Reflections on #FIFA18: Accessible and Affordable ICT’s, Africa’s Generational Battle

In the Wretched of the EarthFrantz Fanon said “each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it, or betray it, in relative opacity.”

For Africa and its people, for whom Fanon spoke for, this call to action is more daunting than it sounds, specifically for two specific reasons. First, general socioeconomic problems on the continent can hardly be defined as generational – these are passed on from one generation to another. Second, societal and political leadership are not easily passed on to younger generation to allow them determine their future.

As it were, Africa is the youngest continent with oldest leaders. This brings conflict of interest among different generations – those in power cannot easily identify with aspirations of younger generations, let alone fulfil those aspirations. In the end the mission of young Africans has mostly been fighting for a space at the table, where their voices can be heard; where they can influence policies and determine their future and that of the African continent.

I reflected on this while listening to a keynote address by Charles Onyango-Obbo at Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa, 2018 organised and co-hosted by Collaboration on ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Accra, Ghana.

Onyango-Obbo’s address was titled “Many African Governments Hate the Free Internet – and That is a Good Thing.”Onyango-Obbo sees the struggle for free Internet as a generational battle. He argued that the fact that many African governments are afraid of open access and affordable Internet does not mean that these leaders do not understand the importance of the Internet. To the contrary, African leaders understand the Internet very well, and it is because of this that most of them are afraid of the Internet.

They are afraid not because the Internet is a bad thing, but because the Internet empowers ordinary citizens with information, tools to monitor and challenge executive decisions as well as a platform to challenge overindulgence. This is a threat to the majority of current African leadership whose leadership and policies do not speak to the aspirations of the majority of Africans: the youth.

It started as a joke when a friend posted a picture of a newspaper headline on one of the WhatsApp groups, which I am a member. The headline said that President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda had indicated an intention to introduce social media tax as a way of countering social media “gossip”. It was not a joke, Uganda introduced the social media tax and because African countries always benchmark on one another, now there is social media tax in Kenya, Tanzania, Benin, and Zambia. The realist bet is that the list will only get longer.

This is a new way of controlling the Internet and narrowing the spectrum of free expression and acceptable opinion. It is the new frontline for access to information battle, which has a habit of reappearing in different disguises all the time. Social media tax is a more targeted way of controlling access to the media than shutdowns.

The essence of Onyango-Obbo’s keynote presentation was that these tactics is an opportunity for young Africans to take up the cause of ensuring free, open, access and affordable Internet. Africa cannot afford to lag behind any further in access to information technologies if the content and its young population are to have any global relevance in the age where dominant world corporations are telecommunication ones. This is a mission that young Africans must fulfil; a mission young Africans cannot afford to betray.

It is very pleasing to note that over the years CIPESA, through various sponsors and collaborations has taken up the noble cause of ensuring that policy makers understand that information technologies are not a luxury – providing access to gossiping forums; rather, open, accessible and affordable information technologies play in socioeconomic development of any nation.

Through forum on Internet freedom CIPESA has created space that is allowing Africans to gathering and discussing policy issues that affect their respective countries and the continent. The most beautiful thing about the forum is that it strengthens the collaborative bond and encourages networking among a small but vibrant group of Africans determined to create a better and conducive ICT space in Africa.

The nature of research and policy making in Africa requires collaboration and collective efforts mostly because African countries always benchmark their policies on other African nations. Given the diversity of African continent and tricky travel logistics and expenses, it is not easy to have a group of likeminded Africans physically gathering in one place brainstorming, sharing ideas and experiences.

“Fake News” and Internet Shutdowns in Africa – What is to be Done?

In 2016 after attending my first Re:publica, a techie conference in Berlin, I wrote of a need for Africa to have what I called a “collective thinking space” where like-minded actors on the African continent would converge to share ideas and inspire each other. The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa, 2017 (FIFAfrica17) which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa which I recently attended was the type of gathering that I wrote about in 2016.

Organised by Corroboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and co-hosted by the Association for Progressive Communication (APC), the peak of FIFAfrica17 was the launch of two important reports by CIPESA: State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2017 and the Cost of Internet Shutdowns in Africa. The reports highlight how influential new technologies, specifically the Internet have become in African politics over the years. Speaking at the Forum, Google’s Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, observed that not withstanding the low Internet penetration rate on the continent, the Internet today has become important to African politics in a similar way that broadcasting was in the age of coups in Africa.

State broadcasting stations were always among the first institutions to be ceased by successful coup leaders so they could announce their victories and spread propaganda. Today, noted Mgwili-Sibanda, authoritarian states are quick to shutdown the Internet to maintain power and control. The age of the Internet has arrived in Africa and it is only right that Africans engage with new technologies critically – FIFAfrica17 provided that space.

Apart from critical issues concerning security and gender equality online, cost of the Internet, freedom of expression, access to information and privacy online, there were two specific issues that stood-out for me: “fake news” and of Internet shutdown. “Fake news”, perhaps I happened to sit on its discussion panel and Internet shutdowns because for the first-time I got to meet people who have directly been affected by fake news and they spoke passionately about it.

Some thoughts on these two issues:

“Fake news”

We must first understand that the central problem with “fake news”, and this is why it matters, is the centrality of access to information in democratic societies. Information is a pre-requisite for citizen’s public participation, and meaningful public participation can only be realised when citizens have accurate and critical information. This can only be realised through free and independent media providing accurate and verified information, not “fake news”.

Of course “fake news” has always been around in various forms and guises – it is still the same today. There are “fake news” producers only using it as click-baits, the motive here is nothing more than monetising. Then there is “fake news” informed by cultural myths – in Africa, certainly in Malawi where I come from, you always have media reporting on cases such as witchcraft planes having landed somewhere, is this not “fake news”? Then the most critical one: deliberate “fake news” aimed at deceiving the audience, harming someone, maintaining or attaining power.

The first version of “fake news” is likely to drift away as society figures out this disruptive technology. The second version is harmless – societies are bound and they exist by cultural beliefs and myths. We must be worried with the third version of “fake news” as it is politically motivated and its consequences have a greater impact in society.

In some cases there is nothing that media institutions can do to stop the spread of “fake news”, and this is one of the reasons that the “fake news” phenomenon is technology specific – the Internet. Yet, this also emphasises the critical role that journalists have in ensuring that the public have access to accurate and credible information.

Verification and fact-checking in journalism have never been so important. It is also the only way that journalism is going to maintain its credibility intact. As the saying goes, it is better to be late and accurate than break inaccurate or incorrect news.

Internet Shutdowns

The cost of Internet shutdowns is colossal as indicated in the report launched at FIFAfrica17. Yet, for paranoid political leader trying to maintain control and power, there is no price that cannot be paid.

But then it is crucial to appreciate that Internet shutdowns involve two players – government and service providers. Governments are interested is shutting down the Internet to close off citizens expressing their dissatisfaction and misgivings about the government. While service providers have to abide by government orders or risk loosing operating licenses. Service providers are not charity organisations – their prime motive is to make profits.

This leaves civil society to battle for open and accessible Internet for all, against the collusion between governments and service providers. Gatherings such as FIFAfrica17, though seemingly techie niche, are thus very important for activists, civil society groups, academia etc. to bang heads, share experiences and chart the way forward.

If everything in the past has failed to bring about African consciousness and solidarity among the huge diversity of Africans then Internet is proving an exception. According to a 2015 Portland Communication study, “Africa Tweets” the political #hashtags in Africa show that there is more solidarity among Africans online – or at least on Twitter. South Africa’s #feesmustfall hashtag was more popular in Egypt than South Africa itself, for example.