Papers by Sam Phiri
African governments are spending over 1US$bn per year on digital surveillance technologies which ... more African governments are spending over 1US$bn per year on digital surveillance technologies which are being used without adequate legal protections in ways that regularly violate citizens’ fundamental human rights. This report documents which companies, from which countries, are supplying which types of surveillance technology to African governments. Without this missing detail, it is impossible to adequately design measures to mitigate and overcome illegal surveillance and violations of human rights. Since the turn of the century, we have witnessed a digitalisation of surveillance that has enabled the algorithmic automation of surveillance at a scale not previously imaginable. Surveillance of citizens was once a labour and time-intensive process. This provided a practical limit to the scope and depth of state surveillance. The digitalisation of telephony has made it possible to automate the search for keywords across all mobile and internet communications. For the first time, state ...
Digital Rights in Closing Civic Space: Lessons from Ten African Countries
This report introduces findings from ten digital rights landscape country reports on Zambia. They... more This report introduces findings from ten digital rights landscape country reports on Zambia. They analyse how the openings and closings of online civic space affect citizens’ digital rights. They show that: (1) when civic space closes offline citizens often respond by opening civic space online; (2) when civic space opens online governments often take measures to close online space; and (3) the resulting reduction in digital rights makes it impossible to achieve the kind of inclusive governance defined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This report introduces findings from ten digital rights landscape country reports on Zimbabwe, Za... more This report introduces findings from ten digital rights landscape country reports on Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Sudan, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Cameroon. They analyse how the openings and closings of online civic space affect citizens’ digital rights. They show that: (1) when civic space closes offline citizens often respond by opening civic space online; (2) when civic space opens online governments often take measures to close online space; and (3) the resulting reduction in digital rights makes it impossible to achieve the kind of inclusive governance defined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We know far more about openings and closings of online civic space in the global North than we do in the global South. What little we do know about Africa is mainly about a single country, a single event, or single technology. For the first time, these reports make possible a comparative analysis of openings and closings of online civic space in Africa. Th...
Zed Books, 2023
Digital Citizenship in Africa: Technologies of Agency and Repression Tony Roberts (Anthology Edit... more Digital Citizenship in Africa: Technologies of Agency and Repression Tony Roberts (Anthology Editor), Tanja Bosch (Anthology Editor) Description Since the so-called Arab Spring, citizens of African countries have continued to use digital tools in creative ways to ensure that marginalised voices are heard, and to demand for the rights they are entitled to in law: to freely associate, to form opinions, and to express them online without fear of violence or arrest. The authors of this compelling open access volume have brought to life this dramatic struggle for the digital realm between citizens and governments; documenting in vivid detail how citizens are using mobile and internet tools in powerful viral global campaigns to hold governments accountable and force policy change. With contributions from scholars across the continent, Digital Citizenship in Africa illustrates how citizens have been using VPNs, encryption, and privacy-protecting browsers to resist limits on their rights to privacy and political speech. This book dramatically expands our understanding of the vast and growing arsenal of tech tools, tactics, and techniques now being deployed by repressive governments to limit the ability of citizens to safely and openly express opposition to government and corporate actions. AI-enabled surveillance, covertly deployed disinformation, and internet shutdowns are documented in ten countries, concluding with recommendations on how to curb government and corporate power, and how to re-invigorate digital citizenship across Africa. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Table of Contents List of illustrations List of contributors Foreword - Francis B. Nyamnjoh Acknowledgements 1 Introduction: Spaces of digital citizenship in Africa - Tony Roberts and Tanja Bosch 2 Ethno-religious citizenship in Nigeria: Ethno-religious fault lines and the truncation of collective resilience of digital citizens: The cases of #ENDSARS and #PantamiMustGo in Nigeria - Ayobami Ojebode, Babatunde Ojebuyi, Oyewole Oladapo and Marjoke Oosterom 3 Digital crossroads: Continuity and change in Ethiopia's digital citizenship - Atnaf Brhane and Yohannes Eneyew 4 Internet shutdowns and digital citizenship - Felicia Anthonio and Tony Roberts 5 Feminist digital citizenship in Nigeria - Sandra Ajaja 6 Digital citizenship and cyber-activism in Zambia - Sam Phiri, Kiss Abraham and Tanja Bosch 7 Digital citizenship and political accountability in Namibia's 2019 election - Mavis Elias and Tony Roberts 8 Citizenship, African languages and digital rights: The role of language in defining the limits and opportunities for digital citizenship in Kiswahili-language communities - Nanjala Nyabola
Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies, 2020
Ideally, social media are positive agents for modernization, empowerment, and gender equity in de... more Ideally, social media are positive agents for modernization, empowerment, and gender equity in developing countries. This chapter scrutinizes that assumption by reflecting upon social media representation of leading Zambian women politicians at critical times in their political lives. It highlights the language used in blogs by critically examining its meanings through discourse and rhetoric analysis. Then, it is argued that social media are now extensively used to switch the tide against women occupation of social spaces. The chapter concludes that social media are avenues for hate speech and new glass ceilings and have been appropriated by patriarchy as oppressive tools in sub-Saharan Africa.
