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23Nov

East and Central Africa: More Advocacy Needed for Progressive ICT Laws and Regulations

Author admin Posted on

Statement |
Civil society representatives, lawyers, and journalists from East and Central Africa have called upon their governments to develop policies that protect citizens’ digital rights and promote the use of the internet for free expression and for pursuing economic and education opportunities. The call was made amidst growing concerns that an increasing number of African countries are taking measures that restrict rather than promote the use of the internet. These measures include introduction of taxes that hinder access and use of  Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and laws that hamper freedom of expression through ICT.
The call was made following a workshop on ICT Policy and Advocacy for actors from East and Central Africa, which took place in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Hosted by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and Rudi International on November 4–6, 2018, alongside the Haki Conference, the workshop drew 29 participants from Burundi, Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Participants noted that the region faces similar challenges such as a lack of data protection laws, mass data collection efforts by governments and business entities, rising self-censorship by individuals and groups who fear reprisals for their online activities, gender-based cyber violence, and high perceptions of undue government surveillance on citizens’ communications. Moreover, some countries in the region have registered blockage of critical websites at the instigation of state authorities, while intimidation and harassment of independent bloggers and activists remain rampant, which affects freedom of expression and the free flow of information online.
In particular, participants urged the Rwanda government to amend its law on interception of communications to strictly define officers who can apply for warrants for monitoring of communications, to strengthen judicial oversight over interceptions activity, and to strictly guard the possibility for mass electronic surveillance.
Burundi was urged to enact a strong access to information law that requires state agencies to pro-actively release information, protects whistleblowers, and effectively advances citizens’ access to information online and offline.
Meanwhile, Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, were urged to speed up the enactment of comprehensive privacy and data protection laws that strongly protect the integrity of users’ data and severely punish those who misuse such data. None of the countries in the region has a data protection law, although all require mandatory registration of SIM cards and are undertaking various exercises to collect massive amounts of citizens’ data.
In DR Congo, the lack of up-to-date laws to govern the telecommunications sector was noted with concern. Participants called on the National Assembly to expedite the enactment of the bill to update the outdated 2002 law on telecommunications, which is currently before the legislature. However, the parliament should widely consult civil society and the private sector and meaningfully integrate their inputs into the law to be adopted. Moreover, the DR Congo government should enact other ICT-related laws, such as on cyber crime and data protection; and take decisive measures to increase access to affordable fibre around the country, particularly in rural and under-served areas, and meaningfully invest Universal Service Funds in improving broadband access.
The region has this year seen the introduction of online content regulations that undermine the use of ICT. Tanzania and Uganda have started licensing online content producers at a fee, while in July, Uganda set a precedent by introducing taxes to access social media sites including Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter. The DR Congo, which has ordered various internet disruptions in the last two years, also issued regulations in 2018 that require online publishers to register. .
Indeed, in the wake of these developments, participants called on states to develop laws that robustly stimulate the affordability and usage of the internet and related technologies as opposed to curtailing access to digital communications and stifling freed expression and access to information. The participants also shared their views at DR Congo’s first digital rights conference that concluded with the issuance of the Goma Declaration (French). The training in DR Congo was part of the CIPESA-run OpenNet Africa project (www.opennetafrica.org) which is working to grow the network of individuals and groups that work on advancing internet freedom and building their capacity to engage in digital rights advocacy.

01Nov

FIFAfrica 2018: Taxes Sur les Réseaux Sociaux et Coupures Internet au cœur des Discussions

