"Music and Digital Media is the first comparative ethnographic study of the impact of digital media on music worldwide. It offers a radical and lucid new theoretical framework for understanding digital media through music, showing that music is today where the promises and problems of the digital as
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sume clamouring audibility. The book contains ten chapters, eight of which present comprehensive original ethnographies; they are bookended by an authoritative introduction and a comparative postlude. Five chapters address popular, folk, art and crossover musics in the global South and North, including Kenya, Argentina, India, Canada and the UK. Three chapters bring the digital experimentally to the fore, presenting pioneering ethnographies of an extra-legal peer-to-peer site and the streaming platform Spotify, a series of prominent internet-mediated music genres, and the first ethnography of a global software package, the interactive music platform Max. The book is unique in bringing ethnographic research on popular, folk, art and crossover musics from the global North and South into a comparative framework on a large scale, and creates an innovative new paradigm for comparative anthropology. It shows how music enlarges anthropology while demanding to be understood with reference to classic themes of anthropological theory." (Publisher description)
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"In summary, digitalisation is gaining momentum in Africa as the continent experiences significant improvements in its digital infrastructure and a vibrant startup ecosystem. To harness this momentum across society, African governments and their partners will need to strike the right balance between
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policies that attract private investment in Africa’s digital infrastructure and promote local entrepreneurship, innovation, competition, and digital skills, while preventing unregulated new technologies from harming consumers. This will be a major challenge for African governments and their partners, but also a great opportunity for the continent to leap forward in the coming digital century." (Page 11)
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"This volume explores and calls into question certain commonly held assumptions about writing and technological advancement in the Islamic tradition. In particular, it challenges the idea that mechanical print naturally and inevitably displaces handwritten texts as well as the notion that the so-cal
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led transition from manuscript to print is unidirectional. Indeed, rather than distinct technologies that emerge in a progressive series (one naturally following the other), they frequently co-exist in complex and complementary relationships – relationships we are only now starting to recognize and explore. The book brings together essays by internationally recognized scholars from an array of disciplines (including philology, linguistics, religious studies, history, anthropology, and typography) whose work focuses on the written word – channeled through various media – as a social and cultural phenomenon within the Islamic tradition." (Publisher description)
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"Under the MDP, UNESCO has since 2018 coordinated actions with other development partners through the Somalia Media Sector Group (SMSG) to advocate for improvements in the media legislative framework and to support the implementation of the Somalia Federal Republic Media Strategy 2016-2020 as well a
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s of the UN Plan of Action. In addition, UNESCO supported a consortium of media institutions under the Somalia Independent Media Houses Association (SIMHA) who monitored the amendment process of the Federal Media Law and advocated for the modification or deletion of clauses that could adversely impact media freedom. Through this, UNESCO provided support for the review of media laws in Somalia and Somaliland to encourage compliance with international standards." (Page 2)
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"Various media freedom NGOs have noted that progress achieved in 2019 in terms of freedom of expression and of the media was disrupted by a series of internet shutdowns as well as by an anti-hate speech law adopted in 2020, whose vague provisions have drawn criticism from specialized observers. Furt
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hermore, the armed conflict that broke out in the Tigray region in November 2020 has pointed out to concerning trends, with journalists reporting having been barred to travel to the region. Responding to these setbacks, the UNESCO Addis Ababa Office launched in 2020 on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day an online campaign promoting freedom of expression, media freedom and the safety of journalists within the national context of democratic transition. In addition, the campaign aimed at encouraging professional journalism within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has, as in many other countries, come to further complicate the challenges faced by Ethiopian media." (Page 2)
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"In an effort to support the smooth running of the 2021 General Elections, Zambia was integrated as a target country under the MDP. In partnership with MISA Zambia, UNESCO supported local journalists and editors to enhance their capacities on mis/disinformation, electoral reporting and safety measur
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es. In addition, policy makers and security forces were also engaged on the role of media during elections and on the importance of ensuring their safety." (Page 2)
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"Sudan’s transitional authorities expressed a strong political commitment to reform laws and policies relative to freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information. This was notably demonstrated by the suspension of old laws limiting freedom of expression, as well as by the signing of
