ISOCUg participates in Tech Policy Circle

Introduction:
On Thursday, February 15th, 2024, in Kampala, Uganda, the Tech Global Institute and Pollicy hosted a Tech Policy Circle, a round table conversation that was attended by 24 (14 women,10 men)  stakeholders including Government representatives and civil society actors from different fields including legal minds, human rights defenders, and activists all with interest in tech accountability in the global south.

The questions of discussion included;

1. Can we disrupt the spaces where global tech conversations are happening and make sure that the voices of the global south are represented?
2. Who is speaking for the global south and how do they represent us in the spaces where tech conversations are happening?
3. How can we then influence ethical, responsible and transparent technology?

What is the problem?

There has been an increase in internet users in the global majority, but the modern internet continues to be developed without an equitable voice for these communities. This exclusion leads to disproportionate risks to safety and technology platforms used for users in the global south.

This is because these communities do not have a say in how these technologies are designed and governed. Civil society lacks the institutional capacity to rally support and advocate for tech accountability.

The accountability ecosystem is fragmented into issues of information, governance, and advocacy. This includes investigation of quantitative and qualitative research, fact-finding and fact-checking exercises, social media monitoring, legislation and policies to regulate the digital ecosystem, and dissemination of digital literacy and security programs.

It is important to consider the realities of last-mile communities regarding their digital rights and information dissemination and governance. This includes how these communities experience access to the internet, as well as the regulation and governance laws that protect internet users. It is also important to consider how laws are made, either through copy and paste or through the punitive nature of cyber laws in the region.

Tech accountability involves a multifaceted approach specific to the global majority contexts in which they exist. This includes legislation, litigation, investigation and public reporting, transparency, prosocial design, and user empowerment.

The Discussion

Following the initial presentation by Muthuri, the floor was opened to all attendees, adhering to the principles of the Chatham House Rule.

During this interactive session, participants emphasised that,

1. In Africa, the allocation of resources predominantly focuses on information gathering and dissemination, while governance capacity often remains reactive to tech advancement, innovations, and engagement and this is reflected in our legislation.

Role of Civil Society Organisations

1. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have indeed made efforts to establish working hubs, especially in rural areas, to promote technology usage and foster innovations. However, it’s essential to recognize that these initiatives can sometimes inadvertently lead to unintended negative consequences due to limited knowledge and improper use of information.
2. The intricate world of technology can indeed be overwhelming for many. Simplifying tech terms and usage is essential to ensure everyone can participate and benefit. “Let’s break it down to for example plain language, visual aid, storytelling”
3. How people react in terms of anonymity and presence, and people often make terrible decisions in the face of anonymity and people do things in the presence of no identity and how to account right to a person non grata.
4. Conversation on how summit preparations are created for the participation of the global south in the global discourse.
5. The financial muscle of the big tech and the gap in making sure that delivery of services is presented to the everyday person, the watered down of priority in regards to government priorities on whether the internet is of greater priority than food and hunger issues. And the reality of digital connectivity, what it means for the last mile community, and the work civil society is doing. The disconnect between government services and civil society solutions.  There should be a relationship built between government and civil society to understand the tech conversations and how they affect the country.
6. Coming together with a pool is a way that we can strengthen tech accountability and leverage our call to action in the technology space.

