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10Nov

Shifting the Burden: Online Violence Against Women

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Evelyn Lirri |

Across Africa, the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by women and girls remains low. Yet amidst the low access to digital tools, women, particularly those in public and political spaces, such as human rights defenders (HRDs), bloggers, and journalists, continue to be the primary target of various forms of online violence such as cyberstalking, sexual harassment, trolling, body shaming and blackmail.

 According to a 2021 global survey by UNESCO, nearly three-quarters of female journalists have experienced online harassment in the course of their work, forcing many to self-censor. Furthermore, a 2020 report by UN Women found that women in politics and the media were more likely to be victims of technology-based violence as a consequence of their work and public profiles.

Over the years, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has documented and pursued interventions aimed at addressing the significant obstacles hindering an increase in women’s participation not only in online spaces but also in the political sphere. A concerning and recurring trend is that, oftentimes, responses to violence against women have prioritised an individual’s responsibility for self-protection rather than systematic or policy actions. 

 At the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2023 (FIFAfrica23), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Pollicy, Africtivites, the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Internews and the Solidarity Centre shared lessons learned from their work implementing multi-stakeholder interventions to address online violence against women. During a panel discussion, it was noted that applying multi-stakeholder interventions that include governments, civil society, technology platforms and media was critical in promoting safe and meaningful participation of women in online spaces. Internews and WOUGNET highlighted the work they have been jointly engaged in through the FemTech project in various African countries, aimed at empowering women human rights defenders to safely participate in digital spaces while promoting equitable access to technology. Through trainings of women human rights defenders, CSOs, policy makers and law enforcers, the project is raining awareness on how women are often impacted by cyber crimes legislations. 

In Senegal, AfricTivistes, a network organisation made up of journalists, bloggers and HRDs, has spearheaded public advocacy campaigns on responsible use of the internet. The organisation has conducted gender-inclusive training and capacity-building workshops for journalists, bloggers, public officials and political leaders on how to respond to cyber violence. Aisha Dabo, a Programme Coordinator at AfricTivistes, noted that since 2017, over 700 people in 15 African countries have been reached with these trainings. The organisation also conducts media monitoring of online violence on social media platforms. 

Sarah Moulton, NDI’s Deputy Director for Democracy and Technology, highlighted the negative impact that online violence continues to have on women who are actively engaged in politics and political spaces. In Uganda, for instance, a joint report by Pollicy and NDI documented cases of gender-based online violence during the 2021 general elections and found that women and men politicians experienced online violence differently, with women candidates likely to be trolled and body shamed while men were more likely to experience hate speech. This echoed research by CIPESA which analysed the gender dynamics of politics in online spaces in Uganda, including campaigns for presidential, parliamentary, mayoral, and other local government seats during the same elections. The CIPESA research also explored the legal landscape and in similarity to Pollicy and NDI found that although Uganda has enacted a number of laws aimed at improving digital access and rights such as the Computer Misuse Act 2011, the Anti Pornography Act 2014, the Excise Duty (Amendment) Act 2018, most do not address the gender dynamics of the internet such as targeted online gender-based violence, affordability, and the lack of digital skills among women.  

Like Africvistes, NDI has engaged in a number of campaigns to document these various forms of violence and make recommendations to address the problem. In 2022, it released a  list of interventions that could be adopted globally by technology platforms, governments, civil society and the media to mitigate the impact of online violence against women in politics and hold perpetrators to account.  

“Often, the expectation is that the individual is responsible for addressing the issue or for advocating on behalf of themselves. It really needs to involve a lot of actors,” said Moulton. 

On its part, the Solidarity Centre has been spearheading a global campaign to end gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work. With the advent of Covid-19, a growing number of women shifted online for employment opportunities, access to services and education, among others. It was highlighted that female platform workers, including influencers, content creators and women who run online retail businesses, continue to face various violations such as sexual harassment and cyberbullying. 

Panelists called on governments to ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work. This global treaty recognises the impact of domestic violence in the workplace, and how women are often disproportionately affected.  Currently, the convention has been ratified by 32 countries globally, of which only eight are African.

