Slightly more than half of 65 nations reviewed in the new Freedom on the Net 2019 report show a decline in access, democratic protections for speech, and related Internet and social media rights – with Sudan showing one of the biggest drops and Zimbabwe not far behind. The annual report…
Both Twitter and Facebook made big announcements on Wednesday, as the social media companies seek to curb fake accounts, abuse in political ads, and the potential to spread fake news or incite violence through hate speech. Facebook announced it removed three Russia-linked networks of accounts, pages and groups that targeted…
Zambia’s communications minister is defending the southern African nation’s plans to more tightly control social media use, saying the government is concerned about scams and other Internet abuses. Brian Mushimba, the Transport and Communications minister, said in a statement issued Friday that more than 600 Zambians have lost tens of…
President Yoweri Museveni, known for the occasionally wordy post on whatever topic is at hand, has taken to Facebook to defend a controversial tax, imposed on social media and money mobile users, that went into effect at the beginning of July. Museveni pointedly said he wanted to use social media…
Ethiopians were locked out of social media on Tuesday as new clashes in the Oromia region left at least 15 people dead, with images of dead bodies and gunshot wounds circulating on Facebook and Twitter. Both services were shut down in at least some regions of the Horn of Africa…
As African leaders gather in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly, the Government of Malawi announced the arrival of President Peter Mutharika at the annual session – but it wasn’t the only thing at the UN that Malawian officials wanted to call attention to. The government’s Malawi…
A popular American television show has upset many Algerians because of its cliché-driven portrayal of the North African nation, one they see as negative no matter how fictional the drama. The “Madam Secretary” series stars Téa Leoni as Elizabeth McCord, a former CIA analyst who serves as the United States…
The Australian arm of global NGO Plan International says that when it comes to East Africa’s drought and food shortage, there’s often a wide gap between perception and reality when appealing to donors. The organization says it sampled 100 social media comments posted to stories about the crisis and the…
Kenyan officials have proposed new regulations that would impose a fine, jail time or both for using mobile SMS and social media platforms to promote “dissemination of undesirable political messages.” Kenyan citizens are encouraged to anonymously report “potential inflammatory content,” a move that could add even more contention to a…
Social media images of trapped migrants in Libya are being used to extort ransom from their family and friends, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday. The United Nations Migration Agency described a video recorded by a Somali journalist and posted to Facebook on June 9 that showed some…
An Amnesty International press conference planned in Cameroon was shut down by security agents on Wednesday, although the human rights organization says it complied with prior notification laws ahead of the event. Managers at the hotel in Yaoundé, where the Amnesty meeting was planned, were told by officials to shut…
Egyptian authorities said Tuesday that they had arrested five people in connection with a troubling photo shoot involving a child, which they planned to pass off on social media as images from the Aleppo crisis in Syria. Security officials near the Suez Canal discovered the Port Said residents, who were…
At least 16 news sites and the WhatsApp messaging app were blocked in Ethiopia between June and October, in what human rights organization Amnesty International says is evidence of deliberate and systematic government measures to crush dissent. Amnesty published research Tuesday that showed a correlation between protests and clashes, and the…
The African Union invites citizens from across the continent to participate in Friday’s debate among candidates for the next Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission. The debate, beginning at 1630 GMT (1130 UEST), marks the first time that a debate among the candidates has been held prior to the…
The pollsters, the parties, much of the American population – they all thought American presidential candidate Donald J. Trump would never win. But none of them worked at BrandsEye, a South African data firm that analyzed social media posts to make the right call. Jean Pierre Kloppers, CEO of the startup,…