"The Internet in Africa has become an increasingly contested space, where competing ideas of development and society battle for hegemony. By comparing the evolution of the Internet in Ethiopia and Rwanda, we question whether policies and projects emerging from two of Africa’s fastest growing, but
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also most tightly controlled countries, can be understood as part of a relatively cohesive model of the ‘developmental’ Internet, which challenges mainstream conceptions. Our answer is a qualified yes. Ethiopia and Rwanda have shared an overarching strategy which places the state as the prime mover in the development of Internet policy and large-scale ICT projects. Rwanda, however, appears to have developed a more open model which can accommodate a greater variety of actors and opinions, and incorporate them within a relatively coherent vision that emanates from the centre. Ethiopia, in contrast, has developed a more closed model, where all powers rest firmly in the hands of a government that has refused (so far) to entertain and engage with alternative ideas of the Internet. In the case of Rwanda, we argue, this approach reflects broader strategies adopted by the government in the economic domain but appears to counter the prevailing political approach of the government, allowing for a greater degree of freedom on the Internet as compared to traditional media. While in the case of Ethiopia, the opposite is true; Ethiopia’s Internet policies appear to run counter to prevailing economic policies but fit tightly with the government’s approach to politics and governance." (Abstract)
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"Based on the analyses of Rwandan and Kenyan cases, hate speech legislation is not an appropriate tool to prevent harm emanating from hate speech. The empirically verifiable costs of the tool by far outweigh its putative benefits. In Rwanda, opposition politicians are convicted for criticising gover
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nment policies, and journalists sentenced to decades of imprisonment for covering sensitive issues, held in pre-trial detention for years to be finally acquitted, driven into exile and forced to practise self-censorship. Whole news media are suspended or completely closed for providing platforms for anti-government stances. The persecution of individual politicians and journalists has a great negative impact on society. Access to unbiased information is impeded and the ‘Marketplace of Ideas’ destroyed. Instead of supporting a process of reconciliation, the laws are used to suppress a necessary, healthy and constructive debate on sensitive topics of the past. As a result, citizens strive to switch to other forms of conflict resolution, which ‘ironically’ means that hate speech legislation itself is misused to settle personal disputes. Rwandan hate speech legislation has itself become a tool that fuels further conflict. While the Rwandan government abuses hate speech legislation to silence its critics in order to secure its power position, the Kenyan government employs hate speech provisions to justify its surveillance of Kenyan citizens. At the same time, politicians who publicly call for displacements and violence are allowed to escape punishment in the name of cohesion." (Conclusion, page 96)
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"Internet freedom has declined for the sixth consecutive year, with more governments than ever before targeting social media and communication apps as a means of halting the rapid dissemination of information, particularly during antigovernment protests. Public-facing social media platforms like Fac
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ebook and Twitter have been subject to growing censorship for several years, but in a new trend, governments increasingly target messaging and voice communication apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. These services are able to spread information and connect users quickly and securely, making it more difficult for authorities to control the information landscape or conduct surveillance. The increased controls show the importance of social media and online communication for advancing political freedom and social justice. It is no coincidence that the tools at the center of the current crackdown have been widely used to hold governments accountable and facilitate uncensored conversations." (Page 1)
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"Burundi: even in very difficult situations, SDC partners managed to identify entry points and continue their work. Networking with international media as a source of information is very crucial in such situations. Policy dialogue is also important to work on issues that divide the government and me
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dia.
Rwanda: The coaching in situ has so far led to tangible results. However, building capacity and working on the mindset are still needed. The culture of the leader/chief is very strong and weighs strongly on the quality of media work. The economic progress of the country has not had impact on the financial health of media houses. When funding media, it is very important to aim at transformation (transformative funding).
