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This edition of West Africa Insight will look ahead to key issues and events set to play out in 2019. In February two of the region’s countries will hold presidential elections. Voters will cast their ballots on 16 February in Nigeria. Ahead of the …
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For democracy advocates, the press is the most indispensable and formidable non-governmental institution. According to them, access to information is crucial to enable citizens to inform themselves about economic, political and social news in order …
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The fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda has dealt a blow to the promotion and preservation of human rights in the region. Moreover, the outbreak of COVID-19 could not have come at a worse time, as t…
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Social media is having a huge impact on the daily lives of people throughout the world. A popular tool in both personal and professional life, social media allows users to stay updated and connected with little regard for geographical borders, and i…
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“Social media has changed the face of politics in Nigeria.” So said many political candidates, professionals, non-governmental organisation (NGO) and civil society actors, scholars and political advisers interviewed as part of this research project …
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The World Press Freedom Index considers Namibia the African country with the freest media environment, ranking 23rd in the world. While the media environment may be relatively free, senior Namibian politicians are often cynical about the media and j…
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Nigeria has had a long-running battle with misinformation and disinformation. In times of health pandemics, misinformation, or false information shared unintentionally, becomes especially harmful. This was evident during the Ebola crisis in Nigeria;…
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Like many other countries, Ghana has been grappling with its share of fake news about COVID-19. On the one hand, rumors that the “foreign disease” targets only whites and the affluent heighten nonchalant attitudes toward fighting the disease. On the…
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In Uganda, restrictions on Internet and social media use are becoming common. Since 1 July 2021, Internet users have begun paying a 12% tax on Internet data, in addition to an 18% valued added tax. The Internet tax replaces the over-the-top tax, pop…
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For media advocates, Liberia has been the source of both good news and bad news. In March 2019, President George Weah fulfilled his promise to pass a freedom of press act, which frees journalists and media houses from a major threat by decriminalizi…
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The COVID-19 pandemic was reported to spread to Africa on 14 February 2020. The first confirmed case being in Egypt. Ethiopia reported the first case on 13 March 2020. The National Government of the country let by Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed decla…
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The COVID-19 pandemic is testing the resilience of national education systems, economies and job markets, highlighting the digital divide, income inequality, and workforce fragility around the world. In Africa, the virus has kept millions of childre…
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Morocco’s 2011 Constitution states that "freedom of the press is guaranteed and may not be limited by any form of prior censorship. To the extent expressly provided for by law, everyone has the right to free expression and dissemination of informati…
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This report argues that fake news in Cote d'Ivoire is a predominantly political phenomenon and that it poses a considerable threat to political stability. Falsehoods in Cote d'Ivoire spread most rapidly on social media platforms such as Facebook and…
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This research brief draws on early findings of the sub-Saharan Africa study to highlight key areas requiring state intervention. Interviews with actors, primarily civil society organisations in the sub-Saharan region revealed a high level of distrus…
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This study aims to better understand key facets of the ecosystem of fake news in Mali. It argues that the deteriorated political context in the country has facilitated the proliferation of fake news. The Malian fake news ecosystem is also thriving i…
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In January 2020 internet penetration in Sierra Leone was 25% and there were an estimated 700,000 active social media users, with Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp the most used applications. These new media platforms act as both sources and enablers of…
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his study, which draws on 16 key informant interviews with academics, journalists, lawyers and social media users and an extensive review of relevant reports, documents and social media posts, provides one of the first comprehensive overviews of the…
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As is the case in several countries, false information is gaining ground in the public space in Senegal. The phenomenon itself is not new, but it is now accentuated and popularised with the advent of social networks and other digital platforms. The …
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Misinformation involves the spread of falsehoods without a deliberate attempt to mislead whilst disinformation is manipulated narrative or facts— propaganda deliberately intended to mislead. Both occur in Guinea-Bissau, with the recent Covid-19 pand…
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