End of Politeness: African Feminist Movements and Digital Voice

FIFAfrica19 |
Feminism movements online face audience aggression and are often misunderstood. Nonetheless, in recent years, the voice and presence of African feminists online is growing and reinforcing decades long offline efforts aimed at shifting norms, perceptions and power tilted against women and vulnerable communities. As such, growing feminist movements are contributing to narratives which previously did not feature much in mainstream media and in online spaces.
One rising player in these movements is AfricanFeminism.Com which is an online collective of feminist writers from across the continent who are documenting the struggles and achievements of women and other minorities while also amplifying the work of feminists on the continent. Since its origins in 2011, the site has grown to become a channel for driving feminist narratives in online spaces in Africa. These are in turn contributing to debates on issues such as women representation and inclusion, cyber-violence against women and other human rights.
This year, AfricanFeminism.Com will assemble actors in the African feminist movement at the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2019 (FIFAfrica19). In a session titled “End of Politeness: African Feminist Movements and Digital Voice”, the collective will illustrate how the current pan-African feminism movement is thriving on access to technologies that earlier generations did not have, to advance women’s right to self-expression and access to information.
The session will bring experiences and lessons from across the continent on how feminist movements are being defined and the online backlash that many young women have to face in order to make themselves heard. The African experience of internet freedom greatly mimics freedoms offline including through the gender divide, literacy, economics and even politics. This session will show trends of how African feminist online communities are pushing for greater equity and equality including through various forms of advocacy such as the radical expression of Uganda’s Dr Stella Nyanzi.
Moderator: Rosebell Kagumire | Editor, AfricanFeminism.com
Panelists:

  • Nana Akosua Hanson | Director, Drama Queens Ghana
  • Beatrice Mateyo | Executive Director, Coalition for the Empowerment of Women and Girls (CEWAG) Malawi
  • Selam Mussie | Media and Communications Consultant, Ethiopia
  • Lugain Mahmoud | Activist, Fifty (Women Representation) Campaign, Sudan
  • Jeanne Elone | Human Rights & Social Impact, Africa Public Policy, Facebook

Follow the conversation using #FIFAfrica19 and #InternetFreedomAfrica.

UN Human Rights Council Called to Address Deterioration of Freedoms in Tanzania

Open Letter |
In recent months, Tanzania has faced increased measures resulting in the shrinking of civic and democratic space in the country. Draconian legislation enacted since 2015 and legal and extra-judicial methods used to harass human rights defenders, threaten independent journalism, and to restrict freedoms of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association have been used to reduce the avenues for civic expression.
Recent legislative, policy and practical developments have led to increased international and regional attention on Tanzania. The surge in the number, and strengthening of the wording, of statements delivered by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights indicate that global concern is growing over the situation in the country, which for decades demonstrated a commitment to improving the human rights of all people, both nationally and within East Africa.
Ahead of the 41st regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (“the Council”), which will
take place from 24 June-12 July 2019, 38 organisations have written to the Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights
Council to deliver statements, both jointly and individually, and to engage in bilateral démarches to address the ongoing deterioration of the human rights situation in the United Republic of Tanzania.
See the open letter here.

International Day for Universal Access to Information 2019

IDUAI has particular relevance with the new 2030 Development Agenda, and in particular with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 16.10 which calls for ensuring public access to information and protection of fundamental freedoms.
Information, Digital AgClick here to access the event page for more information.

Stakeholder Submission to the UN Human Rights Council on Digital Rights in The Gambia

By Ashnah Kalemera |
In November 2019, The Gambia will be coming up for its third cycle review under the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism. Former President Yahya Jammeh, before his ouster in 2017, was renowned for his utter disregard for constitutional rights, once stating publicly that he would “not compromise or sacrifice the peace, security, stability, dignity, and the well-being of Gambians for the sake of freedom of expression.”
However, since the new administration of Adama Barrow took office in January 2017, the government has made public its intention to review and revise the current regulatory framework for press freedom and freedom of expression. Indeed, in June 2017, the new Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou conceded at the Constitutional Court that the charge of “sedition” under a law that had been frequently used to silence journalists and critics under the former regime was unconstitutional.
Later in February 2018, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court ruled that Gambian authorities should repeal sections of the Criminal Code on libel (Sections 178 & 179), sedition (Sections 51& 52), false news (Sections 59 & 181) and false publication on the internet (Section 173). Following this ruling, the government of The Gambia indicated its intention to “honour” the judgement after review by the Ministry of Justice and other relevant authorities.
As The Gambia’s online user base increases, it becomes increasingly important for UPR recommendations at the upcoming review to reflect explicitly the need for the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, and to privacy to be protected online as well as offline, in line with the state’s obligations under Articles 17 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

What is the UPR?  It’ is a full assessment of a country’s human rights. Every United Nations (UN) member state has its human rights record assessed, and all UN member states are involved in the review process. It happens every four-and-a-half years, for every state.