Author admin Posted on

FIFAfrica18 Update |
Du 26 au 28 septembre 2018 se tenait à Accra la 5è édition du Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica), auquel participait Internet Sans Frontières. J’ai eu le privilège d’y représenter l’association. Co- organisé par le Collaboration on International ICT Policy for Eastern and Southern Africa, un organisme consultatif indépendant, et la Media Foundation for West Africa, ce forum se veut un haut lieu d’échanges entre différents acteurs sur l’état et les perspectives des libertés et droits numériques en Afrique.
Les Taxes sur l’utilisation des réseaux sociaux au cœur des discussions
Il a évidemment été question des législations visant à taxer auprès des utilisateurs l’usage des réseaux sociaux et applications de messagerie, quelques jour après qu’une régulation similaire ait été retirée au  Bénin, suite à une forte mobilisation des béninois, soutenue par Internet Sans Frontières. Le panel consacré aux implications économiques et sociales des taxes sur les réseaux sociaux, auquel j’ai pris part pour Internet Sans Frontières, était modéré par Sandi Chimpala de TechTrends, aux côtés du Dr. Wairagala Wakabi de CIPESA, Broc Rademan de Research ICT Africa et Kojo Boakye de l’entreprise Facebook . Au delà de l’impact économique négatif, les panélistes ont rappelé ces taxes sont porteuse d’un relent autoritariste, en ce qu’elles font peser de réelles menaces sur la liberté d’expression, et l’accès  l’information. L’occasion m’a été donnée de rappeler que la victoire historique et inédite des citoyens béninois face à leur gouvernement ne doit pas faire oublier que de nombreux utilisateurs en Ouganda, en Zambie subissent encore le poids de ces régulations injustes.

L’urgence en Afrique d’adopter des indicateurs de l’universalité de l’Internet
Internet Sans Frontières a également pris part à la session organisée par l’UNESCO sur les indicateurs de l’universalité de l’Internet : fruit d’une réflexion entamée en 2017, ces indicateurs doivent permettre à chaque pays d’auto-évaluer le niveau d’universalité de l’Internet disponible dans un territoire donné, en particulier vérifier que l’Internet est fondé sur les droits humains, s’il est ouvert, accessible à tous, et fruit de la participation de plusieurs acteurs. Aux côté de James Marenga, Vice-président de l’Institut des Médias pour l’Afrique Australe (MISA), de Damola Sogunro, Principal Computer Analyst au Ministère de la Communication et des Technologies du Nigeria et de Dorothy Gordon, activiste technologique ghanéenne et spécialiste du développement, j’ai pu rappeler
les nombreux obstacles qui entravent l’accès aux informations en ligne sur le continent Africain tels que les coupures d’Internet, la restriction des libertés et la criminalisation des discours en ligne, la faible protection de la vie privée, les taxes relatives à l’usage d’Internet et le manque de transparence par rapport aux activités des gouvernements.
Plaidoyer contre les coupures Internet et données
Le panel consacré au plaidoyer axé sur les données relatives aux coupures d’Internet en Afrique a permis de rappeler le travail d’Internet Sans Frontières contre cette forme grave de censure, aux côtés de ses partenaires Access Now, the Global Network Initiative, et Netblocks, tous membres de la coalition Keepiton fondée en 2016. Les données sont nécessaires dans cette lutte, notamment celles permettant de connaitre le nombre précis de coupures Internet, mais également l’impact économique et financier de celles-ci. En 2017, le premier calcul par Internet Sans Frontières du coût économique de la coupure totale d’Internet dans les régions anglophones du Cameroun, la plus longue à ce jour en Afrique, a permis d’intéresser un tout nouveau public au plaidoyer contre la censure sur Internet, en particulier les médias et institutions économiques et financières. D’où l’importance de l’outil COST (Cost of Shutdowns Tool), développé par l’organisation Netblocks, qui automatise le calcul du coût des coupures Internet.
FIFAfrica, un espace de discussion et de collaboration nécessaire
J’ai pu constater à travers ma participation que le FIFAfrica est un creuset qui permet de débattre de manière interactive et éclairée sur les enjeux et défis actuels de la société de l’information en Afrique.
Vous pouvez en apprendre d’avantage sur la 1ère participation d’Internet Sans Frontières à ce grand RDV africain dans ce podcast d l’émission Afrique 7 jours de la Deutsch Welle.

12Oct

Why are African Governments Criminalising Online Speech? Because They Fear Its Power.

