Promoting Effective and Inclusive ICT Policy in Africa

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07Dec

Vodacom Outshines MTN in Efforts to Serve Persons With Disabilities in South Africa

Author CIPESA Posted on

By CIPESA Writer |

South Africa has a national disability prevalence rate of about 7.5%, which represents approximately 2.87 million persons with disability. According to the Marginalised Groups Indicator Report of 2018, the bulk of this population resides in Gauteng province and the least in the Northern Cape, with the most affected age groups being 5-14 and 15-24 years. Women have a higher chance of being disabled than men and are more likely to receive less schooling. 

While households of persons with disabilities have a 90% likelihood of having access to electricity, their access to technological devices is far lower, in major part due to failure by telecom operators to provide accessible services and devices to this often marginalised population.

See this report: Access Denied: How Telecom Operators in Africa are Failing Persons With Disabilities 

The telecommunication industry plays a critical role in providing information and communication services to the public. However, many telecom operators are failing to provide accessible information and services to large sections of persons with disabilities.

A study conducted among 10 telecom companies in five African countries sought to understand this digital access and service gap within the telecom industry in promoting digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, in particular visual and auditory disabilities. In South Africa, the main market share holders, MTN (28%) and Vodacom (42%), were the focus of the study. The study found that both operators offered affordable accessible handsets, but such handsets were not available in all outlets. 

This inconsistent product availability was accompanied by limited staff knowledge of any special offerings for persons with disabilities (such as call, SMS, data or discounted rates) and low skills in serving members of this community. Moreover, neither Vodacom nor MTN availed information about their services in Braille. 

However, Vodacom had an upper hand over MTN in creating awareness about accessibility products and services (including through alliances with the South African Audiology Association and South African Speech, Language and Hearing Association) and in developing accessibility applications.  

Vodacom also supported the development of HearZA app, a smartphone-based national hearing test app, developed in partnership with the University of Pretoria to help with early detection of hearing problems. In addition, in April 2018 Vodacom launched the free (082 112) SMS Emergency Service for hearing and speech impaired customers, which enabled registered customers to request emergency services such as police, ambulance, fire, and sea rescue by sending an SMS to the Emergency Service Contact Centre. The research shows that MTN had no tailor-made applications for persons with disabilities.

Earlier in 2016, Vodacom partnered with the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) to provide an easier and more accessible avenue to bring mobile communication closer to the visually impaired by installing a mobile service kiosk at SANCB’s premises in Pretoria. The aim of this partnership was to provide training and to empower the SANCB staff on how to use accessible smartphones and to train their members.

Further, Vodacom has been offering Apple and Android smart devices that come with built-in text-to-speech applications (Apple – VoiceOver and Android – TalkBack) that convert text to audio, allowing visually impaired customers to listen to information such as SMS. In-store activation, an assisted step-by-step guide, and training on using the accessibility features, are additional services the company could offer. 

Integrating the needs of persons with disabilities at company policy level is also indicative of its commitment to inclusion. According to the research, Vodacom had a guiding procurement policy as part of the group’s inclusion strategy to promote accessibility, while MTN had a wide business-focused procurement policy with no specific information on devices for persons with disabilities.

Across the 10 telecom companies assessed, only Vodacom had discounted rates for persons with disabilities, and for hearing-impaired customers, special contract phone deals that consisted of data and SMS were provided. Vodacom was also the only operator in the study that had emergency communications designed specifically for persons with disabilities. 

A Code of Conduct for Persons with Disabilities Regulations was issued by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in 2007 and a review was undertaken in  2019, with inputs and commitments of support to the review effort from operators Cell-C, MTN, and Vodacom. Proposals received during the review included to revise the code of conduct to include subtitling for all TV programmes; large print and braille billing statements to be issued by operators; a need for universal design of handsets at affordable prices; cheaper hearing aids to be made available; airtime vouchers to be printed in braille; and Jaws (a screen reading software) to be installed in smartphones.

For persons with disabilities to realise technology’s transformative potential, their rights must be provided for in national laws and policies, and countries must take deliberate steps to ensure that they have unfettered access to quality information and ICT, and are protected from all forms of discrimination. South Africa’s telecom operators need to follow Vodacom’s examples to proactively support the needs of persons with disabilities, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) pledge to leave no one behind. 