As part of the Internet Freedom in Africa and UPR project, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Small Media, The Gambia Press Union, Give1 Project Gambia and the YMCA Computer Training Centre, and Digital Studio have made a joint stakeholder submission on digital rights in The Gambia. The submission focuses on freedom of expression, freedom of information, right to equal access and opportunity, as well as data protection and privacy. It explores relevant developments since the previous UPR review in October 2014 and makes the following recommendations:

  • In compliance with international standards, as well as the rulings of the Supreme Court and the ECOWAS Community Court, repeal provisions violating freedom of expression under the Criminal Code (2014) and the Information and Communication Act (2013).
  • Repeal in its entirety the Official Secrets (Amendment) Act 2008 and enact and implement a right to information law.
  • Hasten efforts to provide equal access to technology and communications to all citizens, including disadvantaged and marginalised groups of the population, by removing barriers to access and improving affordability, as well as expanding infrastructure and desisting from internet disruptions.
  • Reform the legislation on personal data protection and privacy in order to provide safeguards on the use of personal data and to protect the right to privacy online.

See the full submission.
 

Despots and Disruptions: Five Dimensions of Internet Shutdowns in Africa

Report |
Up to 22 African governments have ordered network disruptions in the last four years and since the start of 2019, six African countries – Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Chad, Gabon, Sudan and Zimbabwe – have experienced internet shutdowns.
A new report by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) titled Despots and Disruptions: Five Dimensions of Internet Shutdowns in Africa notes, however, that internet shutdowns remain the preserve of Africa’s most despotic states.
According to the report, 77% of the countries where internet shutdowns have been ordered in the last five years are categorised as authoritarian under the Democracy Index produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit. All the other African countries that have disrupted communications are categorised as hybrid regimes, meaning they have some elements of democracy with strong doses of authoritarianism.
The authoritarian regimes that have ordered network disruptions include Algeria, Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Cameroon, Chad, DR Congo, Congo (Brazzaville), Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,  Ethiopia, Libya, Mauritania, Niger, Togo, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Hybrid regimes that have ordered internet shutdowns include the Gambia, Mali, Morocco, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
For countries that are classified as authoritarian but have not ordered shutdowns, the report states that it is likely that “the authoritarian state is so brutal or commanding that civil society or opposition organising and protests – online and offline – are unfathomable” or “internet control measures in place render ordering overt internet disruptions unnecessary.” These countries include Djibouti, Eritrea and Rwanda.
The report also notes that countries whose leaders have been in power for several years are more likely to order internet shutdowns. As of January 2019, of the 14 African leaders who had been in power for 13 years or more, 79% had ordered shutdowns, mostly during election periods and public protests against government policies.
These included Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema (39 years); Cameroon’s Paul Biya (36); Congo Brazaville’s Denis Sassou Nguesso (34); Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni (33); Sudan’s Omar El Bashir (30); Chad’s Edris Deby (29); Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika (19); Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (19); DR Congo’s Joseph Kabila (17); Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé (15); and Burundi’s Pierrie Nkurunziza (13).

The report says 2019 could see a record number of network disruptions since at least 20 African states will hold various forms of elections including local, legislative, general or presidential.
Over the years, many network disruptions have typically occurred in autocratic African countries around election times, and among the states scheduled to conduct polls this year are those which have previously initiated various forms of shutdowns during elections periods (such as Equatorial Guinea), public protests (Cameroon, Togo), and national school exams (Algeria, Ethiopia).
Other highlights from the Despots and Disruptions: Five Dimensions of Internet Shutdowns in Africa report:
The report notes that governments that order disruptions and the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that implement them now more openly acknowledged the disruptions. Governments often cite digital technologies’ increasing usage to spread disinformation, propagate hate speech, and to allegedly fan public disorder and undermine national security.
For their part, more ISPs and platform operators are making public their responses to shutdown directives as and to user information and interception requests from governments through transparency reports. This openness could represent the normalisation of shutdowns, implying that a growing number of governments feel no shame in openly acknowledging ordering shutdowns. However, it has positive elements too, as it can be the basis of litigation and push back advocacy.
The report reiterates that internet disruptions, however short-lived, affect many facets of the national economy and tend to persist far beyond the days on which access is disrupted. “If just five of the countries that have previously disrupted internet access and who are going to the polls this year disrupted access to internet including apps such as Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp at a nationwide level for five days each, the estimated economic cost would be more than USD 65.6 million,” the report states.
Further, the report notes that the countries that disrupt internet access have some of the lowest internet usage figures and highest data prices in Africa. Conventional wisdom might suggest that low-internet usage countries would be the last to disrupt internet access as they might consider the population online too small to threaten “public order” or “national security” or to threaten the regime’s hold on power. On the contrary, says the report, it appears that African governments with democracy deficits, regardless of the numbers of their citizens that use the internet, fear the power of the internet in enabling citizen organising and empowering ordinary people to speak truth to power.
The report can be downloaded here.