Author admin Posted on

By Nwachukwu Egbunike |
Africa’s landscape of online free speech and dissent is gradually, but consistently, being tightened. In legal and economic terms, the cost of speaking out is rapidly rising across the continent.
While most governments are considered democratic in that they hold elections with multi-party candidates and profess participatory ideals, in practice, many operate much closer dictatorships — and they appear to be asserting more control over digital space with each passing day.
Cameroon, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Benin have in the recent past witnessed internet shutdowns, the imposition of taxes on blogging and social media use, and the arrest of journalists. Media workers and citizens have been jailed on charges ranging from publishing “false information” to exposing state secrets to terrorism.
At the recent Forum of Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFA) held in Accra, Ghana, a group of panelists from various African countries all said they feared African governments were interested in controlling digital space to keep citizens in check.
Many countries have statutes and laws which guarantee the right to free expression. In Nigeria, for example, the Freedom of Information Act grants citizens the right to demand information from any government agency. Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution provides for freedom of the press and Section 39 maintains that “every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference…”
Yet, Nigeria has issued other laws that authorities use to deny these aforementioned rights.
Section 24 of Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act criminalises “anyone who spreads messages he knows to be false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to another or causes such a message to be sent.”
Making laws with ambiguous and subjective terms like “inconvenience” or “insult” calls for concern. Governments and their agents often use this as a cover to suppress freedom of expression.
Who determines the definition of an insult? Should public officials expect to develop a thick skin? In many parts of the world, citizens have the right to criticise public officials. Why don’t Africans have the right to offend as an essential part of free expression?
In 2017 and 2016, Nigerian online journalists and bloggers Abubakar Sidiq Usman and Kemi Olunloyo were each booked on spurious charges of cyber-stalking in connection with journalistic investigations on the basis of the Cybercrime Act.

Don’t suffer in silence — keep talking

The very existence of these legal challenges tells citizens that their voices matter. From Tanzania’s prohibition on spreading “false, deceptive, misleading or inaccurate” information online to Uganda’s tax on social media that is intended to curb “gossip”, the noise made on digital platforms scares oppressive regimes. In some cases, it may even lead to them to rescind their actions.
The experience of the Zone9 bloggers of Ethiopia provides a powerful example.
In 2014, nine Ethiopian writers were jailed and tortured over a collective blogging project in which they wrote about human rights violations by Ethiopia’s former government, daring to speak truth to power. The state labeled the group “terrorists”for their online activity and incarcerated them for almost 18 months.

Zone9 members Mahlet (left) and Zelalem (right) rejoiced at the release of Befeqadu Hailu (second from left, in scarf) in October 2015. Photo shared on Twitter by Zelalem Kiberet.

Six members of the now liberated group made their premier international engagement in Ghana during FIFA conference: Atnaf Berhane, Befeqadu Hailu Techane, Zelalem Kibret, Natnael Feleke Aberra, and Abel Wabella were all in attendance. Jomanex Kasaye, who had worked with the group prior to the arrests (but was not arrested) also attended.
Several members had collaborated with Global Voices to write and translate stories into the Amharic. As members of the community, Global Voices campaigned and mobilised the global human rights community to speak out about their case from the very first night they were arrested.
After months of writing stories and promoting their case on Twitter, international condemnation of their arrest and imprisonment began to flow from governments and prominent human rights leaders, alongside hundreds of thousands of online supporters. From the four-compass points of the world, a mighty cry arose demanding the Ethiopian government to free the Zone9 bloggers.
In their remarks at FIFA, the bloggers said that their membership in the Global Voices community was key to visibility during their time in prison. In their panel session, they credited Global Voices’ campaign for keeping them alive.
Berhan Taye, the panel moderator, asked the group to recount their prison experiences. As they spoke, the lights on the stage dimmed. Their voices filled the room with a quiet power.
Abel Wabella, who ran Global Voices’ Amharic site, lost hearing in one ear due to the torture he endured after refusing to sign a false confession.
Atnaf Berhane recalled that one of his torture sessions lasted until 2 a.m. and then continued after he had a few hours of sleep.
One of the security agents who arrested Zelalem Kibret had once been Kibret’s student at the university where he taught.
Jomanex Kasaye recounted the mental agony of leaving Ethiopia before his friends were arrested — the anguish of powerlessness — the unending suspense and fear that his friends would not make it out alive.

Zone9 bloggers together in Addis Ababa, 2012. From left: Endalk, Soleyana, Natnael, Abel, Befeqadu, Mahlet, Zelalem, Atnaf, Jomanex. Photo courtesy of Endalk Chala.

With modesty, the Zone9 bloggers said: “We are not strong or courageous people…we are only glad we inspired others.”
Yet, the Zone9 bloggers redefined patriotism with both their words and actions. It takes immense courage to love one’s country even after suffering at its hands for speaking out.
Ugandan journalist Charles Onyango-Obbo, also in attendance at FIFA, shared an Igbo proverb popularised by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe which says:

Since the hunter has learned to shoot without missing, Eneke the bird has also learnt to fly without perching.

