How African leaders use the power of social media
By Crispin Adriaanse
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Cape Town – Internet shutdowns across Africa have become more prevalent in recent years as usage of social media platforms increases.
In all cases, these blackouts are implemented at the hand of leaders of national governments, particularly during times of social unrest or political contestation, highlighting the power social media users and these platforms possess.
The term internet shutdown commonly refers to a multitude of internet restrictions. Access Now, a non-profit founded in 2009 to defend global digital rights, defines an internet shutdown as an “intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information”.
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Iran blocks access to Signal messaging app after it becomes popular
January 28, 2021
Iran has blocked access to Signal, the messaging app that has picked up tens of millions of new users around the world in the wake of controversial updates to WhatsApp’s terms and conditions. Word of the blocking surfaced on January 25, when the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) tweeted that access to the app was being blocked in Iran. Peivast reported that the Iranian government’s Working Group for Determining Instances of Criminal Content ordered the ban on January 15, after which the app was delisted from app stores in the country, and access to it was blocked.
Signal vows to fight blockage in Iran amid newfound popularity
Share Jan 26, 2021 | CYBERSCOOP
The Iranian government appears to have blocked Signal usage in recent days amid a newfound surge in popularity.
The government effort to restrict access to Signal’s encrypted messaging application comes in the wake of WhatsApp’s decision to announce an update to its privacy policy for business customers that would share their data with Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent company. The move was reportedly off-putting to so many users in Iran it appears to have pushed them to Signal, prompting the newfound attention from the Iranian government.