Open Internet News

31st May 2021

Cartographie du lien entre Désinformation, Coupures d’Internet, Pandémies et Diaspora au Cameroun et en RD Congo

Par Richard Ngamita |

Le phénomène de la désinformation sur les médias sociaux est devenu une source de préoccupation croissante dans la politique mondiale depuis plusieurs années. Bien plus, ledit phénomène explose maintenant en Afrique subsaharienne, où les campagnes de désinformation via les médias sociaux sont de plus en plus déployées par des entités et des gouvernements étrangers pour influencer l’opinion.

Plusieurs…

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25th May 2021

Africa Day 2021 – The State of a Continent

Namibia News update |

Another Africa Day has come and the continent still has much to overcome.
Repression, human rights violations, restrictions on civic space activities and undermining of freedom of expression have marked another year for many Africans.

As we mark Africa Day 2021, on 25 May 2021, here are some things to bear in mind:

The CIVICUS Monitor 2020 reports that of 49 African countries…

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Google Says It’s Working Hard to Curb Misinformation and Fake News

Google News Update |

Google says it takes down 80% of harmful content before it is viewed.

Technology giant Google says it is working hard to curb misinformation and fake news on its platforms. The company also says it takes down 80% of harmful content before it is viewed.

Google appeared before Parliament’s Communications Portfolio Committee on Tuesday.

The tech giant says it’s on…

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24th May 2021

Ethiopia’s New Telecommunications Operator Could Be Bogged Down By Old Habits

By Juliet Nanfuka |

Ethiopia, one of the world’s last closed telecommunications markets, has been liberalised. On May 22, 2021, the Ethiopian government announced that a new telecommunications license had been awarded to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia –  a consortium comprising Kenya’s Safaricom PLC, Vodacom Group, Vodafone Group, the United Kingdom’s development finance institution CDC Group plc, the Japanese-owned Sumitomo…

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21st May 2021

Charting the Link Between Disinformation, Disruptions, Diseases and the Diaspora in Cameroon and DR Congo

By Richard Ngamita |

Disinformation on social media has been a growing concern in global politics for several years, and it is now exploding across Sub-Saharan Africa, where social media-based disinformation campaigns are increasingly being deployed by foreign entities and governments  to influence narratives.

Several socio-political and economic factors provide fertile ground for disinformation to thrive in African countries. The exploding youth population – with many…

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7th May 2021

Mauritius’ Social Media Regulation Proposal Centres State-Led Censorship

By Daniel Mwesigwa |

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritius leads in many aspects. It is the only country on the continent categorised as a “full democracy” by the Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index for 2020. Additionally, it has the second highest per capita income (USD 11,099) and one of the highest internet penetration rates in the region (72.2%).

However, the recently published consultation…

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5th May 2021

News editor in Botswana Faces Jail Time Over Facebook Posts, Alleges Suffocation by Police

News update |

Police in Botswana detained Oratile Dikologang, co-founder and digital editor of the local, privately owned website Botswana People’s Daily News, on April 9, 2020, and charged him over Facebook posts about COVID-19 and local politics that he denies publishing, according to CPJ’s review of a copy of a charge sheet, Dikologang, and local media reports. He told CPJ by phone in…

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Govt to tax calls on Whatsapp, Facebook and Others Soon – Minister

By Evans Annang |

The Minister of Communications and Digitization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has disclosed that government is considering generating revenue from calls on social media platforms.

This, she said, is being done with collaboration from the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

Addressing the Mobile Technology for Development (MT4D), Minister for Communications and Digitalisation Ursula Owusu-Ekuful hinted that stakeholders in the…

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