See more about how South Africa’s telecom operators compare to those in other countries in the provision of services and devices to persons with disabilities.

06Dec

Highlights of The African Internet Rights Alliance (AIRA) Work Advancing Online Freedoms

Author CIPESA Posted on

By CIPESA Writer |

The African Internet Rights Alliance (AIRA), a coalition of civil society organisations from around the continent, has racked up various joint interventions to advance digital rights on the continent. The Alliance works to promote privacy and data protection, affordability and access to the internet, access to information and freedoms of assembly, expression and the media.

The formation of the network was informed by the growing affronts to digital rights on the continent and the need for civil society actors to pool efforts so as to enhance their effectiveness in undertaking research, advocating policy and legislative reform, and capacity building, among other areas of intervention.

Each month, more than half a billion Africans access the internet – this is more than all the internet users in North America and the Middle East combined – and that number continues to grow. As the internet and digital technology become more and more integrated into all aspects of life, governance, and the economy in Africa, the inequalities and challenges we face online are reflected offline. We face new challenges to our human rights in the digital context – including unequal access, censorship and violence online. We must work together to ensure that everyone’s digital rights are respected and protected.

Over the past five years, internet shutdowns, stifling of dissent, poor data governance and various forms of online violence have persisted, perpetrated both by the government and the private sector, despite increased calls for progressive policy and practice. In order to advance collaborative approaches to promote digital rights, a coalition of civil society organisations came together to pool experience and expertise under AIRA. The alliance was unveiled at the 2020 Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica20) and also presented at the 2020 global Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

The AIRA members include Amnesty International, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa, BudgIT, the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), Legal Resource Centre (LRC) and Paradigm Initiative (PIN). Many of the alliance members had worked together over the past three years and realised the need for transnational collaboration and coalition-building to protect and expand digital rights across Africa.

Below are some highlights of AIRA’s work

  • Developed and distributed key digital rights terminology guidance to journalists.
  • Hosted a media webinar on digital rights, Covid-19 and elections across Africa.
  • Submitted joint letters to the United Nations and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights regarding the use of Kenya’s Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act and Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act.
  • Facilitated a joint social media campaign aimed at condemning governments who have unfairly detained journalists.
  • Supported the revision of the Declaration of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR); and
  • Engaged with the media on digital rights challenges and opportunities.

Explaining the spirit behind AIRA
“AIRA was largely borne out of the need for movement building in campaigns for universal access and tackling inequalities and human rights challenges faced by Africans online, which are reflected offline. These challenges vary country by country, sub-region by sub-region and indeed, from one user to the next. However, norm setting requires a unified approach and platforms for collaborative learning and engagement – which AIRA seeks to do, in tandem with other pre-existing digital rights coalitions,” said CIPESA Executive Director Wairagala Wakabi. 

“The AIRA coalition is uniquely positioned to undertake value-based, collective interventions and executes strategic initiatives that engage the government, private sector, media and civil society to institute and safeguard digital rights. Instructively, one limb of our multi-faceted digital rights work encourages government to espouse our four values – accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance – as they roll out inevitable digital policies and action plans,” said KICTANet Convenor Grace Githaiga.

“AIRA members vocalise the needs and challenges of millions of individuals across Central, East, Southern and West Africa, including individuals who remain disconnected from the digital sphere, those at risk of being disconnected, and those who are already connected, albeit poorly,” said Legal Resources Centre Legal Researcher Edwin Makwati. 

“In the face of COVID-19, Internet shutdowns and stifling of dissent, digital rights across Africa are under threat more than ever before. AIRA is prepared to pool its experience and expertise to advance digital rights and is well positioned to hold governments and the private sector accountable for any violation of those rights,” said Amnesty International Technology Advisor Kiggundu Mark. 

“Together, we can do so much,” said Paradigm Initiative Executive Director ‘Gbenga Sesan. “We invite others to join us in the movement to establish, advance and protect digital rights for all on the African continent.” 