Digital Citizenship in Africa: Technologies of Agency and Repression, 2023
Digital Citizenship in Africa: Technologies of Agency and Repression
Tony Roberts (Anthology Edit... more Digital Citizenship in Africa: Technologies of Agency and Repression
Tony Roberts (Anthology Editor), Tanja Bosch (Anthology Editor)
Description
Since the so-called Arab Spring, citizens of African countries have continued to use digital tools in creative ways to ensure that marginalised voices are heard, and to demand for the rights they are entitled to in law: to freely associate, to form opinions, and to express them online without fear of violence or arrest. The authors of this compelling open access volume have brought to life this dramatic struggle for the digital realm between citizens and governments; documenting in vivid detail how citizens are using mobile and internet tools in powerful viral global campaigns to hold governments accountable and force policy change.
With contributions from scholars across the continent, Digital Citizenship in Africa illustrates how citizens have been using VPNs, encryption, and privacy-protecting browsers to resist limits on their rights to privacy and political speech. This book dramatically expands our understanding of the vast and growing arsenal of tech tools, tactics, and techniques now being deployed by repressive governments to limit the ability of citizens to safely and openly express opposition to government and corporate actions. AI-enabled surveillance, covertly deployed disinformation, and internet shutdowns are documented in ten countries, concluding with recommendations on how to curb government and corporate power, and how to re-invigorate digital citizenship across Africa.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations
List of contributors
Foreword - Francis B. Nyamnjoh
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: Spaces of digital citizenship in Africa - Tony Roberts and Tanja Bosch
2 Ethno-religious citizenship in Nigeria: Ethno-religious fault lines and the truncation of collective resilience of digital citizens: The cases of #ENDSARS and #PantamiMustGo in Nigeria - Ayobami Ojebode, Babatunde Ojebuyi, Oyewole Oladapo and Marjoke Oosterom
3 Digital crossroads: Continuity and change in Ethiopia's digital citizenship - Atnaf Brhane and Yohannes Eneyew
4 Internet shutdowns and digital citizenship - Felicia Anthonio and Tony Roberts
5 Feminist digital citizenship in Nigeria - Sandra Ajaja
6 Digital citizenship and cyber-activism in Zambia - Sam Phiri, Kiss Abraham and Tanja Bosch
7 Digital citizenship and political accountability in Namibia's 2019 election - Mavis Elias and Tony Roberts
8 Citizenship, African languages and digital rights: The role of language in defining the limits and opportunities for digital citizenship in Kiswahili-language communities - Nanjala Nyabola
The structure of the thesis CHAPTER TWO: THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF AN OPEN SOCIETY 2.1 2.2.1 Close... more The structure of the thesis CHAPTER TWO: THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF AN OPEN SOCIETY 2.1 2.2.1 Closed versus open society concepts 2.2.2 Plato and the concept of closed society 2.2.3 African political thought and the creation of closed societies 2.2.4 Historicism and attempts to return to the past 2.2.5 Responses to attempts to return to the past 2.2.6 Marxism and the attempted return to the past 2.3 Marxism, Africa and the neo-colonial future 2.3.1 Explanations for change and social development 2.4 Foundations of a closed society 2.5 Towards an open society 2.5.1 A model for managing change 2.5.2 Polemics over the 'triumph' of liberalism and the 'end of history' 2.5.3 Defining characteristics of an open society 2.5.4 The nexus of the ideals of open society and the concept of a public sphere 2.5.5 Critique of Habermas's conception of public sphere 2.5.6 A debate over the strategies for achieving open society ideals 2.5.7 The politics of alternative development, negotiated space and the Third World intellectual 2.6 Towards the implementation of open society ideals 109 2.6.1 Motivations for open society initiatives in Southern Africa 2.7 Conclusion CHAPTER THREE: THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN MEDIA LANDSCAPE-PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS 3.1 3.4 The principles of constitutionalism and the democratic project in Southern Africa 3.5 The state of the post-colonial state 3.6 Malawi: the case of an 'African' one-party state and its consequences for the media environment 3.6.1 The defining media law in Banda's Malawi 3.6.2 