Journalists attending FIFAfrica23 also shared their encounters with online violence and called for regular digital literacy skills to stay safe online. Alongside the need for enhanced digital literacy, participants also noted the lack of effective reporting mechanisms for cases. Ultimately, it was noted that efforts that shift the burden of blame from victims of online violence against women in Africa need to be more actively pursued, alongside more actionable, collaborative and systematic interventions by governments, law enforcement, and platforms.

06Nov

Addressing The Gender Dynamics of Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety in Africa

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By Juliet Nanfuka |

November 2 marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, a  United Nations (UN) recognised day observed annually that serves to draw attention to the level of impunity for crimes against journalists. While impunity for crimes against journalists is high and is a global reality, there is a concerning and continued gender-biased undercurrent that shapes and informs the media landscape in many African countries. As such, some cases of crimes especially against women journalists go unrecognised. The safety of African women journalists is therefore an urgent concern and a key cornerstone of press freedom..

As such, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has embarked on a multi-country project centred on implementing some of the recommendations of the 2022 report on the State of Media Freedom and Safety of Journalists in Africa. 

According to the report, while both men and women journalists in Africa are likely to experience trolling, more women have been sexually harassed and threatened. Further, online attacks against women journalists appear to be increasing exponentially and have also moved offline – with potentially deadly consequences. Yet women journalists who experience abuse online rarely seek justice and often struggle to have their complaints taken seriously and properly investigated. 

Illustrative cases include some from Kenya, where in 2018, several women in the media were the target of smear campaigns on social media platforms, through hashtags, photos, and video-edited graphics depicting nude characters. In 2019, a  female journalist’s phone number was publicly shared on Twitter by Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party in South Africa, which resulted in “an avalanche of racialised and sexist abuse, including rape and death threats.” Although the EFF was sued, and the court found that the party had violated the electoral code by failing to “instruct and take reasonable steps to ensure that their supporters do not harass, intimidate, threaten or abuse journalists and especially women”, the case is a microcosm of what women journalists across the continent experience particularly when reporting on politics.    

More broadly, the media landscape in Africa has become rife with arbitrary censorship, especially on the internet, arrests of journalists on the grounds of combating cybercrime, fake news or terrorism, and acts of violence against media personnel that usually go completely unpunished. Although media plurality has improved dramatically on the continent, the gender dynamics remain ever-present, such as few women holding executive positions in media companies. Meanwhile, the increased reliance on technology has seen the affronts experienced by female journalists transferred online with a bigger impact on the profession, which is forcing some out entirely, silencing others from reporting on critical concerns or encouraging a culture of self-censorship. 

Accordingly, the CIPESA/UNESCO collaboration seeks to create avenues of engagement on these concerns and how they undermine the practice of journalism by women. These will be pursued by a series of inperson meetings revolving around recommendations that emerged from the documentation of media freedom and journalist’s safety in Africa. 

This work builds on earlier interventions by CIPESA including the 2020 Women At Web Uganda (#WomenAtWebUg) Masterclass and Reporting Grant which served to increase the visibility of the dynamics faced by Ugandan women online and improve balance, quality and regularity of reporting. Through the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF), CIPESA supported the Women In Media Initiative Somalia (WIMISOM) in building the digital security skills and knowledge of women journalists (print, broadcast and online) and women-led media organisations in Puntland, Somalia and Somaliland as a means of combating threats against female journalists and their sources. 

In 2022, CIPESA joined the Uganda Media Sector Working Group (UMSWG) in the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day where the theme “Journalism Under Digital Siege” was the focus of deliberation. Discussion at the UMSWF meeting resonated with insights that emerged from research in Namibia. In 2022, the ADRF provided support to the Internet Society – Namibia Chapter to develop a country situational assessment on the state of online violence against girls and women in Namibia. The assessment reaffirmed the experiences of Namibian journalists as similar to those worldwide. It noted that, “where online attacks against women journalists have political motives, where political

actors, extremist networks and partisan media are identified as instigators and amplifiers of online violence against women journalists.”

In May 2023, in recognition of International Women’s Day (IWD), CIPESA hosted a regional webinar titled “Tech4Equality: Advocating for Gender Inclusive ICT Policy and governance” that assembled gender experts from a host of countries including Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. This was complemented by efforts in Cameroon where 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. 

Meanwhile, gender inequalities, bias and the media have been key points of deliberation at the annual Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica) which this year marked a decade. It entailed a workshop in which partners including the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Pollicy, AfricTivistes, and Internews presented insights from their work and recommended multi-stakeholder interventions to address online violence against women.