Learn more about AIRA here 

03Dec

CIPESA Endorses GSMA Principles to Drive Digital Inclusion of Persons With Disabilities

Author CIPESA Writer Posted on

By CIPESA Writer |

Today, the GSMA, a group that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, has launched the ‘Principles for Driving the Digital Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities’, which aim to inspire the mobile industry to help close the mobile disability gap.

Announced on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, December 3, 2020, the Principles set out a framework for action, as well as recommended activities to help address the barriers that currently prevent persons with disabilities from accessing and using mobile-enabled products and services. According to research conducted by the GSMA, many persons with disabilities are less likely to own smartphones and use mobile internet than persons without disabilities.

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is honoured to have endorsed the principles at their launch. The mobile industry plays a critical role in our communities, hence it is of utmost importance that it takes definitive measures to promote inclusion and accessibility of its products and services. In Africa, most mobile operators still have work to do to ensure persons with disabilities are fully included.

“The Principles are practical and comprehensive, and will hopefully gain robust uptake by the industry. They offer civil society and other actors a clear and standardised tool by which to assess the industry’s performance on key inclusion benchmarks,” said CIPESA Executive Director Dr. Wairagala Wakabi.

World Health Organization figures show that around 15% of the world’s population  or one billion people worldwide live with a disability. Yet, only 1 in 10 people has access to the assistive technology they need to live independent lives. The GSMA notes that, by combining multiple assistive technologies in a single device, mobile phones can be cost effective tools to enable greater inclusion and participation for persons with disabilities.

The Principles call for action to address the barriers and requirements of persons with disabilities, drive innovation, place persons with disabilities at the heart of the design process and realise the social and commercial opportunity of reaching this underserved segment of the population. By doing so the mobile industry can make meaningful change and help ensure no one is left behind in an increasingly digital world.

“Removing the barriers faced by persons with disabilities requires informed action from all stakeholders,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. “It’s time for the mobile industry to take steps to ensure our products and services are accessible, unlocking the power of connectivity so that all people thrive. I’m delighted that Dialog Axiata PLC, Optus, Orange Group, Safaricom PLC, Telefónica Group, Vodacom South Africa, Zain Group and Turkcell have already signed up to our Principles, and I look forward to many more industry participants joining us in this commitment.”

The framework sets out three core principles for the mobile industry to advance the digital inclusion of persons with disabilities: i) Embrace disability inclusion at every level of their organisation; ii) Understand how to reach and better serve persons with disabilities; and iii) Deliver inclusive products and services that meet the varied needs of people with disabilities.

Embrace disability inclusion at every level of the organisation: To drive digital inclusion and reach persons with disabilities with mobile-enabled products and services, it is critical to focus on disability at an organisational level, to ensure disability inclusion is embedded across the organisation, supported by relevant policies and strategies, and spearheaded by senior leadership.

Understand how to reach and better serve persons with disabilities: Actions to drive the digital inclusion of persons with disabilities must be informed by an understanding of the local issues and local contexts, and ensuring persons with disabilities’ voices are heard: “nothing about us, without us”.

Deliver inclusive products and services that meet the diverse requirements of persons with disabilities: Action is required to address the barriers and requirements of persons with disabilities, drive innovation, place persons with disabilities at the heart of the design process and realise the social and commercial opportunity of reaching this underserved segment of the population.

Digital accessibility is recognised as a key priority in various global commitments, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the United Nations (UN) Disability Inclusion Strategy, which seek to ensure that no one is left behind in an increasingly digital world.

The Principles have been endorsed by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Mobile & Wireless Forum’s (MWF) Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative (Gari), the Global Disability Innovation Hub, the International Disability Alliance (IDA), the International Labour Organization (ILO), Purple Space, CIPESA, and the Valuable 500.

You can learn more about the Principles here. CIPESA encourages mobile operators to sign up, and other actors to endorse the initiative and support the industry in striving to improve the digital inclusion of persons with disabilities.

30Nov

Universal Peer Review: Mozambique Should Guarantee Digital Rights

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Edrine Wanyama |

In April 2021, Mozambique’s human rights record will be assessed under the Universal Peer Review (UPR) process at the United Nations Human Rights Council. The assessment will need to shine a light on Mozambique’s record on online and offline rights to privacy, access to information, and free expression, which are increasingly under threat in the southern Afican country.

