By APC |
“A fundamental challenge in need of urgent resolution in the digital age is how to protect human rights and freedoms on the Internet, and the African continent is no exception.” This is the introduction to the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms, an initiative joined by a diversity of organisations and individuals from the region to protect human rights in the context of the internet and digital technologies.
By CIPESA Writer |
The 2015/2016 electioneering season in Uganda set a precedent in the use of social media as a means for politicians to reach out and engage with citizens. It was the first time in Uganda that a candidate announced they would run for President via YouTube and also saw candidate Yoweri Museveni (the incumbent) seek out a more tech-savvy media team to keep abreast with the widening channels of civic engagement.
While some of the candidates maintained personal Twitter accounts and actively engaged in the online conversations, others remained dormant, although they had Twitter accounts.
In partnership with Outbox we present the first of a three-part series into the key themes shaping the online conversation of Ugandans during the electioneering process.
The report explores the level of Twitter activity, interaction and conversational trends with specific focus on the #UgDebate16 hashtag during the 1st presidential debate held on January 15, 2016 and 2nd debate, which was held on February 13, 2016. During both debates, the hashtag trended locally and gained popularity as far as South Africa.
See the full report here: Analysis of Twitter Activity During the 2016 Presidential Debates in Uganda – Monitoring Uganda Elections Series 01 #UgDebate16
| By CIPESA Writer
On the morning of the highly anticipated general elections in Uganda, citizens woke up to no access to social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp. The popular mobile phone-based financial transaction service commonly known as Mobile Money was also offline.
Tech-savvy Ugandans keen to keep information on the electioneering process flowing turned to sharing information on proxies and apps that enable circumventing the blockage through Virtual Private Networks (VPN).
Within hours, as more and more citizens got back online, there was a spike in social media activity. By 1pm local time, the hashtag #UgandaDecides recorded 35,000 tweets. Three hours later at 4pm, the number of tweets with this hashtag had jumped to 56,000. By 5pm, the hashtag boasted over 64,000 tweets. As at 7pm, the figure stood at over double that of 1pm and was still growing.
Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, is standing in the current elections and faces perhaps the strongest electoral challenge ever to his three-decade rule. Ugandan citizens’ level of online civic engagement was sparked by the first ever televised presidential debates, the first of which was held in January and the second just last week. During both debates, #UgandaDecides alongside #UGDebate16 trended, raising some level of trust in the electioneering process.
But this trust seems to have been turned on its head today. Internet services in various areas of the country have been intermittent, leaving many unable to access information. Leading telecommunications service provider MTN issued a statement confirming that Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), the regulator, had “directed MTN to disable all social media and mobile money services due to a threat to public order and safety.” There has been no communication from any of the other service providers including Vodafone, which has championed disclosure of government requests for user information and surveillance support through its annual Transparency reports.
An official at the communications regulator confirmed to the local Daily Monitor newspaper that they directed ISPs to block access to social media sites over “national security” concerns related to the “sensitive” elections period.
As the day progressed, growing numbers of citizens were able to share updates on late arrivals of voting materials at various stations, reports of election malpractice, and provisional election results.
Previous election periods in Uganda have seen a crackdown on social media, voices critical of the ruling party, and independent media in the guise of promoting public order and unity as well as preventing the spread of false information. The 2011 elections were marked with filtering of short message services (SMS) which contained certain words.
Today’s blockage is for an indeterminate period.
See also State of Internet Freedom in Uganda reports 2014 and 2015.
As part of its OpenNet Africa initiative which is aimed at promoting internet rights in Africa, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is next week set to host the second Forum on Internet Freedom in East Africa. The two-day event is scheduled for 28 and 29 September 2015, in Kampala, Uganda and will coincide with the International Right to Know Day.
Uganda was the first of two countries in East Africa to adopt an Access to Information Act (ATIA) in 2005 (the other is Rwanda in 2013) which promotes the right of access to information and supports public participation in decision-making processes. As part of the forum the Ministry of Information and National Guidance in the Office of the Prime Minister (Uganda) in partnership with CIPESA and the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) will celebrate the 10th anniversary of ATIA, host discussions to evaluate the implementation of the law, how to overcome challenges on implementation and proposals for amendments. The second State of Right to Information (RTI) in Africa report will also be presented.
In Africa, Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the private sector, academia and ordinary citizens are increasingly utilizing online tools for social and economic engagement, online debate, advocacy and business development. The Forum will serve as a platform to discuss how the current state of internet freedoms in Africa affects these engagements. Further, it will also explore the threats online engagements face, how emerging global issues impact upon local users, as well as the opportunities for action to promote access, privacy and security online.
The 2015 edition of the State of Internet Freedom in East Africa Report will be launched at the Forum.
Ashnah Kalemera, Programmes Associate at CIPESA, says that, “This report is the culmination of exploratory research conducted in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda into the threats to access, privacy and security online, as well as the knowledge, attitudes and practices of citizens on internet freedoms in these countries. The insights gathered can help guide policy makers, civil society, telecommunication regulatory authorities in understanding the internet freedom landscape in the region including the challenges, opportunities and developments.”
According to the International Telecommunication Union, by the end of 2015, there will be 3.2 billion users of the internet, of which 2 billion will come from developing countries. This translates to 34% of households in developing countries accessing the Internet, compared with more than 80% in developed countries. In the report focus countries, internet penetration in Burundi stands at 4.9% (2013 statistics), while according to 2014 statistics, Kenya had a penetration of 52%, while Rwanda was 20%, Tanzania at 4.8% and in Uganda at 20%.
The Forum brings together human rights defenders, journalists, government officials, academia, bloggers, developers, the arts community, law enforcement agencies and communication regulators, all of whom have a role to play in advancing the rights of citizens to privacy and freedom of expression in the online sphere.
Participants confirmed to attend hail from Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Speakers at the panel will come from organizations including Article 19, Bayimba (Uganda), Bloggers Association Kenya, Chapter 4, ICT Association Uganda (ICTAU), Globaleaks, Global Voices (Uganda), Great Lakes Voices (Rwanda), Hub for Investigative Media (HIM), iHub Research (Kenya), Internet Society [(Africa, Burundi and Uganda Chapters], Jamii Forums (Tanzania), UNESCO, Facebook, Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), Makerere University (Uganda), Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, Protège QV, Uganda Media Centre, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), Uganda Police Cybercrime Unit, University of Nairobi, Web We Want, Writivism (Uganda) and the Women Of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) among others.
Topics to be discussed include electioneering and extremism in the digital age, press freedom, access to information online, the economics of the internet, digital safety, online violence against women and cybercrime. See the Programme.
We are thankful for the support received from the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME), Ford Foundation, Hivos, Open Technology Fund, UNESCO and Web We Want.
In our research series this month, we review government and non-government ICT initiatives in Uganda. We examine how ICT-related policies and other legislation affect citizen participation, democratic governance and influence the link between ICT and public services delivery.
The report is based on policy analysis, stakeholder interviews and literature review, and aims to inform awareness raising initiatives and advocacy for more progressive policies and practices regarding the use of ICT in governance and civic participation in Uganda.
Read the full report