Role of Tech and Policies Experts

1. Design and User empowerment; Software developers association and how we can hold developers accountable, the rules and guidelines that are in place in the process of designing and technology development, and the end users’ problems that are present so that the design element deals with the challenges that present themselves in the tech platforms.
2. The inclusion of telecom companies, such as service providers like MTN in Uganda, should be integral to discussions concerning technology accountability.
3. Direct dialogue with Big Tech on the hard accountability conversations for the global south and the changing dynamic of the global south and the sustainability strategy to ensure continuity and sustainability of the existing tech platforms.
4. Litigation and how we engage and navigate the tech advancement, the ethical considerations on what we look at, and what we can hold as ethical standards before we deal with the regulator. To deal with the ISP and the service providers so that they know that there are other concerns that they need to address beyond the profits that they make in the ecosystem.
5. The gaps in collective responsibility and how the global south ends up pushing the agenda of big tech and in the end we are biased to the needs and capacity needs of the global south. We must leverage collective and regional platforms to push for our collective advocacy against big tech. Our numbers should be able to leverage us and provide accountability from Big tech.
6. Strengthening Capacity, particularly for a lot of older people in decision-making positions for them to leverage and use technology in our call accountability. Technology is an enabler to the development of communities across the broad.
7. Embrace a multi-faceted approach and inclusion in the dynamics of freedom of expression in the online space with regulation and safety of the internet space. How we marry these dynamics becomes imperative as how we embrace accountability in our call and need to embrace technology as a country.
8. The geo-political environment in which we operate as the global south plays a great role in how we move towards common ground areas that we must address and then work towards getting the best results. In many countries, TikTok has been banned due to security and politics but that has a different connotation within Uganda.
9. Lexicon management and how we can have inclusive tech platforms that can be inclusive for last mile communities that can make it easy to use and explore in creating a human-centered touch to the technology deployed and used for the last mile communities. Tech companies need a human-centered design for the technology deployed and improve the accessibility and user experience for the end users.
10. Litigation and the misinterpretation of the law that continues, there must be a capacity building for judges that equips the judicial system on how to make sure that judgments are in context with the technological development so that we can have better judgments in tech-related cases.
11. How effective are the technological systems for the people, how are they being used by the people and how can we investigate and report back to the developers so that the design is inclusive to the everyday users?
12. Repressive laws and countering misinformation and disinformation, especially in the context of repression of minority rights and the realities on what mechanisms we need to hold social media platforms accountable like TikTok and Telegram.

Role of Government

1. The intersection of technology and reality must be considered to ensure that technology serves all communities, especially those in remote areas. Judges need to be equipped with the knowledge to make judgments that are in line with technological advancements, to avoid misinterpreting the law. Additionally, it is crucial to investigate how technology is being used by people and to report back to developers to ensure that designs are inclusive for everyday users. Accountability should be a bottom-up approach to ensure that the system works effectively for everyone. It is necessary to include the voices of small communities and last-mile communities in tech development, instead of solely relying on donor organizations. Direct communication with big tech is important for accountability conversations, particularly in the global south, and for developing sustainability strategies
2. The problem in Uganda is that the regulator is at the heart of the misinformation and disinformation so how do we hold the government accountable alongside big tech, especially in the face of oppressive laws?
3. The intersection of gendered data, content moderation, and government regulations is a multifaceted landscape that warrants thoughtful consideration of the exercise of freedom of expression.
4. Technology poses a significant challenge for the Ugandan government, and unfortunately, there are limited reforms in place to ensure technology accountability. This situation has several implications including lack of insight and transparency.
5. Accountability should be bottom-up so that the system works across the board
6. The conversation should lower into the last mile communities and the small groups that hold so much water in the communities so that technology speaks to the needs of the people beyond what donors and organisations are pushing. It goes beyond the design and deployment of technology, in our call for tech development, the voice of the communities becomes very critical to the discourse.

Role of Citizens

1. Transparency, who we identify as a tech user, and the unique key that provides digital identity are the ways we can hold users accountable, especially in the reality of abuse and misuse of the internet.
2. The responsibility of platform users, particularly self-employed bloggers, is crucial in addressing the spread of misinformation and its impact on marginalized groups.
3. A radical alternative to the realities of moderating the internet and content moderation for journalists, particularly in regards to content moderation and self-regulation.

The TGI mission can operationalize policy as an enabler with the global majority in the Ugandan context by:

• Diversity ideation- There is a need for more diversity and highlighting of multiple perspectives of actors’ participation.
• Deploy With Responsibility, Accountability, and Transparency- Encouraging freedom of expression in the online space but also emphasising inclusion to combat tech-facilitated gender-based violence.
• Safety, Privacy, and Inclusivity by Design – Having accountability and coming up with pacts but also not affecting the digital rights of other people like women and minorities.
• Develop Iteratively (“Move fast without breaking things”) – There should be sensitisation of digital rights for example “Barefoot Law an organisation  which through the innovative use of digital technology, empowers people with free legal information so that they can use it to develop legal solutions for their justice needs”

In conclusion, the diverse perspectives brought to the table what to consider for tech accountability in the region through the understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead. We engaged in thoughtful discussions, shared insights, and explored potential solutions.

ISOC Uganda was represented by Kayaga Beatrice, Project Coordinator, Internet Society – Uganda  Chapter