ANIE Workshop Information Ethics in Africa

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ANIE WorkshopInformation Ethics in Africa

• In cooperation with SCECSAL 2012
• Nairobi, June 3, 2012
• Rafael Capurro
• International Center for Information Ethics
• Distinguished Researcher in Information Ethics,
  University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
• Capurro-Fiek-Foundation
• http//www.capurro.de/home-eng.html

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

1. Social Media in Africa
2. Ethics of Social Media
3. Prospects

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Social media in Africa
• http//www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol24no1
  /ushahidi.html

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Infographic social media in Africa
• In The Globe and Mail, Nov. 30, 2011
• http//www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/social-m
  edia-in-africa/article2235087/

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Sébastian Seibt First Twitter map of Africa
  reveals a connected continent. In France 24,
  International news, 27/1/2012
• http//www.france24.com/en/20120127-africa-twitter
  -smartphone-map

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• What is perhaps a positive surprise is that
  there is not one country in the whole of Africa
  where Twitter is not used, said Watkinson.
• ---
• Robert Watkinson, associate director of Portland
  Communications.
• See http//www.portland-communications.com/locatio
  ns/nairobi

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• The map reveals that the number of tweets is not
  necessarily related to the wealth of a particular
  country. Kenya ranked ahead of Nigeria and Egypt,
  despite those two countries being wealthier, more
  populous, and regular sources of headline news.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Kenyans generally consume much more mobile
  internet data per user than the Nigerians. For
  example, this could be the very reason why Kenya
  generates more geo-located tweets than others,
  said Watkinson.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• André-Michel Essoungou
• A social media boom begins in Africa. Using
  mobile phones, Africans join the global
  conversation.
• From Africa Renewal, December 2010, page 3
• http//www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol24no4/social
  -media-boom.html

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• In recent months Facebook the major social
  media platform worldwide and currently the most
  visited website in most of Africa has seen
  massive growth on the continent.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• The number of African Facebook users now stands
  at over 17 million, up from 10 million in 2009.
  More than 15 per cent of people online in Africa
  are currently using the platform, compared to 11
  per cent in Asia. Two other social networking
  websites, Twitter and YouTube, rank among the
  most visited websites in most African countries.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Erik Hersman, a prominent African social media
  blogger and entrepreneur who helped drive
  development of the ground-breaking platform
  Ushahidi (see Young Africans put technology to
  new uses), is equally enthusiastic.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• In an e-mail to Africa Renewal he notes that
  "with mobile phone penetration already high
  across the continent, and as we get to critical
  mass with Internet usage in some of Africa's
  leading countries (Kenya, South Africa, Ghana,
  Nigeria, Egypt) a seismic shift will happen
  with services, products and information."

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Will Mutua
• Africa Facebook Phenomenon Nigeria, Kenya, South
  Africa.
• In Afrinnovator, January 4, 2011
• http//afrinnovator.com/blog/2011/01/04/africa-fac
  ebook-phenomenon-nigeria-kenya-south-africa/

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Facebook has become a bit of a phenomenon
  amongst African youth. In Kenya it is not
  uncommon to find young people walking around, or
  sitting in matatus glued to their mobile screens,
  not reading text messages or dialing but
  following the happenings in their Facebook
  friendverse.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• So we thought wed take a quick look at whether
  this situation is unique to Kenya or theres a
  trend in other parts of Africa. We took a look at
  specifically Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa,
  representing west, east and southern Africa.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Nigeria
• Some interesting news from Nigeria, according to
  a blog post by Loy Okezie, is the fact that
  Facebook has just overtaken Yahoo to become
  Nigerias most visited site.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Kenya
• Moses Kemibaro last year wrote a piece on the
  growth of Kenyas Facebook population.There have
  been conflicting claims concerning the actual
  number of Kenyans on Facebook, Moses claimed over
  1 Million based on his research.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• South Africa
• South Africa so far is by far the largest
  Facebook population. According to SocialBakers the
  country boasts over 3.4 million people on
  Facebook exceeding 6 of the total population and
  65 of South Africas online population.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• From what weve found we can also conclude that
  Facebook is definitely the place to go to reach
  Africas urban youth. On average, the 18-25 age
  bracket represents the lions share of Africas
  Facebook population,

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• which sounds pretty reasonable given the fact
  that this is the generation which is being
  exposed to the Internet and World Wide Web
  currently, they are also a fair amount of the
  general population of Africa, they are educated,
  urbanized and highly exposed to the modern world.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• 2. Ethics of Social Media

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Some ethical values as related to social media
  and the Internet
• Freedom of mutual recognition
• Self-determination
• Equality of opportunities
• Rules of social fair play
• Informed consent
• Social and political participation

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Some ethical conflicts as related to social media
  and the Internet
• Digital divide
• Media monopolies
• Digital cannibalism
• Cultural dependency
• Manipulation and misuse
• Social control and surveillance

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• This is a debate on freedom and fair societies in
  the digital age in Africa towards the
  construction of African identities based on
  mutual respect and recognition of the qualities,
  capabilities, resources and histories... of
  African peoples.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• It is a socio-political as well as an academic
  debate dealing also with transparency of public
  policy and people's participation.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Why is the debate about privacy and publicness so
  crucial today? I think it is because the
  difference private/public, which is essential for
  social life, is being perceived in different
  ways, particularly since the internet, but also
  already with mass media, free press, etc.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• It is, on the one hand, a debate about the
  self-determination of individuals in order to
  shape their own lives,

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• as well as, on the other hand, on how social
  media can be used by citizens for an active
  participation in public policy.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Both issues should be based on rules of fair
  social interplay.

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• 3. Prospects

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• The public / privacy debate with regard to social
  media is an important issue for the development
  of free and fair information societies in Africa.
  
• I can imagine some research questions arising
  from this debate such as

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• What are the specific cultural and historical
  conditions that influence this debate on social
  media in Africa?

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• What are the bad and good practices with social
  media in Africa?

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• How do classical mass media and today's social
  media influence socio-ethical values in African
  countries and cultures and vice versa?

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• What is the impact of the development of social
  media in other countries and cultures outside
  Africa on African societies and cultures?

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• How do social media influence political and
  social changes in Africa?

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• What is the impact of social media on oral
  cultures and indigenous languages in Africa?

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Will Africans invent their own ways of social
  interplay on the internet?

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• References
• Capurro, Rafael Information Ethics for and from
  Africa (2007) http//www.capurro.de/africa.html
• Essoungou, André-Michel A social media boom
  begins in Africa. Using mobile phones, Africans
  join the global conversation. In Africa Renewal,
  December 2010, p. 3
• http//www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol24no4/social
  -media-boom.html
• Essoungou, André-Michel Young Africans put
  technology to new uses. Kenyan software a tool
  for political participation. In Africa Renewal,
  April 2010, p. 3
• http//www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol24no1/ushahi
  di.html

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Infographic social media in Africa. In The Globe
  and Mail, Nov. 30, 2011
• http//www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/social-m
  edia-in-africa/article2235087/
• Internet-Privacy. A Culture of Privacy and Trust
  for the Internet.
• http//www.acatech.de/uk/home-uk/work-and-results/
  current-projects/internet-privacy.html

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Social Media and Information Ethics in Africa

• Seibt, Sébastian First Twitter map of Africa
  reveals a connected continent. In France 24,
  International news, 27/1/2012
• http//www.france24.com/en/20120127-africa-twitter
  -smartphone-map
• Trepte, Sabine and Leonard Reinecke, Leonard
  (eds.) Privacy Online. Perspectives on Privacy
  and Self-Disclosure in the Social Web.
  Heidelberg Springer 2011.