingly, the submission by CIPESA recommends that the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development:

  1. Drops the entire proposed clause 16 of the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023;
  2. Conducts wide consultations with the affected stakeholders including the tech community, innovators, the business community and civil society on the potential effects of the proposed amendment.
  3. Conducts a tax impact assessment to weigh the potential effects of the proposed tax on access and use of digital tools and services. The impact assessment should specifically spell out the anticipated positive impacts and weigh them against the anticipated negative effects.
  4. Takes into consideration and supports all the progressive policies that seek to increase and enhance accessibility and usage of digital tools and services such as tax incentives which usually lead to lowering of the costs to be borne by consumers in purchase and use of digital tools and services.

See the full submission here.

08May

Growing The Community of Advocates Advancing Digital Rights For Women And Girls

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Alice Aparo and Simone Toussi |

The 2023 theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) was “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” and sought to highlight the need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education. This theme resonated with efforts on the digital inclusion of girls and women by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), which have included trainings, research and policy engagements. 

In commemoration of this year’s IWD, on March 10, 2023, CIPESA hosted a regional webinar titled “Tech4Equality: Advocating for Gender Inclusive ICT Policy and governance” that aimed to recognise and celebrate women and girls championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. The webinar assembled gender experts from a host of countries including Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

In Yaounde, Cameroon, CIPESA alongside Civic Watch and DefyHateNow engaged women journalists at a workshop on the opportunities for embracing technology while also being alive to the challenges inherent to journalism in the digital space. The workshop, which took place on March 17, 2023, was part of a wider series of IWD events organised by DefyHateNow  in Cameroon, including a virtual dialogue on the role of women in peacebuilding, another workshop on digital inclusion, as well as profiling women leaders in the country, including Sophie Ngassa, Pedmia Shetu, Caroline Mveng, Balbine Manga, Sandrine Moussima, and Ndi Nancy Saiboh.    

Additionally, CIPESA supported the Women and Media Symposium organised by the Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA), which took place on March 25, 2023. The symposium celebrated women journalists and addressed broader issues around gender-based violence against women. 

Collectively, these engagements assembled a wide spectrum of stakeholders from civil society, media, governance, and the private sector. The engagements echoed similar sentiments on the value of a safe and affordable access to the internet as an enabler of increased utilisation of digital opportunities by women. Speaking at the Cameroon workshop, multimedia journalist Comfort Musa stated that, “The internet is full of opportunities and solutions. It levels the playing ground and has solutions for women looking to start their own publications, create their own channels, find sources, engage audiences, find jobs, get scholarships, and training, make more money, verify information and collaborate with other journalists’’. 

At the regional webinar, Nashilongo Gervasius Nakale, a lecturer at the Namibia University of Science and Technology and also a founder of the Internet Society Namibia Chapter, stressed that a meaningful internet accessibility environment where women can learn, work, or conduct research could help shape innovation and an inclusive tech industry.

Despite the digitalisation progress in various countries across the continent, the gender digital divide has remained persistent and has been exacerbated by the growth in online violence against women, which has seen some women withdraw from online engagement and the expression of opinions publicly. This is particularly worrying as often these are voices needed to further critical discussions such on public service delivery, media freedom, good governance and civic engagement. 

At the webinar, Neema Lungangira, a Member of Parliament from Tanzania and the Chairperson of the African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance, pointed out that online violence against women in politics was a growing threat to democracy, and it included all types of aggression, compulsion, and intimidation aimed at keeping women out of politics just because they are women. She added that online abuse against women was increasingly becoming part of deliberate political strategies used by non-liberal and anti-democratic forces to chill women’s and girls’ political goals and participation, reduce their presence and agency in politics and public affairs and limit their awareness to inform policy decision-making and legislative advocacy in parliaments. 

While women journalists face similar circumstances as women in politics, and both face gendered hate speech online. To address such concerns in countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, DefyHateNow has developed a toolkit aimed at providing guidance to individuals and organisations on identifying and navigating divisive content online, including at a gender level.  

Indeed, while participants highlighted experiences at national level, these discussions resonated with Goal 5 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which also informed discussions at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The Commission is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to promoting gender equality and empowering women. This year marked the sixty-seventh session and saw the approval of conclusions focused on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the context of innovation, technological change, and education in the digital age.

Among these included the Commission recognising “the important contribution of the science and technology community to sustainable development, especially the important contributions of women and girls to education, science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation.” Further to this, the Commission also recognised the critical role digital platforms can play as spaces where all women can advocate, mobilise and participate fully, equally and meaningfully in public life. It emphasises that women’s and girls’ online contributions can foster inclusive and participatory public discourse and policy outcomes that take into account the interests, needs and perspectives of all women and girls.

