By Nadine Kampire and CIPESA Writer |
The lead up to the December 2023 general elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has seen an exponential growth in disinformation, particularly on social media. In a country with long-standing armed conflicts and where only one peaceful transfer of power has been witnessed in 63 years of independence, the deluge…
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 CIPESA Writer |
Just over a year ago, Kenya was in the midst of a bitterly contested general election held in August 2022. The electoral period was characterised by hate speech and disinformation, which remain prevalent today. Indeed, recent studies have highlighted a booming disinformation industry in the country, fuelled by political, economic and personal interests with many actors…
By Ashnah Kalemera |
The proliferation of technology has created new opportunities for journalists and journalism in Africa, but it has also come with threats. For civil society, academia, media development practitioners, activists and development partners, it is critical to understand the key issues related to freedom of expression and the internet and possible ways to address them as part of…
Announcement |
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is calling for proposals to support digital rights work across Africa. The current call is particularly interested in proposals for work related to:
Data governance including aspects of data localisation, cross-border data flows, biometric databases and digital ID
Digital resilience for human rights defenders, other activists and journalists
Censorship and…
News Update |
At end of the public forum on mis-disinformation in Ghana, media stakeholders highlighted three main drivers of the problem: political party propaganda, legacy media’s sacrifice of news accuracy for speed and the Ghana government’s regulation challenge.
Consequently, to arrest the problem, the main recommendations by participants were that stakeholders take action to stem these three main drivers. The forum also demanded…
By Emmanuel Bida Thomas |
Disinformation thrives in conflict situations and in the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan, years of political uncertainty have cultivated a severe information disorder. In the face of another postponement of elections, community peace building including through debunking disinformation is critical to the country being able to stave off hate speech and incitement to violence.
According…
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 Evelyn Lirri |
In June 2020, a coalition of civil society groups launched an interactive portal to track and analyse disinformation laws, policies and patterns of enforcement across Africa. The portal was developed against a backdrop of rapidly accelerating state action on COVID-19 disinformation.
Two years on, as online disinformation is increasingly becoming prevalent, spurred by the growth in access to the internet…
By CIPESA Staff Writer |
As disinformation grows in form and prevalence in many African countries, the challenges to combating it are equally increasing yet measures to combat it remain inadequate and often inappropriate. This has got disinformation researchers concerned that, if more robust measures are not adopted, disinformation could become pervasive, harder to fight, and with broad social and political…