The evolution of the media in Banda's Malawi 3.7 Zambia: the legacy of an uncertain presidentialstate and benevolent one-party state 3.7.1 The media environment prior to Kaunda's Zambia 3.7.2 The evolution of the media since independence 3.8 Botswana: the impact of a façade of an African multi-party system on the media 3.8.1 The evolution of media policy in postcolonial Botswana 3.8.2 The evolution of the print media in Botswana 3.8.3 The impact of language policies on the media in post-colonial Botswana 3.9 General features of a sub-continent in perennial crisis 3.10 Conclusion 175 CHAPTER FOUR: THE ORIGINS OF OPEN SOCIETY INITIATIVES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 4.1 Introduction 177 4.2 Apartheid and the need for an open society in Southern Africa 4.2.1 Overview of some laws that enforced apartheid 4.2.2 Cross-ethnic responses to apartheid 4.3 The roots of open society work in Southern Africa 4.3.1 The beginnings of the open society movement in Southern Africa 4.3.2 The role of George Soros in OSISA structures 4.3.3 The institutional framework of OSISA 13 4.4 The evolution of OSISA and its media programme 4.4.1 National or public broadcasters 4.4.2 Commercial radio stations 4.4.3 Privately-owned independent media 4.4.4 Community media 4.5 An overview of the expectations of the media in an 'open' Southern Africa 4.6 Conclusion CHAPTER FIVE: CREATING AN OPEN SOCIETY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA-1 5.1 Introduction 219 5.2 Chapter methodology 221 5.3 The concept of civil society and its relevance to social movements in Southern Africa 224 5.3.1 The role of civil society in African social development 233 5.4 The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-a historical perspective 239 5.4.1 Freedom of Expression and the Right to Information 243 5.4.2 Media Freedom Monitoring 245 5.4.3 Campaign for Broadcasting Diversity 5.4.4 Gender and Media Support 5.4.5 Legal Support 5.4.6 The financial backing of MISA 251 5.5 The Southern African Media Development Fund (SAMDEF)-a historical perspective 5.5.1 The external environment of the media 5.5.2 The internal environment of the media 5.5.3 The beginnings of OSISA/SAMDEF relations 5.6 Conclusion 267 CHAPTER SIX: CREATING AN OPEN SOCIETY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA-2 and the responses of the 'others' 287 6.4.1 The role of OSISA staff in the transmission of open society ideology 289 6.5 A methodological approach to the study of relations between OSISA and civil society 6.5.1 The modes of engagement and the nature of their outcomes 297 6.5.2 Civil society responses to OSISA grant conditions 301 6.5.3 Perceptions about the meanings of an 'open Society' and the transference of ideology 306 6.6 Possible causes and theoretical justifications for the CSOs' divergence/congruence of views and perspectives 310 6.7 The supremacy or 'triumph' of Western liberal hegemony 327 6.8 Conclusion 331 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS 7.1 Introduction 334 7.2 Research process and structure of the study 335 7.3 Reflections on the methodology used 339 7.4 Core findings of the study 340 7.4.1 OSISA's organisational culture 340 7.4.2 Value-transmission and perceptions of open societies 7.4.3 Critical engagements and civil society responses 344 7.5 Chapter conclusion 346 7.6 Suggestions for further research 347 SOURCES CONSULTED 351 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 Introductory letter and email questionnaire APPENDIX 2 Responses to the email questionnaire APPENDIX 3 List of interviewees APPENDIX 4 Broad areas of inquiry [rites of passage Conversations and interviews] APPENDIX 5 Broad areas of inquiry [history of OSISA] APPENDIX 6 Map of the countries in which OSISA has projects 425
Participation of Young People in Governance Processes in Africa, 2019
This chapter explores the manner in which Zambian university students engage with public policy d... more This chapter explores the manner in which Zambian university students engage with public policy decisions which are of immediate and future interest to them. It observes that the youths may have little faith in representative democracy and instead are utilizing social media platforms to directly engage with decision-makers and publics, and thus subverting the essence of the authority of parliament. The study uses descriptive survey design and the methodology of “Briscolage” to capture and scrutinize two politically charged cases, and concludes that the youth globally may be challenging liberalism and in that way fashioning a new narrative entrenched in postmodernism.
Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology, 2016
There is volume of literature and growing studies on the roles and responsibilities of convention... more There is volume of literature and growing studies on the roles and responsibilities of conventional mass media and to some extent computer-based social media in enhancing political engagement, mobilisation and participation in developed and emerging democracies such as Nigeria. However, a few studies exist that provide insight about the intersection between mobile-based social media platforms and political mobilisation and participation in various democracies (liberal and non-liberal, developed and developing). It is therefore pertinent to examine such relationship especially from Nigeria's perspective as emerging democracy that is struggling to mobilise and absorb people from all sectors and sections to ensure acceptance and institutionalisation of democratic ideals in the country. Thus, the focus of this chapter is to examine the roles, significance and application of mobile based social media platforms that can only be registered and used on mobile phones. The chapter also ev...
Overcoming Gender Inequalities through Technology Integration, 2000
This chapter explores how bloggers in two Zambia online publications represent women politicians ... more This chapter explores how bloggers in two Zambia online publications represent women politicians and how interlopers 'frame' such politicians so as to exclude them from the public spaces. It argues that although ICTs are generally thought to be facilitators of women's empowerment, they can also be used to dis-empower the women with the full utilisation of cultural or religious frames and practices. It is further said that ICTs have both a positive and negative edge to them and thus should be used much more carefully.
Political Communication in Africa, 2020
Zambia has since 1991 run a relatively open democracy with now more than 100 radio and 40 registe... more Zambia has since 1991 run a relatively open democracy with now more than 100 radio and 40 registered television stations plus a host of vibrant social media platforms. This chapter critically reflects upon the vivacious nexus of political communication between the media and the elections with regard to women’s representation. It is argued that generally media sideline opposition political parties just as they neglect and abuse women. It is similarly contended that keys to women’s political exclusion are not with the globally acclaimed quota allocation system for testing a country’s inclusionary policies, but rather are with the Bechdel Test. Such a test would help scholars to easily remove the “chaff” from the wheat among nations.
To cite this article: Sam Phiri (2016) Access to information law and the stalled 'winds of change... more To cite this article: Sam Phiri (2016) Access to information law and the stalled 'winds of change' in Zambia, Communicatio, 42:1, 35-55
This is an overview of the impact of HIVOS and Free Press Unlimited funding to a select group of ... more This is an overview of the impact of HIVOS and Free Press Unlimited funding to a select group of media NGOs in promoting innovative ways of free expression in Zambia. It explores how the support panned out and concludes that this kind of funding strategy significantly contributed to free expression in Zambia.
