BYOD #7: Vague cyber crime laws and Whatsapp taxes
This week’s round-up of digital security news and investigative journalism.
ANCIR’s weekly post offering interesting — or amusing — digital security news from around the world, and tips for newsrooms, journalists and sources on the latest security measures.
1. Temporary win for Kenyan bloggers
Bloggers in Kenya are celebrating a temporary win after High Court Judge John Mativo suspended the implementation of some sections of the newly signed Cyber Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act 2018. The bloggers had sued the National Assembly, the Director of Public Prosecution and the Inspector General of Police over the bill, which they say infringes and threatens freedom of expression. They also argued that if the act is implemented, more than 5.1-million internet users in Kenya will risk prosecution given the vague definitions of terminologies used in the act. This comes a week after Tanzanian rights activists and bloggers won a similar temporary court injunction against the government’s order to register and pay for their online platforms.
2. Facebook shutdown in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea’s Information Communication Technology Authority have announced a month-long Facebook shutdown. According to The New Scientist, the authority claims it’s a move to allow it to conduct research on the usage of social media and identify fake users linked to misleading information or pornographic content. With only 12% of citizens using social media, Papua New Guinea joins a list of countries such as North Korea, Iran and China in banning Facebook either temporarily or otherwise. In Sierra Leone, the National Telecommunications Commission also introduced restrictive measures to monitor social media use.
3. Uganda to tax social media users
Uganda’s Parliament last week approved a bill allowing taxes on social media users and mobile money, according to iAfrikan. Citizens will be forced to pay a daily tax of 200 Uganda Shillings ($0.05) effective July 2018. In 2016 President Yoweri Museveni blocked access to social media on election day, claiming it would stop people “telling lies”, but citizens made use of VPNs to circumvent it. Opposition party leaders, bloggers and human rights activists are calling the new law “double taxation” and an infringement on freedom of speech and have vowed to continue fighting it.
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device/Data) refers to owning your data and digital property, and keeping it secure. This newsletter is brought to you with support from Project Shield and Code For Africa.
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The African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR) is an association of the continent’s best investigative newsrooms, ranging from large traditional media to small specialist units.
ANCIR works to strengthen African investigative journalism by improving the techniques, expertise, the tools used in muckraking newsrooms. This includes providing member newsrooms with the world’s best encryption and semantic analysis technologies, to forensic research support (through the Investigative Dashboard), legal services, and seed grants for cross-border collaboration.
ANCIR is incubated by and receives technical support from Code for Africa.