03May

Mitigating Online Abuse Against Women Journalists in Ghana and Nigeria

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Ashnah Kalemera |

As the world commemorates the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, African media’s ability to operate effectively remains under threat as their safety continues to be compromised. According to a UNESCO Global Survey, online attacks against women journalists, whose representation in the sector at executive and editorial levels is already limited, are increasing exponentially. In an effort to build digital resilience in Africa’s media sector, the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF) has supported work on online safety of journalists in various countries, such as Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda. 

In Ghana and Nigeria, ADRF’s support has seen iWatch Africa engage 20 newsrooms on online safety of women journalists. Leveraging the Keeping Journalists Safe Online: A Guide for Newsrooms in West Africa and Beyond, the newsrooms were supported to set up safety protocols and response measures to safeguard women journalists against abuse. 

Through a multiplier model, journalists from the supported newsrooms (10 from Ghana and 10 from Nigeria) also underwent a Training of Trainers programme on the use of filtering applications such as TRFilter which helps document and manage online harassment and abuse. Furthemore, the participants discussed strategies through which journalists, government agencies and civil society could push back more effectively against online violence. The training facilitators included practitioners from Thomson Reuters Foundation; iWatch Africa; Techpreneur Magazine; The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ); and Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII).

The trained journalists have since gone on to train an additional 100 journalists within their networks. A further offshoot from the project was the formation of a discussion forum for networking, sharing experiences and lessons learned amongst the supported newsrooms. 

The ADRF, an initiative of the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has previously supported iWatch Africa to track, document and analyse online abuse and harassment against journalists and rights activists covering political and societal issues in Ghana. In partnership with the Ghana Police and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), iWatch Africa developed draft guidelines for the prevention of online abuse and harassment. The organisation has continued to undertake advocacy in the field while engaging stakeholders on offering legal support for victims to seek redress.

According to Gideon Sarpong, the Executive Director of iWatch Africa, ADRF’s support has helped raise awareness about the importance of protecting journalists and contributed to a safer media environment. “The cohort of journalists trained and their newsrooms could be the catalysts to curbing digital violence against women journalists in Ghana and Nigeria,” said Sarpong.

According to the State of Media Freedom and Safety of Journalists in Africa Report for 2022, trolling and online harassment of journalists has become a serious threat to press freedom. It notes that trolls threaten and silence critical journalists and harass many, particularly women, forcing some to abandon social media. According to the report, the low levels of digital security skills; poor reporting of online abuses to law enforcement agencies; the limited skills and interest of authorities in investigating and prosecuting cyber crimes; and the inadequacy of existing laws in tackling trolling and online violence especially against women, only exacerbate the problem.

The ADRF was established in recognition that technology had become pivotal to promoting livelihoods and human rights on the continent but there was a need to strengthen local capacity in evidence-based research, skills and knowledge, collaborative advocacy and impactful policy engagements responsive to regulatory and practice developments that affect internet freedom in Africa.

The ADRF’s supporters have included the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the Ford Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the German Society for International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), New Venture Fund (NVF) and the Omidyar Network.

27Apr

CIPESA, AFIC and Partners Searching for Proposal Writing Consultants

Author CIPESA Posted on

Announcement |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is a leading centre for research and analysis that works to defend and expand the digital civic space to enable the protection and promotion of human rights and to enhance innovation and sustainable development. With a focus on disparate actors including government, the private sector, civil society, media, policy makers and multinational institutions, our work aims to engender a free, open and secure internet that advances rights, livelihoods, and democratic governance. 

Working with the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) who are co-applicants, we are putting together a proposal to a major international funder for consideration of potential partnership on a multi-year project on Freedom of Expression and the Internet in Africa. The proposed partnership would bring together a consortium of seven partners with expertise and vast experience in different facets of digital freedom in various countries on the continent. 

Context 

The proposed partnership will work to ensure the protection of the rights to freedom of expression and the Internet in Africa. The specific challenges it responds to include:

I. Data and privacy infringements, including state surveillance against Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), journalists and political dissenters.

II. Disinformation and hate speech. 

III. Online violence against women and girls, trolling and online harassment of women journalists and women HRDs.

IV. Internet disruptions and censorship. 

V. Deficiency of digital security skills and limited understanding of internet freedom by key democracy actors, including HRDs, other activists and journalists.

The consortium is now actively searching for experienced proposal writing consultants with a passion for non-profit work to support the consortium in a collaborative process of developing a compelling final proposal to the international funder. The consultants are expected to put in a few days of work in May or June and some time in July 2023. Each consultant will be engaged for up to 10 days.

We are looking for a lead proposal writer and up to four thematic experts to support the proposal writing process. 

