Covid-19

Shifting the Burden: Online Violence Against Women

By Evelyn Lirri |

Across Africa, the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by women and girls remains low. Yet amidst the low access to digital tools, women, particularly those in public and political spaces, such as human rights defenders (HRDs), bloggers, and journalists, continue to be the primary target of various forms of online violence such as cyberstalking, sexual…

Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica) 2022 set to take place in Lusaka, Zambia

Announcement |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is pleased to announce the return to a physical event of the ninth edition of the annual Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica22). The landmark event, which convenes a spectrum of stakeholders from across the internet governance and digital rights arenas in Africa and beyond, will…

Togo: Fumbling With a Digital ID While Actively Surveilling Citizens

By Afi Edoh |

For four years Togo has been inching towards issuing a digital identity (ID) card. While there are indications that 2022 may be the year in which the west African country finally delivers the long-awaited digital ID, the road ahead remains uncertain. Challenges lie both in bureaucratic delays and citizens’ caginess about handing their data to a government with…

Africa Law Tech Festival 2021: CIPESA Demystifies the Role Of Lawyers And Courts In Ensuring Digital Access To Justice Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic

By the Lawyers hub |
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for Eastern and Southern Africa (CIPESA) administered a masterclass at the Africa Law Tech Festival 2021, which is hosted yearly by the Lawyers Hub. The CIPESA team was represented by Edrine Wanyama and Prof. Anthony Kakooza, who discoursed the effects of COVID-19 on the Justice sector. The session interrogated the various…

Data Protection in Africa in the Age of Covid-19

By Boel McAteer and Jean-Benoît Falisse |

As the Covid-19 pandemic spread around the world in the early part of 2020, governments and companies invested substantial resources in gathering data about suspected and confirmed cases, and related behaviours. Learning more about how the virus was spreading was a top priority around the world, and with this came new practices of sharing medical records,…

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…

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…

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…

Facial Recognition Beats the Covid-mask Challenge

By James Clayton |
Anyone with a smartphone that uses facial recognition will know it does not really work with a mask on.

That can be frustrating – but although masks have undoubtedly thwarted the facial-recognition industry, the technology has also adapted.

It may sound strange but wearing a mask does not necessarily stop a computer from identifying someone.

And there are even…

Facebook Interdicted in Fight With South Africa’s GovChat

By Duncan McLeod |

Facebook has been interdicted and restrained by the Competition Tribunal from removing GovChat, a communications service used by the South African government, from its WhatsApp instant messaging platform.

The tribunal said on Thursday that Facebook, WhatsApp and Facebook South Africa may not remove GovChat on an interim basis pending further investigation. Facebook owns the WhatsApp messaging platform, which is dominant…