The UPR process offers all UN member states the opportunity to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situation in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations. In the previous review, nine of the 227 recommendations made to Mozambique were related to freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information. In response, the Mozambican government supported six of the nine recommendations and by implication was to take steps and measures that aim to protect and promote the respective rights. However, various developments in the country make it imperative to reflect on recommendations made during Mozambique’s last UPR assessment, with a view to supporting the realisation of digital freedoms as part of the upcoming review.

Despite constitutional provisions for freedom of expression, freedom of the press and the right to information, in 2018 Mozambique introduced a draconian media law, Decree No. 40/2018. The legislation was revoked two years later in May 2020 following a Constitutional Court petition by six organisations – Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Mozambique Chapter, Association of Journalistic Companies, National Forum of Community Radios, Centre for Public Integrity, Mozambican Bar Association and the Emergency Committee for the Protection of Fundamental Freedoms. The court declared that the decree was unconstitutional since it introduced prohibitive costs on the exercise of the journalism profession for foreign correspondents and local freelance journalists.

Mozambique is ranked 104 out of 180 countries in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, which is a drop by one position from 2019. Journalists and media houses are threatened by an increasingly shrinking operating space. Indeed, the October 2019 general election was marred by attacks on the media, which included use of threatening messages through social media and SMS. Some journalists, especially in the northern part of the country, were intimidated while others were arrested, persecuted, detained and prosecuted.

More recently, the insurgency in Cabo Delgado and the Covid-19 State of Emergency have elicited state measures that threaten freedom of expression, opinion and the right to access information. Notably, the decree that instituted a state of emergency barred the media from transmitting Covid-19 information that is “contrary to official information”, arbitrarily restricting journalistic information and interfering with editorial independence.

There is some goodwill for openness by the government and increasing numbers of persons using the internet – yet Mozambique has a low score in internet affordability with women being most affected. As of 2018, only 20.8% of Mozambique’s population used the internet, while 26 in every 100 inhabitants had mobile broadband subscription. As of January 2019, the internet penetration rate  stood at 17%.

Amidst a narrowing civic space, there are some measures to improve cybersecurity yet, worryingly, the country has dropped on the Global Cybersecurity Index by 23 places. On individual privacy protections online, Mozambique is still without a data protection law. However towards the end of 2019, Mozambique revised its Penal Code, introducing provisions related to the invasion of privacy. The new Penal Code provisions outlawed the interception, recording, transmission or disclosure of online communications, including email, messages, audio-visual and social media content without consent.

To buttress the protection and enjoyment of digital rights, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Small Media,  Fórum das Associações Moçambicanas das Pessoas com Deficiência (FAMOD) and the Associação de Cegos e Amblíopes de Moçambique have made a joint stakeholder submission on digital rights in Mozambique. The submission focuses on various developments in the country on freedom of expression and opinion, freedom of information and censorship of content, the right to equal access and opportunity, and the right to data protection and privacy on the internet. It draws experiences from Mozambique’s review of January 19, 2016.

Below are some of the recommendations made in the submission:

  1. Enhance capacity building efforts to enforce the right to information law, including encouraging proactive disclosure and compliance with timely responses to information requests.
  2. Repeal provisions of the Covid-19 Emergency Decree, which are contrary to national and international obligations on freedom of expression and access to information and promote open reporting and commentary on issues of public concern.
  3. Institute an independent body to investigate, hold accountable and deter security forces who repeatedly violate journalists’ rights, especially those covering elections and the insurrection in the North.
  4. Implement measures to promote inclusive access for marginalised and vulnerable groups including women, rural communities and persons with disabilities, with funding from the Universal Service Fund.
  5. Enact a data protection law, in line with international and regional standards through multi-stakeholder consultative processes.

See the full submission here.

26Nov

New Tax on Online Services A Threat to Internet Freedom in Mauritius

Author CIPESA Writer Posted on

By Thomas Robertson |

Under the premise of Covid-19 austerity measures, the government of Mauritius passed a new tax on digital services in August 2020. The “Liability to Value Added Tax on Digital and Electronic Services” is one of the several amendments to the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act introduced in the July 2020 Finance Bill.