Books by Sam Phiri
Mapping the Supply of Surveillance Technologies to Africa: Case Studies from Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Malawi, and Zambia, 2023
African governments are spending over 1US$bn per year on digital surveillance technologies which ... more African governments are spending over 1US$bn per year on digital surveillance technologies which are being used without adequate legal protections in ways that regularly violate citizens’ fundamental human rights. This report documents which companies, from which countries, are supplying which types of surveillance technology to African governments. Without this missing detail, it is impossible to adequately design measures to mitigate and overcome illegal surveillance and violations of human rights. Since the turn of the century, we have witnessed a digitalisation of surveillance that has enabled the algorithmic automation of surveillance at a scale not previously imaginable. Surveillance of citizens was once a labour and time-intensive process. This provided a practical limit to the scope and depth of state surveillance. The digitalisation of telephony has made it possible to automate the search for keywords across all mobile and internet communications. For the first time, state surveillance agencies can do two things: (a) conduct mass surveillance of all citizens’ communications, and (b) micro-target individuals for in-depth surveillance that draws together in real-time data from mobile calls, short message service (SMS), internet messaging, global positioning system (GPS) location, and financial transactions. This report was produced by qualitative analysis of open-source data in the public domain. The information presented is drawn from a diverse range of sources, including open government data sets, export licence portals, procurement notices, civil society databases of surveillance contracts, press releases from surveillance companies, academic articles, reports, and media coverage. The research is organised using a typology of five categories of surveillance technology. We did not set out to detail every technology available, every company, or every supply contract. Instead, we document the main companies and countries selling digital surveillance technologies to African governments. Rather than focus on the technical functionality distinguishing each product offering, we highlight five of the most important types of surveillance technology: internet interception, mobile interception, social media surveillance, ‘safe city’ technologies for the surveillance of public spaces, and biometric identification technologies.
Participation of Young People in Governance Processes in Africa, 2019
This chapter explores the manner in which Zambian university students engage with public policy d... more This chapter explores the manner in which Zambian university students engage with public policy decisions which are of immediate and future interest to them. It observes that the youths may have little faith in representative democracy and instead are utilizing social media platforms to directly engage with decision-makers and publics, and thus subverting the essence of the authority of parliament. The study uses descriptive survey design and the methodology of “Briscolage” to capture and scrutinize two politically charged cases, and concludes that the youth globally may be challenging liberalism and in that way fashioning a new narrative entrenched in postmodernism.
CHAPTER PREVIEW
Zambia has enjoyed a multi-party system since 1991. This is a good 27 years since its governance system was changed from the less participatory system of the one party state to a more democratic system. A good number of the youths therefore are the ‘born-frees’ who never experienced the draconian political reality where alternative views and political thoughts were not the norm.
Before 1991, Zambia was from 1973, a single party dictatorship where political participation was limited to members of the then ruling United National Independence Party (UNIP) led by the mercurial Kenneth Kaunda. Until his defeat to the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in 1991, Zambia’s founding President Kaunda had been in office for 27 years, that is from 1964.
By 2018, a further 27 years had passed, in which a whole new generation had grown-up. This is a group of youths who are generally oblivious to the circumstances that prevailed during much of the earlier post-colonial 27 years. However, since 1991, the year that marked Zambia’s transition back to multi-party democracy, there has been a massive growth in the utilisation of the internet, for discourse and for political activism on social media and other platforms, in Zambia and across the world. Some two decades into the 21st century, it is estimated that about 80 per cent of Zambians have access to cell phones or the internet (Malakata, 2018). The increased access to these digital communication platforms has important consequences for democratic participation among citizens (Lindgren, 2017. p147), especially the youth. This is so because generally, technical determinists have contended, from as far back as the 1990s, that the ubiquity and easier availability of the internet does engender a more pro-active digital citizenship which brings about a more critical population and in turn, produces a much more politically participative system
Furthermore, it is assumed that a well-functioning democracy flourishes in a society where citizens are active members of political processes by providing checks and balances on power holders. Such a society is built upon a collective intelligence (Fuchs, 2017. P 67) that buttresses various challenges to political power; and also ensures that barriers to free expression and open civic engagement are scrapped. In such a society, grassroots’ freedom of expression and participatory democracy is thus extended to “all realms of society” (ibid).
This chapter traces the origins of youth activism, more specifically student politicking since independence in 1964, and then examines two recent instances in which Zambian university students, perhaps the most enlightened section among the Zambian youths, a majority of whom are under the age of 27, use modern means of communication like the internet, and social media, to consolidate a participatory political culture and freedom of expression. The chapter explores how youth activism has metamorphosed in recent times, and how it manifests itself nowadays. Two specific examples are given to illustrate youth civic engagement in Zambia today. Furthermore, the discourse acknowledges that although the inspiration for participatory democracy may have emerged from among youthful students (Lynd, 1965) of the 1960s, there is now an even more urgent need to examine whether that abrasive and radical approach to politics has been carried through by the current generation using both the new and mainstream media platforms.