As more women in the media operate in environments rifled with gender-based challenges and threats that stem from deeply ingrained societal norms, collaborative efforts are required for more impactful responses to be reached. This is fundamental as the role of women journalists in shaping narratives and advancing social progress in Africa should be prioritised.

03Nov

African Perspectives on Operationalising UNESCO’s Guidelines for Regulating Digital Platforms

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By Juliet Nanfuka |

Across the world, governments are introducing laws to regulate online content. Many of these laws contain provisions that may lead to the increasing removal of legitimate expression as opposed to harmful and illegal content. In turn, the global community continues to grapple with the question of how harmful online content should best be moderated in a manner that does not undermine citizens’ right of access to information and freedom of expression.

On September 28, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held a high-level panel discussion on unpacking African perspectives on the operationalisation of UNESCO’s Guidelines for regulating digital platforms. The session was among the discussions held at the 2023 edition of the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica) which assembled organisations from across Africa and beyond to deliberate on reigning concerns in the internet governance and digital rights landscape.

The UNESCO Guidelines (in full referred to as Guidelines for regulating digital platforms: a multistakeholder approach to safeguarding freedom of expression and access to information) aim to safeguard  freedom  of  expression,  access  to information,  and  other  human  rights in the context of the development and implementation of digital platform regulatory  processes. The guidelines outline rights-respecting regulatory processes and promote risk   and system-based processes for content moderation and curation. Following a series of multistakeholder consultations and contributions that started in September 2022 the guidelines have been under review with a launch of the final document yet to be announced. 

The panel featured at FIFAfrica comprised John Bosco Mayiga, Programme Specialist at UNESCO, who moderated the discussion, Hon. Neema Lugangira, Chairperson of the African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance (APNIG), Grace Githaiga, Convenor of the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), Dr. Simon-Peter Kafui Aheto from the University of Ghana, and Samira Danburam, New Media and Security Manager at the Nigerian Communications Commission.

Mayiga noted that there are growing shared concerns by many actors in the digital society on how to better harness the benefits of information platforms while also addressing the challenges that come with it. “There is much to gain with digital transformation. However, amidst hate speech and disinformation, there is also much to lose,” he said.  “How do we move forward leveraging the advantages of the platforms, but also take care of the excesses that happen to be part and parcel of platforms?”

Githaiga noted that there are no fast and easy answers in dealing with the current challenges of content moderation. She further noted that the guidelines will be invaluable in serving as a basis for individual countries, especially as different countries are at different levels of digital regulation while socio-cultural contexts also vary across borders. 

Indeed, various countries, particularly in Africa, are still grappling with navigating issues such as hate speech, disinformation, protecting legitimate online freedom of expression, content moderation, and data privacy. Dr. Kafui-Aheto added that the Internet Universality Indicators (IUI’s) are a great complementary tool to the guidelines. He also stressed that digital literacy, including on regulatory frameworks, is fundamental in the realisation and utilisation of the indicators and the UNESCO guidelines by more stakeholders. 

The speakers discussed the potential paths that the operationalisation of the guidelines in Africa could take. There was consensus amongst panelists on the need to create regional and national multi-stakeholder networks that enable the active participation of diverse groups in the implementation of digital platform regulation. This consensus was reached as the challenge of ensuring that online platforms serve as places where individuals can seek factual information but without fear was a recurring theme across FIFAfrica. 

Ultimately, the session stressed that the creation of an internet of trust cannot be the preserve of any particular group however specialised they are; it should be a collaborative effort that includes all stake-holders.

The guidelines are designed to inform regulatory processes under development or review for digital platforms, in a manner that is consistent with international human rights standards. According to UNESCO, the Guidelines may serve as a resource for policymakers in identifying legitimate objectives, human rights principles, and inclusive and participatory processes that could be considered in policymaking. The guidelines could also inform the policies and practices of digital platforms; and provide an advocacy and accountability tool for civil society.

01Nov

CIPESA Conducts Digital Rights Training for Ethiopian Human Rights Commission Staff

Author CIPESA Posted on

By CIPESA Writer |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has conducted a digital rights training for staff of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in a programme that benefitted 22 experts from various departments of the statutory entity. 

The training was a response to the desire by the commission to build its organisational capacity in understanding and defending digital rights and CIPESA’s vision to grow the ability of African national human rights institutions (NHRIs) to monitor, protect and promote digital freedoms.

Conducted in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on October 11-12, 2023, the programme aimed to build the EHRC staff’s understanding of digital rights issues and the link with traditional rights. Participants went on to brainstorm how the EHRC should strengthen human rights protection in the digital space and through the use of technology.

Dr. Abdi Jibril, the Commissioner for Civil and Political and Socio-Economic Rights at the EHRC, noted that the proliferation of digital technology has contributed positively to human rights protection. It was therefore necessary to maximise the benefits of digital technology and to expand its usage for the promotion and enforcement of human rights.

The importance of growing the capacity of NHRIs was underscored by Line Gamrath Rasmussen, Senior Adviser, Human Rights, Tech and Business at the Danish Institute for Human Rights and CIPESA Executive Director Dr. Wairagala Wakabi. African NHRIs are not always well versed with the opportunities and challenges which technology presents, which creates a need for capacity development and developing partnerships with stakeholders such as civil society. 

As legislation governing the technology domain is fast-evolving, NHRIs in many countries are playing catch up. As such, these institutions need to constantly keep updating themselves on new legislation and implications of these laws on human rights in the digital domain. The NHRIs need to  enhance their capacity to document, investigate and report on digital rights. 

The NHRIs also need to pay specific attention to the vices such as hate speech, disinformation, and technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TF GBV), that are being perpetuated with the aid of technology.

Dr. Daniel Bekele, the Chief Commissioner at EHRC, stated that social media companies and messaging platforms are not doing enough to moderate harmful content in Africa yet in other geographical regions they have invested more resources and efforts in content moderation. He said African countries need to work together in order to build a strong force against the powerful platforms. The official proposed that the African Union (AU), working with relevant governments and other stakeholders, should spearhead the development of regulations which African countries can jointly use in their engagements with the tech giants on issues such as content moderation. 

 The two-day training discussed the positive and negative effects of digital technology on human rights and how the commission’s work to enforce human rights can be strengthened through the use of digital technology.

Among other topics, the training also addressed the human rights, governance and technology landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa; public and private sector digitalisation and challenges for human rights; the link between online and offline rights; transparency and accountability of the private sector in upholding human rights; and opportunities for NHRIs to advance online rights at national, regional and international levels. It also featured deep dives into key digital rights concerns such as surveillance, online violence against women, disinformation, and network disruptions. 

At the end of the training, the EHRC staff identified key actions the commission could integrate in its annual work plans, such as digital rights monitoring, advocacy for enabling laws to be enacted, and developing tools for follow up on implementation of recommendations on digital rights by treaty bodies and the Human Rights Council. Others were collaborations with local and regional actors including media, fact-checkers, civil society organisations, and platforms; working with the police and other national mechanisms to tackle hate speech and disinformation while protecting human rights; and conducting digital literacy.

Trainers in the programme were drawn from CIPESA, the Centre for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD), the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME), Inform Africa, and the Kenya National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC).

Meanwhile, after the aforementioned training, CIPESA teamed up with Ethiopian civil society partners to conduct a training on disinformation and hate speech for journalists, bloggers and digital rights activists. Like many African countries, Ethiopia is grappling with a significant and alarming rise in hate speech and disinformation, particularly on social media platforms. This surge in disinformation is undermining social cohesion, promoting conflict, and leading to a concerning number of threats against journalists and human rights defenders.

The proliferation of disinformation is to citizens’ fundamental rights as studies have shown that many Ethiopians feel their right to freedom of expression is compromised. The prevalence of disinformation also means that many Ethiopians lack access to impartial and diverse information.

Disinformation has been directly fueling conflict in several regions of Ethiopia. According to workshop participants and reports, both pro-government and anti-government actors have perpetuated this vice, whose real-world consequences are severe, including the loss of life and large-scale violent events.

Whereas Ethiopia in 2020 enacted legislation to curb hate speech and disinformation, the effectiveness of this law has been called into question. Some critics argue that it has not been effectively implemented and could be used to undermine citizens’ rights.

