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…
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…
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…
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…
By Juliet Nanfuka |
In 2015, the 38th General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) endorsed a new definition on the universality of the internet. It was based upon four principles, namely Rights, Openness, Accessibility to all and Multi-stakeholder participation, or the ROAM principles.
The addition of cross-cutting indicators in 2018 resulted in the ROAM-X Indicator framework…
By CIPESA Writer |
The effects of disinformation on the digital civic space have been put in the spotlight at the 77th Ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights held in Arusha, Tanzania on October 16-18, 2023.
In a panel session titled “Promoting rights-respecting government responses to disinformation in Sub-Saharan Africa,” speakers explored how disinformation affects…
By Alice Aparo |
Uganda’s biometric digital identity program was introduced to enhance security and ease access to public services, including health units. The government embarked on a nationwide mass registration of citizens for digital national identification (ID) cards in April 2014. During the process, biometric data such as fingerprints and facial images of Ugandans above the age of 16…
By Edrine Wanyama |
Since 2016, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has been partnering with the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) to improve African digital civic spaces.
At the September Forum on internet Freedoms in Africa, CIPESA and ICNL convened a digital rights hub in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania aimed at promoting…