The Interesting History of Freedom of Expression as a Human Right
And How Understanding It Can Help Africa Tackle Disinformation
Six months ago, officials in Mozambique acknowledged that disinformation played a role in the Mozambique ferry disaster that killed 96 people.
Elsewhere, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies noted that since 2022, disinformation campaigns that aim to manipulate African information systems have surged nearly fourfold.
The line between disinformation and freedom of expression has always been blurry. The chaos and confusion date back to ancient Greece.
Ancient Greeks used theatre to explore the freedom of expression and question authority, but that freedom was not absolute.
The leaders and philosophers of the time wrestled with balancing freedom of speech with public order. They often arrested and punished critics of the government for sedition.
Over two millennia later, society is wrestling with the same issue—the absoluteness of freedom of expression and how to balance it with disinformation to avoid public harm.
It goes to show how complex and nuanced an issue it is!
History of Freedom of Expression
Freedom of expression has only existed as a legal concept for a few years.
Sure, King George signed the Magna Carta in the 13th century, but that document only introduced the idea of constitutional liberties. It did not explicitly mention freedom of speech or freedom of the press.
It was not until the 18th century (December 15, 1791) that James Madison's Bill of Rights became law.
The Bill of Rights gave Americans civil liberties and rights such as freedom of speech, religion, and press. It also paved the way for one of the world's historical documents—the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The UDHR documents the freedoms and rights to which each individual on earth is entitled. Representatives from all regions came together, discussed, and agreed on a common standard for all peoples and nations.
Of particular concern to this discussion is Article 19 of the UDHR. It states that:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
It seems straightforward enough, but the rise of the digital age has demonstrated otherwise.
How Has the Digital Age Complicated Things?
It gave rise to the internet, the de facto public square where everyone could interact with massive amounts of information and state their opinions anonymously.
Anonymity, scientists discovered, permitted people to misbehave.
A study pioneered by Philip Zimbardo showed that many people act aggressively, illegally, or rudely when their names and faces are hidden.
The rise of disinformation is proof of this. Because people know they are anonymous, they do not hesitate to spread disinformation.
The question, therefore, becomes, in such a complex ecosystem, how does the world tackle disinformation?
Start with the Law, Maybe
That is a decent idea, but the law is murky.
Sure, it has set certain guardrails. Most free speech absolutists will even tell you they agree with these guardrails and are only against censorship that goes beyond the law.
The thing is, that is too idealistic a view.
Take the recent Supreme Court case, Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck. The justices ruled that an entity "merely hosting speech for others is not a traditional, public function and does not alone transform private entities into state actors subject to First Amendment constraints."
Going by that, it means Twitter or any other social media platform is not wrong for setting up policies that allow the banning of users who spread disinformation.
Yet, before Twitter became X, a lot of people were up in arms over its moderation policies. Many said it infringed on their First Amendment right to be banned for spreading what they believed to be true.
So, how can the law arbitrate between two opposing groups who believe they are exercising their freedom of opinion and expression?
Allow for Innovative Solutions
In the early days of social media, many founders insisted they’d follow the law to the letter and make the platforms and websites havens of free speech.
With time, they realized it was not realistic. Why?
Unless there is some level of moderation, the platform will be full of scams and spam, destroying trust. You've probably seen this with WhatsApp/Facebook groups. Even when you know the people in the group, scams, and spam eventually pop up without rules and moderation.
Two, for a platform to be fully inclusive and trustworthy, it must devise ways to deal with bad actors. As research has shown, anonymity will always embolden bad actors.
These platforms have spent years experimenting and iterating to create policies that comprehensively address the various complexities. Where this has proven impossible, they have traded off some things to find an acceptable middle ground.
That approach forms the basis of the first thing Africa can do to tackle disinformation.
Document, Build a Knowledge Base, and Keep Iterating
Currently, no one knows enough to find a comprehensive solution for disinformation.
More than that, technology is ever-evolving. Today's solution might prove to be utterly ineffective tomorrow.
However, the same technology can facilitate data collection to document what is working, what isn't, and the nuances that make it difficult to develop solutions.
With time, that data will build a solid knowledge database to help create better solutions.
Yes, there will still be trade-offs, as is often the case with any complex matter, but they will be well-informed trade-offs with fewer errors.
In a word, iteration is the name of the game.
Fact-Checking Networks
This is something that is already working on a small scale in Kenya.
An independent media company in Kenya—Africa Uncensored—launched a website and associated social media handles whose sole job is fact-checking. The site's name is 'piga firimbi,' which is Kiswahili for blowing the whistle.
The site focuses on fast-spreading information. It has become the norm that whenever Kenyans encounter fishy information, the first stop is 'piga firimbi' to check if the site has verified the information.
On a large scale, it is an incredible way of tackling disinformation.
It is by no means perfect. What of countries that are not committed to journalistic integrity? But it is a decent starting point.
Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
The European Commission is already doing this within Europe. The Commission's 2018 action plan enumerated the importance of a multi-stakeholder response, from civil societies to governments and the private sector.
Suppose this happens on a larger scale with stakeholders in Africa, Europe, and the rest of the world. It could go a long way toward allowing Africa to work with various stakeholders to tackle disinformation.
Take Away
History has proven that balancing freedom of expression with arising issues can sometimes be challenging.
However, complex doors do not need complex keys; they just need the right keys.
One will always land on the right key, given time to experiment and improve!
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading Africa: Not an Afterthought, where we lead the conversation on how Africa can leverage technology, trade (AfCFTA), regional integration, and Pan-Africanism to build a continent that is no longer an afterthought.
However, please allow me to share this hilarious clip making social media rounds in Kenya. Apparently, this is our state as Kenyans after electing his excellency William Samoei Ruto—ducking one horrible blow after the other.
If it is not unreasonable taxes, it’s selling off leasing national assets (the airport). Before one can barely breathe, the vice president is impeached. Now, they are discussing increasing term limits from 5 to 7 years. Oh, how can we forget countless Kenyans dying because the government shifted from the National Health Insurance Fund to the Social Health Authority without a solid plan 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
Also, check out this prompt that I gave Gemini to generate the main image for this piece. Cool, huh? I am having entirely too much fun with AI.
Prompt: Generate an image of two black hands holding a phone. Displayed on the screen is a blue panel that says 'NEWS' in capital letters. Below that is an image of the globe in the background, and overlaying that background are the words "DISINFORMATION." Beneath that, illegible words that mimic a news website with various titles
Result:👇🏽👇🏽
Yeah, yeah, my prompting could be better, but still🤯🤯
Now we are done done! See you on Friday, and if you enjoyed this piece, please: