AI colonialism, and Facebook in Africa

A weekly news brief from the Web Foundation

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How does AI entrench and reproduce existing colonial dynamics? What is Meta/Facebook’s plan for Africa? Find out in this edition of The Web This Week.

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The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) is seeking a Latin America and the Caribbean Coordinator to lead and strengthen our strategic partnerships, profile and influence in the LAC region.
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Algorithms and AI

AI Colonialism - MIT Technology Review’s Karen Hao has produced a multi-part series on how AI is enriching a powerful few by dispossessing communities that have already been dispossessed before. They include stories on how South Africa’s private surveillance machine is fueling a digital apartheid, how the AI industry profits from catastrophe, and how gig workers are fighting back against the algorithms ➤ MIT Technology Review

Access and Affordability

Facebook in Africa - Emmanuel Akinwotu writes about how the tech giant is investing in digital infrastructure around the world as it faces mounting pressure in Global North countries ➤ The Guardian

Misinformation

Can Facebook tackle misinformation in Africa? - The company has been criticised for not putting enough resources into content moderation, despite its pursuit of growth on the continent ➤ The Guardian

What would a Twitter takeover mean for Elon Musk? - According to Rest of World, it would be a “global headache” ➤ Rest of World

Stat of the week

6600

The number of cameras that Vumacam, the company building South Africa’s nationwide CCTV network, has already installed. More than 5000 of them are concentrated in Johannesburg ➤ MIT Technology Review

Privacy

Safaricom challenged on subscribers’ privacy - Lobbyists have asked the courts to compel Kenya’s main mobile service provider to delete customer photos which it acquired during the recent Sim card registration drive, which many users found controversial ➤ The Star

Meta to stop sharing of private residential information of other users - This ends an exception to its existing rules that allowed users to post other users’ information on its platforms if it was “publicly available” elsewhere ➤ The Economic Times

Big Tech

Irish State faces big tech backlash - This follows moves to make directors of social media companies criminally liable for harm caused on their platforms, in an effort to curb cyberbullying and content which promotes harmful behaviour ➤ The Irish Times

“It is a matter of accountability. If you take up such a huge responsibility in society, you should equally invest in solving the problems that come out of it. They have the resources, what is lacking is the willpower.”

Grace Mutung’u, Kenyan policy researcher and lawyer | The Guardian

Web Foundation in the News

The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)’s device pricing data was cited in an article by TelecomDrive on unlocking 4G-enabled Africa.

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