IGF 2022 WS #445 Freedom of expression vs the law in the information disorder

Description:

In today’s digital world, characterized by the use of wireless media and social media that know no borders or limits, misinformation and disinformation can be distributed to scores of people in a split second. Social media’s global reach, coupled with improved internet connectivity, means that it has become increasingly difficult for online aggregators and social media companies to stay abreast of what kind of information is shared over their platforms. The resulting “infodemic,” or the phenomenon of “information disorder,” is considered by some to be more pronounced in the global South than in the North. Information disorders in Africa predates what is referred to as the “post-truth era” in the Global North, which has been caused largely by the proliferation of contemporary media. The media distrust underlying information disorders in Africa has its roots in the political exploitation of media by repressive governments. The current level of information disorder has been accompanied by the dissolution of concentrated state power over the media, resulting in an influx of information which citizens can access to curate their own news consumption, instead of depending on traditional media. While social media have fostered access to important information, they have also been used to spread falsehoods related to many different sectors, such as health (e.g. Covid-19), politics (e.g. elections), and society (e.g. social instability, xenophobia). In the global south, State-led efforts to ameliorate the spread of “fake news” have led to the introduction of laws that have done more to repress freedom of speech than to lessen mis- and disinformation. In fact, such actions have further contributed to the information disorder, as they are often justified by claims that are themselves forms of mis- or disinformation. Although legislation could be used to curb information disorder, since 2012 there has been an exponential increase in the regressive use of legislation by governments in the region, ostensibly to counter falsehoods and mis- or disinformation. A particularly steep spike in such legislation occurred in 2020, in the form of regulations related to Covid-19.

This session follows the results an 18-month collaborative project which was conducted as a response to the gaps in knowledge surrounding the efforts to combat the information disorder in the global south. It was led by the University of Cape Town’s Professor Herman Wasserman and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), with Research ICT Africa (RIA) covering the sub-Saharan Africa region (inclusive of francophone and anglophone countries). Other teams included InternetLab – covering Latin America and the Caribbean; LIRNEasia – covering Asia and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism – covering the Middle East and North Africa.

The session will zoom in one one aspect of the report around the state of laws in combatting the information disorder. The report exposed that a number of human rights abuses and violations are often justified using archaic laws that limit the right to freedom of expression and are often backed by legislative provisions that are vague in nature which use undefined terminology like "threaten security and peace, incite violence"... etc. The session will pick on certain manifestations of such vague law applications by zooming in on issues such as internet shutdowns and unwarranted arrests on journalists. 3 different speakers from different regions of the global south will give account on how the issue of vague and repressive laws have influenced efforts to combat the information disorder in the global south.