In essence, he meant that in order to keep digital spaces free and safe, those involved in this struggle must devise new methods.
Activists on the front lines of free speech in sub-Saharan Africa and across the globe cannot afford to work in silos or go silent in frustration and defeat. With our strength and unity, online spaces will remain free to deepen democracy through vibrant dissent.

03Oct

Emerging Challenges and Data-driven Solutions for a Connected Future at FIFAfrica18

Author admin Posted on

By Netblocks’ Writer |

At the 2018 Forum for Internet Freedom in Africa in Accra, Ghana, NetBlocks is demonstrating new tools and methodologies to defend human rights, empowering local communities and creating a space for open and progressive policies for internet access and telecommunications.

In a joint panel on data-driven advocacy on Friday, NetBlocks along with partners Access Now, CIPESA, the GNI and ISF, soft-launched the Cost of Shutdown Tool, an initiative supported by the Internet Society which enables participants to calculate the economic cost of internet shutdowns, network disruptions and platform blocking in sub-Saharan Africa. Economic arguments have proven to be an effective means to bolster the case for human rights online with a view to development and prosperity, a trend which is being recognised and made accessible to internet freedom campaigners by way of the new initiative.

The panel explored how communities have been adopting new tools and developing new workflows as part of the KeepItOn initiative to support internet freedom across the continent, documenting recent incidents of network disruptions during elections in Mali and in Chad, as well as collecting bodies of technical evidence around disruptions in Ethiopia and Cameroon at critical moments for democracy and society.

Thursday saw the launch of the latest edition of The Internet Measurement Handbook, which provides civil society organisations and human rights defenders with practical technical and policy advice on managing internet disruptions, with a copy provided to each FIFAfrica participant.

NetBlocks director Alp Toker and advocacy manager Hannah Machlin demonstrated new internet freedom measurement techniques which present a more accurate, live view of emerging network incidents. Demonstrations and workshops provided a hands-on introduction to real-time internet freedom monitoring, web probes and internet-scale visualisation, which are now being adopted across the continent and globally as part of the internet observatory project.

Working with other civil society groups, the team explored issues around internet governance, internet protocols and their impact on human rights, free expression and trade, producing a series of new alliances and partnerships to strengthen digital rights and protect the integrity of elections regionally and worldwide.

Connecting data and human rights

Sessions over the course of three days have helped build a bridge between technical work to track restrictions on free expression online, connecting the personal experiences of victims of human rights violations with policy makers, governments and ICT industry stakeholders.

About FIFAfrica

Organised by the Collaboration for International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in partnership with the Media Foundation West Africa (MFWA) the 2018 edition of the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa  takes place on 26-28 September 2018 in Accra, Ghana.

The Forum is a landmark event that convenes various stakeholders from the internet governance and online rights arenas in Africa and beyond to deliberate on gaps, concerns and opportunities for advancing privacy, access to information, free expression, non-discrimination and the free flow of information online on the continent.

With strategic linkages to other internet freedom forums and support for the development of substantive inputs to inform the conversations on human rights online happening at national level, at the African Union and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), the African Internet Governance Forum (IGF), subregional IGFs, the global IGF, Stockholm Internet Forum (SIF), the Internet Freedom Festival (IFF), the Internet Freedom Forum (Nigeria) and RightsCon, among others, FIFAfrica provides a pan-African space where discussion from these other events can be consolidated at continent-wide level, drawing a large multistakeholder audience of actors.

09Aug

Unmasking Digital Security Threats facing Human Rights Defenders in Uganda and Tanzania

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By Lillian Nalwoga |

Technology presents various challenges to the protection of human rights such as the lack of adequate avenues to verify authenticity of information shared, violation of the right to privacy, respect to copyright issues and the right to anonymity among others.  With a shrinking civic space in Uganda and Tanzania, Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) need to be more vigilant in securing their digital environments.

