Writing toward freedom: Politics and digital rights in Africa
This project is funded by the Africa Digital Rights Fund of The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa ( ). Global Voices is part of the inaugural cohort of grantees for the African Digital Rights Fund.
Across Africa, governments and nongovernmental political actors repeatedly deploy tactics to interfere with users’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information online, particularly during events of major political significance.
An increasing number of African governments access to the internet, mobile networks and social media platforms as a strategic tactic to quell dissent and maintain power — particularly during protests, elections and times of political upheaval. Governments and other political actors also deploy tactics that aim to disinform the public during such major events.
Online mis/disinformation and the impact of internet shutdowns on citizens’ rights to freedom of expression in Africa
On July 9, 2019 The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) announced that the African Digital Rights Fund (ADRF) was awarded to 10 initiatives, including Global Voices, to advance digital rights in Africa.
Read more: Taxed, throttled or thrown in jail: Africa’s new internet paradigm
From mid-October to late November, Global Voices’ sub-Saharan Africa and Northern Africa team, as part of its Advox program, will feature a series of 14 analytical stories that examine interferences with digital rights during key political events — like elections and protests — through tactics that include:
- Online mis/disinformation
- Internet shutdowns and disruptions
- Restrictions on access to information during elections and protests .
These 14 stories cover seven African countries: Algeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe
The events following the late Robert Mugabe’s ousting on November 17, 2017, showed how social media has taken root as an alternative medium of information in Zimbabwe. The military coup that pushed out Mugabe was preceded by protests that relied heavily on social media for mobilization.
This was not lost on the new government led by Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, who took advantage of the power of social media during the 2018 elections to “batter the opponent” , as by Kudzai Chimhangwa Global Voices’ Zimbabwe contributor:
As a former state security minister, Mnangagwa also appreciated the importance and value of disinformation in Zimbabwe’s political terrain. In a calculated move to consolidate newfound political power and ensure an electoral victory during the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for next year, Mnangagwa instructed his ruling ZANU PF (Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front) party youth league to “enter the social media and online firmament and batter the opponent,” back in March 2018.
However, this only exacerbated mis- and disinformation in Zimbabwe, due to extreme polarization in the media, impending government censorship of social media, the ineffectual communication channels of the administration and low digital literacy.
Ethiopia
All is not well within the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), comprised of four ethnic-based parties: Amhara Democratic Party (ADP), Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM) and Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Members of EPRDF have resorted to Facebook to spite each other. , Global Voices Ethiopian contributor :
A deep split that exists within Ethiopia’s ruling coalition — the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (the EPRDF) -was made evident over the last few weeks when a Facebook row broke out between the two major political party members who disagreed on the historical accounts of Ethiopia as a modern state. The row revealed how party members within the EPRDF use social media — through posts and memes — to manipulate public opinion and spread misinformation and incendiary content.
For 25 years, TPLF has dominated Ethiopia’s party coalition until 2018, when they were ousted by a team effort of ADP and ODP. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is of the ODP. However, the political rivalry has intensified among members and the once-silent internal war has shifted to Facebook.
The row on Facebook between some members of EPRDF has bolstered their popularity and the social media war has seen an upsurge of “political polarization freighted with misinformation.”
Tunisia
On October 13, Tunisians elected retired constitutional law lecturer and independent candidate Kais Saied, as their president. A week earlier they elected a new parliament. This is Tunisia’s fourth election season since the 2011 uprising that toppled the 23-year-rule of autocratic president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.
asserts that this election season was Yosr Jouini marred with mis- and disinformation “spread widely across social media platforms,” but particularly on Facebook:
Observers of the political scene in Tunisia have noted the rise of political party- and candidate-affiliated Facebook groups and pages with substantial numbers of followers. Pages without declared ties or affiliations were also actively involved in spreading political disinformation and sponsored content praising certain parties.
Disinformation spread during the elections included the withdrawal from the race by certain presidential contenders or the false celebrity endorsements of political candidates.
The credibility of the elections was also targeted in disinformation campaigns, promoting the country’s electoral authority to repeatedly warn of rumors “aimed at disrupting the electoral process.”
This atmosphere of disinformation greatly affected the authenticity of information spread on social media- Facebook in particular- during the elections, fuelling the spread of rumors.
Mozambique
On October 15, Mozambicans went to the polls to elect a president, parliament and provincial governors. Partial results indicate that President Filip Nyusi, who ruled Mozambique since 1992, will be reelected in the sixth general election held since the multi-party constitution was approved 27 years ago.
Dércio Tsandzana , Global Voices Lusophone editor, reports that this election was fraught with intimidation of journalists and human rights advocates through threats disseminated via SMS :
One day before the elections, community radio association FORCOM on Twitter that one of its journalists, Naldo Chivite, received a threatening SMS. ‘’Chivite, you must have attention about what you will say on Tuesday [election day]. You have talked too much about the Nampula [a province in northeastern Mozambique] elections and we’ve accepted it. Be careful,’’ the message read, according to FORCOM. … Global Voices spoke with Chivite, who said he suspected the threat was sent by members of a political party, without specifying which one. He added that he received similar threats during the 2014 elections.
Chivite’s was not an isolated case, other journalists and activists like Tomé Balança and Fátima Mimbire, were also threatened and/or intimidated.
Regardless of the medium — online, SMS or phone calls — these threats are a violation of the right of Mozambicans to information and freedom of expression. In addition, it ramps up the climate of fear because journalists and activists can no longer provide the public with credible information without fear of physical harm.
Originally published at https://globalvoices.org on November 4, 2019.