DRC: diversity of media does not necessarily mean diversified information. Professionalization of media is very much needed. Social ownership of community radios would be very useful in increasing access to information, citizen’s engagement and propensity to hold the leaders accountable
Tanzania: on one hand, involving media actors in policy dialogue on legal/policy issues and not dealing them directly with the government has proved very effective (SDC ‘s support to local stakeholders ’actions in policy dialogue on specific issues has been very successful). On the other, at operational level, static framework can hinder effectiveness. The context is constantly changing. This requires flexibility from SDC and calls for embedding learning processes in the programme, having joint reviews annually and adjusting based on lessons learned." (Lessons learned, page 13)
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"A qualitative study into the readership preferences of children in Rwanda, from the perspective of over seventy children under the age of nine from around the country, and ten key publishing houses in Kigali." (Abstract)
"The 45 country reports gathered here illustrate the link between the internet and economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs). Some of the topics will be familiar to information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) activists: the right to health, education and culture; the socioec
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onomic empowerment of women using the internet; the inclusion of rural and indigenous communities in the information society; and the use of ICT to combat the marginalisation of local languages. Others deal with relatively new areas of exploration, such as using 3D printing technology to preserve cultural heritage, creating participatory community networks to capture an “inventory of things” that enables socioeconomic rights, crowdfunding rights, or the negative impact of algorithms on calculating social benefits. Workers’ rights receive some attention, as does the use of the internet during natural disasters. Ten thematic reports frame the country reports. These deal both with overarching concerns when it comes to ESCRs and the internet – such as institutional frameworks and policy considerations – as well as more specific issues that impact on our rights: the legal justification for online education resources, the plight of migrant domestic workers, the use of digital databases to protect traditional knowledge from biopiracy, digital archiving, and the impact of multilateral trade deals on the international human rights framework. The reports highlight the institutional and country-level possibilities and challenges that civil society faces in using the internet to enable ESCRs. They also suggest that in a number of instances, individuals, groups and communities are using the internet to enact their socioeconomic and cultural rights in the face of disinterest, inaction or censure by the state." (Back cover)
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"Internet freedom around the world has declined for the fifth consecutive year, with more governments censoring information of public interest and placing greater demands on the private sector to take down offending content. State authorities have also jailed more users for their online writings, wh
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ile criminal and terrorist groups have made public examples of those who dared to expose their activities online. This was especially evident in the Middle East, where the public flogging of liberal bloggers, life sentences for online critics, and beheadings of internet-based journalists provided a powerful deterrent to the sort of digital organizing that contributed to the Arab Spring. In a new trend, many governments have sought to shift the burden of censorship to private companies and individuals by pressing them to remove content, often resorting to direct blocking only when those measures fail. Local companies are especially vulnerable to the whims of law enforcement agencies and a recent proliferation of repressive laws. But large, international companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter have faced similar demands due to their significant popularity and reach." (Page 1)
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"Politische Spannungen und Vorurteile belasten das Verhältnis zwischen Ruandern, Burundiern und Kongolesen. So manch einer verzieht bei der Vorstellung ins Nachbarland einreisen zu müssen, das Gesicht. Das Spukgespenst des bösen Nachbarn verbreiten und verstärken nicht zuletzt die Medien. Doch e
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s geht auch anders. Die Macher der ruandischen Jugendradiosendung Ejo! setzen auf einen positiven Nachbarschaftsbegriff. Ihr Ansatz: Journalisten aus drei Ländern arbeiten zusammen und senden in die ganze Region." (Seite 8)
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"This baseline study has been conducted within the inception phase of the project Capacity Building of the School of Journalism and Communication, to support the School of Journalism and Communication (SJC) under the University of Rwanda. The findings rest mainly on eight brief background papers ana
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lysing the media context and the environment in which SJC operates. The key outputs consist of proposed logical framework for the programme including indicators and baseline values under each of the four outcomes. The system for measuring and evaluating of the progress under the indicators throughout the four-year programme is a second important output of this study." (Executive summary)
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"Aziza Bangwene [écrit] sur différents projets développés par l'Institut Panos Paris dans la perspective de la consolidation de la paix dans la région: elle présente en particulier le projet OGL Ondes des Grands Lacs, mis en oeuvre entre 2009 et 2013, et dont l'objectif principal était d'amen
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er les journalistes originaires des trois pays à abandonner leurs préjugés et leur perspective tronquée sur les réalités des pays voisins, et à s'ouvrir à d'autres points de vue sur la crise régionale. Elle souligne les acquis de ce programme, mais relève aussi un certain nombre de questions qui subsistent au terme de sa mise en oeuvre." (Introduction, page 10)
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"The contributors explore diverse contexts of performance to discuss peoples' own reflections on political subjectivities, governance and development. The volume refocuses anthropological engagement with ethics, aesthetics, and politics to examine the transformative potential of political performanc
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e." (Publisher description)
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"L'utilisation des technologies de l'information dans des projets innovants a été largement encouragée dans le cadre de divers projets d'appuis aux médias de la région des Grands Lacs. Cyprien Ndikumana présente un certain nombre d'initiatives mises en place, depuis 10 ans, pour amener les jou
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rnalistes du Burundi, du Rwanda et du Congo, à apporter une contribution positive à l'édification d'une paix durable. Il détaille quelques-uns de ces projets, mais s'attarde aussi sur les interrogations qu'ils engendrent en termes de durabilité et d'appropriation." (Introduction, page 10)
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"Marie-Soleil Frère propose une analyse de l'identité professionnelle des journalistes en RDC, au Burundi et au Rwanda. Partant d'une perspective historique, elle montre comment la profession a évolué dans les trois pays, de la période du monopole étatique à celle du pluralisme médiatique et
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à l'éclatement des conflits, suivis des processus de paix. Elle souligne comment les journalistes ont tenté, depuis une dizaine d'années, de redéfinir eux-mêmes leur identité professionnelle, tâchant de tenir l'Etat à l'écart de la question, mais aussi comment leurs nouvelles pratiques ont entraîné l'émergence d'attentes particulières, vis-à-vis des médias, de la part des publics de la région." (Introduction, page 11)
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"This report provides a useful basis to understand the broad nature of media freedom, and gauge the Status of media freedom and development from a legal, policy and professional perspective. Being the first of its kind to be produced by RMC, we attach special value to this product because it sets th
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e standards for future publications. Our plan is to produce an annual analysis of the media sector in Rwanda to provide a point of reference on media issues as well as an alternative assessment of media freedom in Rwanda. As you will notice, this report adopts the UNESCO methodology of assessing media freedom, which isa broad understanding ofthe multi-dimensional nature of media freedom. We chose this methodology because it was more comprehensive than other available methodologies and most reports about medla freedom in Rwanda so far have focused primarily on the political aspects of medla freedom. Yet, as this reports indicates, there are other important aspects, such as the professional, the educational, the infrastructural, and even the economic aspects that in the final analysis have an impact on the nature of media freedom." (Preface)
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"The articles contained in this publication are dispatches from a new frontline in humanitarian action: the digital frontier. All are written by those observing, experiencing and attempting to respond to the challenges created by the digital revolution and the very real threats it is creating for hu
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manitarian operations, and exploring the potential of new tools to create a safer, more responsive operational environment for aid workers." (Page 5)
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"Examines how policymakers, the donor community, and the private sector have prioritized and sequenced ICT initiatives in the aftermath of conflict. Case studies look at countries at different stages of post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan, Liberia, Rwanda and Timor-Leste, and postrevolution
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in Tunisia. In addition, the report proposes a conceptual framework to understand how ICTs can contribute to improving service delivery and assisting with nation-building. The opening of the report gives an overview of the relationship between conflict, reconstruction, and the role of ICTs. It builds on experience within the Bank as well as on a wide range of practitioner, academic, and other literature. The second seeks to establish a framework for understanding the ways in which ICTs interact with societies in transition from violence to stability, and for leveraging their potential to further that transition. The roots of this lie in understanding two fields of study, policy and practice: analysis of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction, and analysis of ICTs and the development of an information society. three then analyses the relationship between these two fields and proposes a framework for analysis and policy development. The fourth makes a number of recommendations to the World Bank Group, to other donors and development actors, as well as to the governments of countries emerging from violent conflict, and suggests areas for further research." (Back cover)
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