By Apolo Kakaire |
The Internet which is viewed as the panacea for democracy, participation and inclusion is increasingly becoming a tool of repression deployed by regimes across the world to stifle rights and voice. Africa, a continent already replete with poor democratic credentials and practices seems to be rapidly catching up on the new ‘epidemic’- digital authoritarianism.
The use…
By CIPESA Writer |
The Africa Union Data Policy Framework published in July 2022 is one of the most significant documents on data governance on the continent. The Policy Framework is an extensive blueprint to guide African countries’ efforts to establish effective data governance regimes to leverage the data and digital revolution the continent is currently experiencing.
The Policy Framework draws from…
By CIPESA Writer |
Digital rights as key to the realisation and enforcement of human rights on the African continent was among the thematic focus areas of the Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 73rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) held on October 17-18, 2022 in Banjul, the Gambia. Under the theme…
By News Writer |
Uganda’s controversial Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill 2022, which rights groups say will likely be used to silence dissenting voices online, has come into force after the country’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni signed it into law yesterday.
The country’s legislators had passed amendments to the 2011 Computer Misuse Act in early September, limiting writing or sharing of content on…
By Rodney Muhumuza |
KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law legislation criminalizing some internet activity despite concerns the law could be used to silence legitimate criticism.
The bill, passed by the legislature in September, was brought by a lawmaker who said it was necessary to punish those who hide behind computers to hurt others. That lawmaker argued in his…
By Tara Davis & Murray Hunter |
Artificial intelligence has moved from the realm of science fiction into our pockets. And while we are nowhere close to engaging with AI as sophisticated as the character Data from Star Trek, the forms of artificial narrow intelligence that we do have inform hundreds of everyday decisions, often as subtle as what products you see when you open…
By Murungi Judith |
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and Small Media held a workshop on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process as part of Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica 22), which was held in Lusaka Zambia from September 26-29, 2022. The workshop is a product of the UPROAR project aimed at…
Greetings from #FIFAfrica22 |
On September 28 the International Day for Universal Access To Information (IDUAI) will be commemorated globally. The day was proclaimed by the United Nations Educational and Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) General Conference in 2015, following the adoption of the 38 C/Resolution 57 which recognised the significance of access to information. The 2022 edition of the Forum on…