Understanding Gender in the African Context, 2020
Ideally, social media are positive agents for modernization, empowerment, and gender equity in de... more Ideally, social media are positive agents for modernization, empowerment, and gender equity in developing countries. This chapter scrutinizes that assumption by reflecting upon social media representation of leading Zambian women politicians at critical times in their political lives. It highlights the language used in blogs by critically examining its meanings through discourse and rhetoric analysis. Then, it is argued that social media are now extensively used to switch the tide against women occupation of social spaces. The chapter concludes that social media are avenues for hate speech and new glass ceilings and have been appropriated by patriarchy as oppressive tools in sub-Saharan Africa.
The chapter explores how bloggers in two Zambian online publications re-present women politicians... more The chapter explores how bloggers in two Zambian online publications re-present women politicians and how interlopers 'frame' such politicians so as to exclude them from the public spaces. It argues that ICTs are generally thought to be facilitators of women's empowerment, but they can also be used to dis-empower the women with the full utilisation of cultural or religious frames and practices
This chapter explores how bloggers in two Zambia online publications represent women politicians ... more This chapter explores how bloggers in two Zambia online publications represent women politicians and how interlopers ‘frame’ such politicians so as to exclude them from the public spaces. It argues that although ICTs are generally thought
to be facilitators of women’s empowerment, they can also be used to dis-empower the women with the full utilisation of cultural or religious frames and practices. It is further said that ICTs have both a positive and negative edge to them and thus
should be used much more carefully.
Thesis Chapters by Sam Phiri
The study critically explores the orientations and operational contexts of a media development su... more The study critically explores the orientations and operational contexts of a media development support organization in Southern Africa. It scans its historical and ideological designs, rationale and interlocking linkages and argues that the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) was, essentially, a response to the politics of 1990: Apartheid in South Africa, authoritarianism, or one party-statism in Africa. Like every other ideological weapon, OSISA was meant to spread the ideology of social ‘openness’ within the political frameworks of Western democracy. The study concludes that international aid is not without strings but like all financial aid, OSISA support is firmly embedded into the modernization paradigm and thus, George Soros’ Open Society movement is nothing more than an instrument in the global Westernisation project.
Uploads
Papers by Sam Phiri
Tony Roberts (Anthology Editor), Tanja Bosch (Anthology Editor)
Description
Since the so-called Arab Spring, citizens of African countries have continued to use digital tools in creative ways to ensure that marginalised voices are heard, and to demand for the rights they are entitled to in law: to freely associate, to form opinions, and to express them online without fear of violence or arrest. The authors of this compelling open access volume have brought to life this dramatic struggle for the digital realm between citizens and governments; documenting in vivid detail how citizens are using mobile and internet tools in powerful viral global campaigns to hold governments accountable and force policy change.
With contributions from scholars across the continent, Digital Citizenship in Africa illustrates how citizens have been using VPNs, encryption, and privacy-protecting browsers to resist limits on their rights to privacy and political speech. This book dramatically expands our understanding of the vast and growing arsenal of tech tools, tactics, and techniques now being deployed by repressive governments to limit the ability of citizens to safely and openly express opposition to government and corporate actions. AI-enabled surveillance, covertly deployed disinformation, and internet shutdowns are documented in ten countries, concluding with recommendations on how to curb government and corporate power, and how to re-invigorate digital citizenship across Africa.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations
List of contributors
Foreword - Francis B. Nyamnjoh
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: Spaces of digital citizenship in Africa - Tony Roberts and Tanja Bosch
2 Ethno-religious citizenship in Nigeria: Ethno-religious fault lines and the truncation of collective resilience of digital citizens: The cases of #ENDSARS and #PantamiMustGo in Nigeria - Ayobami Ojebode, Babatunde Ojebuyi, Oyewole Oladapo and Marjoke Oosterom
3 Digital crossroads: Continuity and change in Ethiopia's digital citizenship - Atnaf Brhane and Yohannes Eneyew
4 Internet shutdowns and digital citizenship - Felicia Anthonio and Tony Roberts
5 Feminist digital citizenship in Nigeria - Sandra Ajaja
6 Digital citizenship and cyber-activism in Zambia - Sam Phiri, Kiss Abraham and Tanja Bosch
7 Digital citizenship and political accountability in Namibia's 2019 election - Mavis Elias and Tony Roberts
8 Citizenship, African languages and digital rights: The role of language in defining the limits and opportunities for digital citizenship in Kiswahili-language communities - Nanjala Nyabola
Books by Sam Phiri
CHAPTER PREVIEW
Zambia has enjoyed a multi-party system since 1991. This is a good 27 years since its governance system was changed from the less participatory system of the one party state to a more democratic system. A good number of the youths therefore are the ‘born-frees’ who never experienced the draconian political reality where alternative views and political thoughts were not the norm.