The Act defines “digital or electronic service” as any service supplied by “a foreign supplier over the internet or an electronic network which is reliant on the internet; or by a foreign supplier and is dependent on information technology for its supply.”

The penalties for failure to comply with VAT that are outlined in the original VAT Act (which are unchanged in the amendment that extended the tax to digital services) include a fine of up to 50,000 rupees (USD 1,255) or imprisonment of up to five years.

The digital VAT introduction is the latest in Mauritius’ move towards internet regulation that has already manifested in restrictions to freedom of expression through the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act and application of expanded surveillance technologies in tourist areas.

The Bumpy Legal Road to Mauritius’ Blossoming ICT Sector

 Mauritius’ economic success and a strong culture of democracy have allowed for the development of an emerging ICT sector. In 2019, the ICT sector contributed up to 5.8% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounting to over 800 million US dollars. This is not surprising given that Mauritius has set out to be the world’s first Cyber Island and has fulfilled that goal by establishing Africa’s first Cybercity. Additionally, a conducive legal framework is in place, including laws on cybercrime, data protection, and ICT usage regulation and democratisation. Mauritius is also implementing a 2018-2022 Digital Government Strategy that aims to integrate technology into government operations and service delivery.

Nonetheless, there has been a series of regressive developments to which the online services tax now contributes. In 2018, a contentious amendment to the ICT Act was passed, which criminalised content perceived to cause “annoyance, humiliation, inconvenience, distress or anxiety to any person,” and established penalties of up to 10 years in prison. However, even before the amendment of the ICT Act, two internet users were arrested in 2016 following a complaint filed by a member of the Mauritian cabinet regarding their Facebook posts. One of the two users arrested in 2016, Farihah Ruhomaully, was arrested again in July 2020 after she called a Member of Parliament a “dirtbag” on Facebook. Both of these arrests were justified as responding to breaches of the ICT Act, indicating that the Act is enforced not just to prevent cybercrime, but also to crack down on dissent.

The ICT Act has also been used to criminalise the dissemination of false news as demonstrated by the arrest of a former government minister on allegations of spreading false information regarding the purchase of Covid-19 medical equipment. Meanwhile, there are reports of the involvement of the Mauritian government in the blockage of social media accounts of critics on grounds of national security.

In addition, the Mauritian government is one of several across Africa to institute a widespread surveillance apparatus. The Safe City project funded by Huawei will install a system of hundreds of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the Port-Louis area purportedly intended to fight crime. This is troubling given Huawei’s reported collaboration with state police forces in Uganda and Zambia to target the political opposition.

Looking Beyond the Tax Act’s Impacts on Internet Affordability and Free Speech

Mauritius boasts relatively high internet access rates compared to much of sub-Saharan Africa – 59% internet penetration as of 2018, according to the World Bank and the International Telecommunication Union. The country is also ranked favourably in internet affordability by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) Affordability Report: 13th out of 61 countries assessed worldwide and first in Africa.

Without a list of the range of digital services under the scope of the new VAT provisions, it is unclear which services will be affected, though Netflix and Google Drive are among the services speculated to be taxed. At 15% of the value of “digital or electronic services”, the levy will likely increase the price of affected services – putting them out of reach for many Mauritians. Indeed, similar VAT modifications on online services in Mexico and Chile demonstrate the effects of the increased tax burden on consumers.

With a strong history of democracy and rule of law, legislative constraints that stifle free speech online and expand surveillance show regression into authoritarianism. The introduction of VAT on online services resembles the likes of the Ugandan government’s social media tax and the Zambian government’s  tax on internet voice calls. The timing of the tax also seems peculiar given that many Mauritians are relying on digital services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, digital platforms have recently been utilised to mobilise opposition against the Mauritian government’s response to the Wakashio oil spill, resulting in over 50,000 citizens participating in an anti-government protest in August 2020.

Thomas Roberston is a 2020 CIPESA Fellow focussing on digital expression and China-Africa relations.

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