JOUR304.3001
James L'Angelle
Univ of Nevada, Reno
Dr. Paromita Pain
30 June 2019
Activism, African Style
Upheaval not seen since the Arab Spring swept across north African nations several years ago, a new and similar movement, fueled by social media, is taking shape from Zimbabwe to Chad, from Sudan to Ethiopia, from the Congo to Mauritania. The causes are familiar; dictatorship, famine, disease and especially the rise of social media itself to connect dissidents in each of the hotspots.
Zimbabwe has seen a great deal of unrest since the new government took power with the ouster of Robert Mugabe in late 2017. (Wikipedia) Gasoline shortages soon followed and the financial status of the nation has been unstable ever since. Very recently, the government announced it would place a ban on foreign currency drawing threats of even more violent protests;
“'If the government does not reverse this ruinous policy immediately and announce U.S. dollar salary payments, we will immediately mobilise workers for mass action,' Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Peter Mutasa told a news conference." (CNBC)
ZCTU's online presence exists with a Facebook page. (Facebook) and a Twitter online presence, @ZctuZimbabwe. (Twitter) The Facebook page has 3000 followers and the Twitter page has 13,500 followers. However, the news that it will organize a strike appears to be, "fake;"
"'We are not involved in the current calls for protests on Monday (July 1), we are not involved. Some people have just been trying to use our name, without seeking our consent or talking to us,' said ZCTU president Peter Mutasa on Saturday." (RosGwen24News)
To what degree CNBC is responsible for circulating the false news story is not verified. Zimbabwe has nearly 900,000 Facebook users in a population of 17 million. (Internet World Stats)
Across the board shutdowns in Africa frequently occur for the same reason as in Zimbabwe, as reported by Daniel Mumbere in Africa News;
"Chad which has implemented a social media blackout for over a year now claims applications like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp have helped to organize anti-government protests and threatened internal security." (Mumbere, Africa News)
Chad has only 260,000 Facebook subscribers in a population of 15 million. (Internet World Stats) It appears to be enough possibly due to a high level of education or an advanced degree of internet savvy in the nation.
"At least seven protesters were killed and more than 180 wounded Sunday during mass demonstrations in Sudan, according to health ministry officials, as tens of thousands answered the opposition’s call for a “million-man march” to end military rule." (France24)
Alshami's Twitter page has 22,400 followers but the link to her website appears either expired or blocked. Ethiopia restored internet access to its 4.5 million Facebook users following one week of shutdown in the wake of a failed military coup. (BBC) Mauritania, in West Africa followed the rest of the despotic mid-African nations into the denial-of-service pit shutting down the web to its nearly 800,000 Facebook users (Internet World Stats);
"The outage has taken its toll on all of Mauritania’s consumer internet providers, with 92 percent of nationwide connectivity knocked out. Nonetheless, a small number of users have reported that they have been able to maintain intermittent connection." (Andrew Christian, Gadgets-Africa)
The blackout was a direct result of a shaky government following dubious election results and the fear of online protest organizing.
Dissent, African style, is no different than anywhere else in the world. Reports of denial-of-service due to online organizing are becoming more frequent, in particular where the government is the sole service provider. The advantages of organizing campaigns through social media are plenty; easy access to a population base, combined with advertising targeting the affected regions and utilizing instant messaging to coordinate street level tactics. The disadvantages may affect the entire population.
Works Cited
Mugabe, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe
ZCTU, https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financial/2019/06/25/labour-group-in-zimbabwe-threatens-protests-over-ban-on-foreign-currencies/
ZCTU Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Zimbabwe%20Congress%20of%20Trade%20Unions
@ZctuZimbabwe
Fake Strike, https://www.facebook.com/RosGwen24News/
Zimbabwe Population, https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm
Mumbere, D., https://www.africanews.com/2019/06/18/scitech-governmentscitizens-battle-over-access-to-the-internet//
Million Man March, https://www.france24.com/en/20190630-sudan-braces-million-man-protest-march-against-military-rule
Azaz Alshami/Twitter, https://twitter.com/3ozaz
Ethiopia, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48653392
Christian, A., https://gadgets-africa.com/2019/06/28/mauritania-internet-shutdown-internet-ethiopia-restored/
Link