Before 1991, Zambia was from 1973, a single party dictatorship where political participation was limited to members of the then ruling United National Independence Party (UNIP) led by the mercurial Kenneth Kaunda. Until his defeat to the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in 1991, Zambia’s founding President Kaunda had been in office for 27 years, that is from 1964.
By 2018, a further 27 years had passed, in which a whole new generation had grown-up. This is a group of youths who are generally oblivious to the circumstances that prevailed during much of the earlier post-colonial 27 years. However, since 1991, the year that marked Zambia’s transition back to multi-party democracy, there has been a massive growth in the utilisation of the internet, for discourse and for political activism on social media and other platforms, in Zambia and across the world. Some two decades into the 21st century, it is estimated that about 80 per cent of Zambians have access to cell phones or the internet (Malakata, 2018). The increased access to these digital communication platforms has important consequences for democratic participation among citizens (Lindgren, 2017. p147), especially the youth. This is so because generally, technical determinists have contended, from as far back as the 1990s, that the ubiquity and easier availability of the internet does engender a more pro-active digital citizenship which brings about a more critical population and in turn, produces a much more politically participative system
Furthermore, it is assumed that a well-functioning democracy flourishes in a society where citizens are active members of political processes by providing checks and balances on power holders. Such a society is built upon a collective intelligence (Fuchs, 2017. P 67) that buttresses various challenges to political power; and also ensures that barriers to free expression and open civic engagement are scrapped. In such a society, grassroots’ freedom of expression and participatory democracy is thus extended to “all realms of society” (ibid).
This chapter traces the origins of youth activism, more specifically student politicking since independence in 1964, and then examines two recent instances in which Zambian university students, perhaps the most enlightened section among the Zambian youths, a majority of whom are under the age of 27, use modern means of communication like the internet, and social media, to consolidate a participatory political culture and freedom of expression. The chapter explores how youth activism has metamorphosed in recent times, and how it manifests itself nowadays. Two specific examples are given to illustrate youth civic engagement in Zambia today. Furthermore, the discourse acknowledges that although the inspiration for participatory democracy may have emerged from among youthful students (Lynd, 1965) of the 1960s, there is now an even more urgent need to examine whether that abrasive and radical approach to politics has been carried through by the current generation using both the new and mainstream media platforms.
to be facilitators of women’s empowerment, they can also be used to dis-empower the women with the full utilisation of cultural or religious frames and practices. It is further said that ICTs have both a positive and negative edge to them and thus
should be used much more carefully.
Thesis Chapters by Sam Phiri
Tony Roberts (Anthology Editor), Tanja Bosch (Anthology Editor)
Description
Since the so-called Arab Spring, citizens of African countries have continued to use digital tools in creative ways to ensure that marginalised voices are heard, and to demand for the rights they are entitled to in law: to freely associate, to form opinions, and to express them online without fear of violence or arrest. The authors of this compelling open access volume have brought to life this dramatic struggle for the digital realm between citizens and governments; documenting in vivid detail how citizens are using mobile and internet tools in powerful viral global campaigns to hold governments accountable and force policy change.