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the Media Freedom Coalition’s Global Pledge to Defend Media Freedom by Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in September 2019 within the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. He declared on this occasion that “never again in the new Sudan will a journalist be repressed or jailed”. Sudan also signed the Hague Commitment to Increase the Safety of Journalists in 2020. Sudan’s transitional authorities requested UNESCO’s support in this reform endeavour, an opportunity that the Organization seized through its Khartoum Office with funding from the MDP. An agreement was subsequently signed with Sudan’s Ministry of Culture and Information to launch a project with two components. The first component was to conduct an analysis of existing media laws and to develop a roadmap to address legislative reform, institution building, investment in technical infrastructure along with training and employment of media professionals. The second was to strengthen the capacities of Sudanese journalists in countering disinformation and preventing violent extremism and hate speech. The British Embassy in Khartoum then joined the project, and a joint committee representing all three parties war formed. UNESCO thus set in motion in late 2019 a series of high-level meetings with the aim of building coalitions to support future reforms and of advising Sudanese authorities on this process." (Pages 1-2)
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"Media and information literacy is paramount to empower the population, and especially the youth, with the capacity of critical thinking and in providing quality information on traditional and social media platforms. During the period of 2018-2021, UNESCO worked towards achieving this goal through t
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he integration of the Media and Information Literacy Curriculum into the country’s educational system. UNESCO has engaged with different stakeholders on sustainable ways to build a knowledge society with strong competencies in information management. Significant achievements have been attained during the reporting period, including with media and information literacy embedded as a compulsory component of all teacher trainings in Nigeria." (Page 2)
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"Namibia was thus added as a beneficiary country under the MDP in the second quarter of 2021, with the aim of reviewing the current draft bill and of increasing awareness on the right to access information by mobilizing government, civil society, and the Namibian public to take ownership and contrib
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ute to the achievement of SDG target 16.10. Actions deployed for this purpose were aligned with the global theme of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2021, “Information as a Public Good” and with the Windhoek+30 Declaration." (Page 2)
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"[...] in 2019, UNESCO’s Addis Ababa Liaison Office engaged the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and a wide range of partners to ensure adequate responses to the protection of journalists and the fight against impunity in Africa. These consultative meeti
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ngs led to the submission of a request for the establishment of a ACHPR Working Group on the Promotion and Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists in Africa. The same year, UNESCO also contributed to the ACHPR’s revision of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa. Based on these calls and numerous consultations, UNESCO gave in 2020 the impetus for the creation of a continental safety mechanisms involving 54 African Union Member States, inspired by the Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists. The creation of this platform involved four African Union bodies, as well as the African Editors Forum (TAEF), the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and ARTICLE 19. This online coordination platform allows for real time monitoring, reporting and follow-up actions by both duty-bearers and right-holders. It represents remarkable progress in the fight against impunity for violence against journalists, while also creating long-lasting synergies among African media stakeholders." (Pages 1-2)
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"The role of the media is critical for the future of South Sudan’s peacebuilding process, democracy and development. For this purpose, the Multi-Donor Programme has since 2018 supported the establishment of a safe and enabling environment for media through advocacy, awareness-raising, capacity-bui
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lding and policy advice. This support builds on past actions undertaken by UNESCO, such as advocacy towards the adoption of Access to Information, Broadcasting Corporation and Media Authority laws, the set-up of a national monitoring and reporting mechanism on media violations through the Union of Journalists’ Media Observatory, and the production of safety training modules adopted by the University of Juba, the Media Development Institute and the Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS)." (Page 2)
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"Burundian authorities have shown promising signs of substantive change by initiating the revision of the disputed 2018 press law, an exercise for which they requested UNESCO’s technical support. UNESCO’s participation in this process was made possible by continuous dialogue between UNESCO and t
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he Burundian Ministry of Communication on media pluralism issues, and particularly on the issue of community radio stations, an endeavour which has been supported by the MDP since 2018." (Page 2)
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"This ground-breaking three-year global study on gender-based online violence against women journalists represents collaborative research covering 15 countries. It is the most geographically, linguistically, and ethnically diverse scoping of the crisis conducted up until late 2022. The research draw
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s on: the inputs of nearly 1,100 survey participants and interviewees; 2 big data case studies examining 2.5 million social media posts directed at Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa (The Philippines) and multi award-winning investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr (UK); 15 detailed individual country case studies. The Chilling illuminates the evolving challenges faced by women journalists dealing with prolific and/or sustained online violence around the world. It calls out the victim-blaming and slut-shaming that perpetuates sexist and misogynistic responses to offline violence against women in the online environment, where patriarchal norms are being aggressively reinforced. It also clearly demonstrates that the incidence and impacts of gender-based online violence are worse at the intersection of misogyny and other forms of discrimination, such as racism, religious bigotry, antisemitism, homophobia and transphobia. Further, it identifies political actors who leverage misogyny and anti-news media narratives in their attacks as top perpetrators of online violence against women journalists, while the main vectors are social media platforms - most notably Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube." (Exexutive summary)