In both countries, government has increased clampdown on human rights organisation – including intimidation and arrests of HRDs, closure of their offices and harassment of social media users.  Despite moderate digital security threat perception rating, the occurrence of malicious attacks at both organisational and personal levels are still present among many HRDs in both countries from state and non-state actors. For Uganda, past reports have also indicated authorities in Uganda intensifying their efforts to obtain spyware and surveillance equipment.  While in Tanzania, government’s growing appetite for stifling citizens’ digital rights has been on the rise with the most recent issuance of regressive online content regulations being another blow to the already declining internet freedom in the country.

These deductions require an awareness of the digital security threats faced by HRDs, a clear understanding and implementation of internet freedom legalisation affecting their works and different digital security tools that they can use to protect their online privacy.

The Collaboration for International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in partnership with Kampala based tech hub, Outbox and Sahara Ventures in Tanzania between November and December 2017, hosted a series of digital clinics, where HRDs and technologists shared insights on various forms of digital security threats and how to collaboratively develop effective digital security strategies in advancing digital rights protection in Uganda and Tanzania.

The digital security clinics provided an opportunity for techies and HRDs to explore and discuss digital security challenges as well as the need to promote Internet freedom in both countries. Additionally, the clinics exposed participants to digital safety tools and practices; legal and regulatory frameworks and knowledge on how to apply them in their day-to-day activities.

At the Uganda workshop, Immaculate Nabwire, a digital security trainer with Defend Defenders spoke inextricable link between digital security and human rights noting that the lack of digital security exposes valuable work and vulnerable communities to immense risk.

Participants explored some of the risks which lurk online including the various forms of digital attacks such as malware attacks, ransomware attacks, password attacks, phishing, Denial Of Service (DoS) alongside the extent of control one has over information that is shared online particularly – including in perceived closed spaces such as Facebook and Whatsapp groups.

To address these security gaps, some of the tactics and tools shared in both countries included the use of password managers through to basic methods such as the regular changing of passwords; use of –anonymity and circumvention tools such as Tor Browser; DuckDuckGo Search Engine and Opera Free VPN); Malware Protection tools; data encryption tools, among others.

In Tanzania, participants also analysed open source encryption tools – Mailvelope , Signal, and Martus for their strengths and weaknesses in use by HRDs. Elements tested included: –  User Experience and UX Design (ease of installation, internet speeds, literacy levels, language); Penetration Testing and Security Breach (level of confidentiality in securing user communication) and Localization (compatibility with other interfaces).  A similar exercise was conducted in Uganda, in 2015 were 5 digital security tools where tested. Whereas the 2015 exercise identified “lack of an attachment encryption function” for Mailvepe tool and “no option for retrieving a lost encryption key” for Martus, this was not the case for Tanzania developers.

Tool test findings in Tanzania

Tool Strength Limitation
Martus  ·         Easy to install even for people with low digital security skills –·         Provides a high confidence to use as no known security breaches have been documented·         Compatible for all operation systems (OS)
·         Can be used as a desktop application
 		 Only operates with an internet connection and is affected by slow internet speed
Signal  ·         Easy to install·         It can be used as a desktop or mobile application.·         Can be used as a message app (does not require internet connection) or as a messenger app (require internet connection)
 		 ·         The app comes with only two themes (dark and light) pre-installed, there’s no option to add additional themes.·         Signal App requires internet connection which isolates users with feature phones and data subscription capacity.·         Can only be used by Android and IOS users can, thus isolating a large percentage of phone users with other operating systems
 
Mailvelope ·         Easy to customization, can add as many email service vendors as possible.·         Easy installation.
·         Can be translated in more than 35 languages in transfix.		 The extension is not available in other browsers like Safari for Mac users 

The November 2017 engagements in Uganda highlighted the absence of a data privacy and protection law as major concern to the protection of their data at both national and global level. A draft Data Privacy and Protection bill (2015) currently remains before Parliament and awaits passing having been introduced in 2014. In Tanzania, participants called upon the government to use technology as a tool to promote development, not as a catalyst for social chaos.

Participants were further urged to make more informed decisions on the risks they expose themselves to online including – examining the amount of information they share directly, and that shared indirectly through members of their social networks. Indeed, as software increasingly mimics human behaviour and continues to mutate, the need for more agile digital security practices is needed to match these changes.

These events were part of CIPESA’s wider activities on building the digital rights knowledge as well as digital security, safety and capacity of human rights defenders, media, vulnerable women organisations in five African countries – Burundi, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Rwanda and supported by the Open Technology Fund (OTF).

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