By Juliet Nanfuka |
As technology evolves, so do the ways in which society assembles and interacts. This is often accompanied with convenience and lower costs of communication which have a far reaching implications on how people acquire knowledge, do business, participate in governance processes and seek social, economic and political change. However, alongside this is the proliferation of affronts to…
Benin News Update |
Internet access has been cut off in Benin as of 11:00 AM UTC, Sunday 28 April 2019, as the country was due to vote in parliamentary elections. Earlier in the day, providers in Benin blocked access to social media networks and communication apps for several hours, according to network data from the NetBlocks internet observatory. Facebook, Twitter,…
Statement |
Dr. Wairagala Wakabi, the Executive Director, of the Uganda-based Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has been detained, upon arrival, at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salam, Tanzania earlier today. Immigration authorities have declined to state the basis of his arrest.
Dr. Wakabi had been invited to Tanzania to participate in the annual…
GNI Updates |
GNI at World Press Freedom Day
The Global Network Initiative(GNI) is proud to join UNESCO, the African Union, and the Government of Ethiopia for the 26th celebration of WPFD in Addis Ababa. This year’s theme is: “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation” from 1–3 May.
Signed by African journalists during a United Nations Educational, Scientific…
By Ashnah Kalemera |
Senegal’s diverse media landscape helps it to attain relatively high scores in international press freedom rankings. It is ranked 50 out of 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, up from 79 in 2015. The country’s Constitutionguarantees the right to freedom of expression thus: “Everyone shall have the right to freely express and disseminate his opinions by…
By Ashnah Kalemera |
Despite the promises and efforts made by Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Ali, to transform the country after years of political repression and state control of major forms of media, the country is yet to experience substantive change in the state of digital rights.
Restrictions to freedom of expression, privacy, and access to information remain in force including through legislation such…
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…
News Update |
The National Assembly has officially passed the Films and Publications Amendment Bill, with the bill now scheduled to be sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa for assent.
The bill aims to introduce a number of changes including harsher rules to protect children from disturbing and harmful content, and to regulate the online distribution of content such as films and games.
Some…