With contributions from scholars across the continent, Digital Citizenship in Africa illustrates how citizens have been using VPNs, encryption, and privacy-protecting browsers to resist limits on their rights to privacy and political speech. This book dramatically expands our understanding of the vast and growing arsenal of tech tools, tactics, and techniques now being deployed by repressive governments to limit the ability of citizens to safely and openly express opposition to government and corporate actions. AI-enabled surveillance, covertly deployed disinformation, and internet shutdowns are documented in ten countries, concluding with recommendations on how to curb government and corporate power, and how to re-invigorate digital citizenship across Africa.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations
List of contributors
Foreword - Francis B. Nyamnjoh
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: Spaces of digital citizenship in Africa - Tony Roberts and Tanja Bosch
2 Ethno-religious citizenship in Nigeria: Ethno-religious fault lines and the truncation of collective resilience of digital citizens: The cases of #ENDSARS and #PantamiMustGo in Nigeria - Ayobami Ojebode, Babatunde Ojebuyi, Oyewole Oladapo and Marjoke Oosterom
3 Digital crossroads: Continuity and change in Ethiopia's digital citizenship - Atnaf Brhane and Yohannes Eneyew
4 Internet shutdowns and digital citizenship - Felicia Anthonio and Tony Roberts
5 Feminist digital citizenship in Nigeria - Sandra Ajaja
6 Digital citizenship and cyber-activism in Zambia - Sam Phiri, Kiss Abraham and Tanja Bosch
7 Digital citizenship and political accountability in Namibia's 2019 election - Mavis Elias and Tony Roberts
8 Citizenship, African languages and digital rights: The role of language in defining the limits and opportunities for digital citizenship in Kiswahili-language communities - Nanjala Nyabola
CHAPTER PREVIEW
Zambia has enjoyed a multi-party system since 1991. This is a good 27 years since its governance system was changed from the less participatory system of the one party state to a more democratic system. A good number of the youths therefore are the ‘born-frees’ who never experienced the draconian political reality where alternative views and political thoughts were not the norm.
Before 1991, Zambia was from 1973, a single party dictatorship where political participation was limited to members of the then ruling United National Independence Party (UNIP) led by the mercurial Kenneth Kaunda. Until his defeat to the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in 1991, Zambia’s founding President Kaunda had been in office for 27 years, that is from 1964.
By 2018, a further 27 years had passed, in which a whole new generation had grown-up. This is a group of youths who are generally oblivious to the circumstances that prevailed during much of the earlier post-colonial 27 years. However, since 1991, the year that marked Zambia’s transition back to multi-party democracy, there has been a massive growth in the utilisation of the internet, for discourse and for political activism on social media and other platforms, in Zambia and across the world. Some two decades into the 21st century, it is estimated that about 80 per cent of Zambians have access to cell phones or the internet (Malakata, 2018). The increased access to these digital communication platforms has important consequences for democratic participation among citizens (Lindgren, 2017. p147), especially the youth. This is so because generally, technical determinists have contended, from as far back as the 1990s, that the ubiquity and easier availability of the internet does engender a more pro-active digital citizenship which brings about a more critical population and in turn, produces a much more politically participative system
Furthermore, it is assumed that a well-functioning democracy flourishes in a society where citizens are active members of political processes by providing checks and balances on power holders. Such a society is built upon a collective intelligence (Fuchs, 2017. P 67) that buttresses various challenges to political power; and also ensures that barriers to free expression and open civic engagement are scrapped. In such a society, grassroots’ freedom of expression and participatory democracy is thus extended to “all realms of society” (ibid).
This chapter traces the origins of youth activism, more specifically student politicking since independence in 1964, and then examines two recent instances in which Zambian university students, perhaps the most enlightened section among the Zambian youths, a majority of whom are under the age of 27, use modern means of communication like the internet, and social media, to consolidate a participatory political culture and freedom of expression. The chapter explores how youth activism has metamorphosed in recent times, and how it manifests itself nowadays. Two specific examples are given to illustrate youth civic engagement in Zambia today. Furthermore, the discourse acknowledges that although the inspiration for participatory democracy may have emerged from among youthful students (Lynd, 1965) of the 1960s, there is now an even more urgent need to examine whether that abrasive and radical approach to politics has been carried through by the current generation using both the new and mainstream media platforms.
to be facilitators of women’s empowerment, they can also be used to dis-empower the women with the full utilisation of cultural or religious frames and practices. It is further said that ICTs have both a positive and negative edge to them and thus
should be used much more carefully.