Lead Proposal Writer: The successful candidate must possess demonstrated expertise and experience in writing funding proposals for major international donors. He/she will be in charge of facilitating the proposal writing process, including coordination and consolidation of the submissions from thematic experts, CIPESA, AFIC and partners. He or she will also conduct training at a meeting of prospective project partners, and capture inputs from that consultative meeting.

Gender Expert: The successful candidate must have demonstrated expertise in feminist internet principles, and a keen understanding of how to address online gender-based violence/ violence against women in Africa. He/she will also ensure that the proposal is gender mainstreamed. The gender expert will also attend a planning (and learning) meeting with CIPESA, AFIC and partners (in the second week of May) in Eastern or Southern Africa and deliver a training session at this meeting to develop partner members’ understanding of gender dynamics in internet access, free expression, and online/digital participation.

Monitoring and Evaluation Expert: The successful candidate must possess demonstrated expertise and experience in monitoring and evaluation. He/she will develop the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan for the proposal, as well as outcome-impact mapping tools for the project.

Communication Expert: The successful candidate must possess demonstrated expertise and experience in strategic communication. He/she will develop the plan to guide both internal and external communications for the proposed project.

Legal expert: The successful candidate must have legal qualifications and experience working with national and international NGOs. He or she will develop the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the proposed consortium and review the project proposal to ensure that it is in consonance with the MoU and legal obligations in applicable jurisdictions.

All consultants must have:

  • Excellent writing and communication skills, with the ability to develop clear, concise, and compelling proposals.
  • Strong editing skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work under tight deadlines.
  • A deep understanding of the context and challenges of freedom of expression and the Internet in Africa.

Consultants who have demonstrable expertise in more than one of these areas are free to apply for more than one area. If you are interested in working with a passionate team to make real impact in protecting and advancing the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression, Internet and digital rights in Africa, kindly send your CV and a cover letter explaining your qualifications and experience, and daily rate, to [email protected] and copy [email protected] by 17.00 East African Time Wednesday May 3, 2023.

27Apr

New Partnership to Enhance Parliamentarians’ Role in Advancing Digital Freedoms

Author CIPESA Posted on

Announcement |

A new partnership to enhance the role of Members of Parliament in advancing progressive internet policy and protecting digital rights has been signed by the African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance (APNIG), the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), and Small Media.

The partners recognised the critical role played by parliamentarians and the importance of collaborative approaches in advancing the agenda of digital development and internet governance across Africa.

The partners identified eight areas of cooperation, including conducting in-country engagements with Members of Parliament, resource mobilisation and provision of technical capacity to the legislators’ network. CIPESA will take the lead in providing technical support to conduct research and execution of joint policy advocacy campaigns on pertinent areas of internet governance and digital rights.

The partners agreed to collaborate on the planned APNIG Summit on Digital Democracy, which aligns with the work of CIPESA and Small Media, including on advancing digital rights through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council. 

At national level, APNIG will be a key vessel for running in-country discussions for legislators around the areas of digital rights and the UPR. Further, Small Media will create linkages between APNIG and key regional and global actors to enhance the network’s learning and participation in processes that shape internet governance and digital rights policy.

It was also agreed that, for the upcoming UPR reviews of Senegal, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Mali and Mauritius, APNIG members would participate in both in-country and global review processes. 

The partners resolved that APNIG members will participate at the CIPESA-organised Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica), scheduled to take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania at the end of  September 2023. Furthemore, APNIG members will participate in a FIFAfrica side event on internet shutdowns, to be hosted by Small Media.

“The partnership with APNIG has come at a time when it is of great importance to engage Members of Parliament on digital rights considering that their legislative and oversight roles are key in advancing the protection and promotion of digital rights,” said Dr. Wakabi Wairagala, CIPESA’s Executive Director.

The partnership was signed after the completion of a two-day regional workshop on “The Future of Digital Rights in Africa: The Role of Policy Makers and Advocacy at the Universal Periodic Review” that took place on April 13-14, 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop brought together participants from 15 countries (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania,Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia), who included Members of Parliament, public interest lawyers, digital rights activists, innovators and media practitioners.

About APNIG: Launched on July 19, 2022, the African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance (APNIG) is dedicated to strengthening parliamentarians’ role in digital development in Africa. Follow APNIG on Twitter at @apnigafrica 

About CIPESA: CIPESA works to defend and expand the digital civic space to enable the protection and promotion of human rights and to enhance innovation and sustainable development. Our work responds to shortage of evidence-based research, resources and actors consistently working at the nexus of technology, human rights, and society. See more at www.cipesa.org.
About Small Media: Small Media works to support the free flow of information in politically closed societies. To this end, Small Media engages in research, advocacy, and training activities to support global advocates to uphold citizens’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information. See more at https://smallmedia.org.uk/.

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