The training equipped 21 journalists, bloggers and activists with knowledge to navigate this law and with skills to call out and fight disinformation and hate speech. The efforts of the trained journalists, and those which the human rights commission could implement, are expected to boost the fight against online harms and contribute to the advancement of digital rights in Ethiopia.

30Oct

Social Media 4 Peace: An Initiative to Tackle the Quagmire Of Content Moderation

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Juliet Nanfuka |

Content moderation has emerged as a critical global concern in the digital age. In Africa, coinciding with increasing digital penetration and digitalisation, along with problematic platform responses to harmful content and retrogressive national legislation, the demand for robust and rights-respecting content moderation has reached a new level of urgency. 

Online content platforms and governments are increasingly getting caught in a contentious struggle on how to address content moderation, especially as online hate speech and disinformation become more pervasive. These vices regularly seep into the real world, undermining human rights, social cohesion, democracy, and peace. They have also corroded public discourse and fragmented societies, with marginalised communities often bearing some of the gravest  consequences. 

The Social Media 4 Peace (SM4P) project run by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was established to strengthen the resilience of societies to potentially harmful content spread online, in particular hate speech inciting violence, while protecting freedom of expression and enhancing the promotion of peace through digital technologies, notably social media. The project was piloted in four countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Indonesia, and Kenya.

At the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica) held in Tanzania in September 2023, UNESCO hosted a session where panellists interrogated the role of a multi-stakeholder coalition in addressing gaps in content moderation with a focus on Kenya. The session highlighted the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation, accountability models, and safety by design to address online harmful content, particularly disinformation and hate speech in Africa. 

In March 2023, as a product of the SM4P, UNESCO in partnership with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) launched the National Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in Kenya. The formation of the coalition, whose membership has grown to include various governmental, civil society and private sector entities, is a testament to the need for content moderation efforts based on broader multi-stakeholder collaboration. 

As such, the coalition provided a learning model for the participants at FIFAfrica, who included legislators, regulators, civil society activists and policy makers, whose countries are grappling with establishing effective and rights-based content moderation mechanisms. The session explored good practices from the SM4P project in Kenya for possible replication of the model coalition across African countries. Discussions largely centred on issues around content moderation challenges and opportunities for addressing these issues in the region.

Online content moderation has presented a new regulatory challenge for governments and technology companies. Striking a balance between safeguarding freedom of expression and curtailing harmful and illegal content has presented a challenge especially as such decisions have largely fallen into the remit of platforms, and state actors have often criticised platforms’ content moderation practices. 

This has resulted in governments and platforms coming to loggerheads as was witnessed during the 2021 Uganda elections. Six days before the election, Meta blocked various accounts and removed content for what it termed as “coordinated inauthentic behavior”. Most of the accounts affected were related to pro-ruling party narratives or had links to the ruling party. In response, the Uganda government blocked social media before blocking access to the entire internet. Nigeria similarly suspended Twitter in June 2021 for deleting a post made from the president’s account.

Social media companies are taking various measures to curb such content, including by using artificial intelligence tools, employing human content moderators, collaborating with fact-checking organisations and trusted partner organisations that identify false and harmful content, and relying on user reports of harmful and illegal content. However, these measures by the platforms are often criticised as inadequate. 

On the other hand, some African governments were also criticised for enacting laws and issuing directives that undermine citizens’ fundamental rights, under the guise of combating harmful content.  

Indeed, speaking at the 2023 edition of FIFAfrica, Felicia Anthonio, #KeepItOn Campaign Manager at Access Now, stated that weaknesses in content moderation are often cited by some governments that shut down the internet. She noted that governments justify shutting down internet access as a tool to control harmful content amidst concerns of hate speech, disinformation, and incitement of violence. This was reaffirmed by Thobekile Matimbe from Paradigm Initiative who noted that “content moderation is a delicate test of speech”, stressing that if content moderation is not balanced against freedom of expression and access to information, it would result in violation of fundamental human rights. Beyond governments and social media companies, other stakeholders need to step up efforts to combat harmful content and advocate for balanced content moderation policies. For instance, speakers at the FIFAfrica session were unanimous that civil society organisations, academic institutions, and media regulators need to enhance digital media literacy and increase collaborative efforts. Further, they stressed the need for these stakeholders to regularly conduct research to underpin evidence-based advocacy, and to support the development of human rights-centered strategies in content moderation.

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