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"This document reports on the implementation of projects approved by the 64th meeting of the IPDC Bureau (June 2020) and implemented in 2020-2021, and on projects approved as part of IPDC’s rapid response mechanism in January 2021. It also includes the implementation reports of several projects th
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at were approved by the 63rd Bureau meeting in June 2019 but whose implementation timeframe was extended until December 2021 due to delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is meant for the information of the IPDC Bureau Members and donors." (Page 1)
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"In the past few years, many countries across the continent have enacted various laws that permit surveillance, mandate telecommunication intermediaries to facilitate the interception of communication, stipulate the mandatory collection of biometric data, limit the use of encryption, require the loc
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alisation of personal data, and grant law enforcement agents broad search and seizure powers. This report therefore maps and analyses the laws and policies that impact on privacy, notably those that regulate surveillance, limitations on encryption, data localisation, and biometric databases. This analysis could inform remedial and mitigatory steps to protect the right to privacy, which may include strategic litigation and advocacy for legislative and policy reforms. Moreover, the results of this analysis are also crucial for monitoring developments and trends on privacy regulation and practice in the region." (Introduction, page 5-6)
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"This report documents the emerging and current trends in biometric data collection and processing in Africa. It focuses on the deployment of national biometric technology-based programmes on the continent, and the associated challenges, gaps and risks that are posed to data protection and privacy."
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(Introduction, p 3)
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"The handbook is an advocacy tool that details laws and regulations that enable and impact freedom of expression, media freedom, work of human rights defenders and activists in Zambia." (Publisher description)
"All the AMBs consistently demonstrate that African countries provide for at least freedom of expression, although a number also specify freedom of the press in their national constitutions. Most have ratified international instruments which provide for and seek to enhance fundamental freedoms. Howe
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ver, the AMBs also show that this promising picture is tainted by the inclusion of significant pullback conditions in the same national constitutions, and the enactment and retention of restrictive laws on the statute books. Furthermore, the AMBs indicate that several African countries, such as Namibia, have been slow to enact laws promoting access to information, especially information held by state functionaries. The AMBs show that African media are generally plural but less diverse in content, and primarily patriarchal in their coverage of women. Although print media is expansive in most African countries, circulation figures are dropping, and the cost of newspapers and magazines limits accessibility. Most countries have a significant number of broadcasting services (in particular radio, which remains the cheapest and most accessible medium on the continent) across the three tiers of state/public media, commercial media and community media. However, it is also noted that both print and broadcast media face sustainability challenges due to falling advertising revenues and limited state support for the media, which threatens to constrict the communicative space and the range of issues and social groups covered. In addition, the AMBs show limited desire by most African governments to provide guarantees, in law, for editorial independence in the state/public media." (Conclusion, page 49)
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"This paper presents an analytical review of the technological affordances of digital platforms in SSA. We adopted a systematic literature review methodology that entailed gathering evidence from relevant literature and digital platforms in three countries in SSA (South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya).
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Three research questions focusing on (i) critical issues of discussion on digital platforms in SSA and their distribution; (ii) understanding the technological affordances of digital platforms in SSA; and (iii) assessing the extent to which the technological affordances digital platforms can address the challenges of the informal sector in SSA drove the investigation. The study developed an affordances criteria framework, the first of its kind, to evaluate digital platforms affordances in SSA. Our findings revealed the key topics that have gained researchers' attention so far and digital platforms distribution in SSA. We also found that most digital platforms in SSA currently lack affordances that support multimodal interface and native language contents, limiting their accessibility to persons with minimal digital literacy. Most platforms also lack support for public/private partnerships. The lack of critical affordances that match the profile of the informal sector in SSA makes existing digital platforms incapable of addressing many critical challenges of the informal sector. These challenges include low literacy levels, minimal/lack of government support, lack of electricity or expensive power supply, expensive internet connectivity, and health and safety issues. However, existing digital platforms can reasonably address the absence of social protection, lack of formalization, and poor operational infrastructure." (Abstract)
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