Author: Khutso Nkadimeng
26 Jun 2020
When economist Dr Thomas Sowell was asked why he believed politics was not the vehicle through which most of the economic problems facing the black community could be solved, he said, and I paraphrase, politics like many things has things it can do and things it cannot do. As someone who bought into the dream of the internet and its promise for equality and democratisation of sectors previously reserved for a select few, I have come to a similar conclusion, the internet, like many things, it has things it can do and things it cannot do. I had too much faith in it. In this post, I will be reflecting on Sheena Magenya’s article of the same title and the Witwatersrand Post’s Sanet Witbooi reaction to it.
Access
“And therein lies the problem: presenting the internet as a solution to a social problem, as some kind of communication silver bullet that imagines an equality of access, use and representation on the internet which is false”
Dr Ruha Benjamin cautions against the same issue, an assumption that a social problem can be solved through technology. The problem of access to the internet and technology is yet another example of government failure, is a problem we are witnessing live in high definition with a shift to online learning as highlighted by Sanet.
Contribution and Representation
Access is hardly the only problem. The 15 million internet user increase in four years in Kenya and its subsequent results can be summarised with a conclusion from Mark Graham, “Connecting the previously disconnected in order to solve the digital divides is undoubtedly only part of the solution. Equally important are interrelated issues of literacy and education, digital architecture, governance of online communities and platforms, cultural, religious, gendered, and other socially constructed barriers, politics and political interference, and language” [2]
I would argue that a strong, deliberate, and active feminist movement will play a huge role in addressing the problems stated by Graham. African women have, throughout history been the most marginalised group, there is no one better suited for “setting old and current scores straight online” [1]. This is supported by the argument made in the paper on digital hegemonies [3], that a strong publishing industry and culture of high-quality research tend to produce more online presence, we need more African females in those areas.
Legislation
The problem of abuse and gender-based violence online requires an immediate solution. I suggest a similar approach taken in racism cases such as the one of Adam Catzavelos. The mandate of Equality Court and Sexual Offences Court must increase to online incidents.
Innovation
Sheena presents a generalisation that dominates the internet about African tech innovation, that “Our innovations are responses to famine, drought, disease and death”. Although she makes this point to caution against the dangers of a single story, I believe what drives African tech innovation in this context is not new and should be embraced by those of us in positions to do anything about it. Computer Science as pioneered by Alan Turing was in response to the death threat posed by Nazi Germany. The lack of banking infrastructure in Africa is what propelled the continent to the top in cashless transaction technologies.
In conclusion, I believe making a feminist internet will address many of the problems faced by all Africans.
1. Magenya, S. (2020) Making a Feminist Internet in Africa: Why the internet needs African Feminists and Feminisms, GenderIT.org
2. Mark Graham (2014) Internet Geographies: Data Shadows and Digital Divisions of Labour
3. Andrea Ballatore, Mark Graham & Shilad Sen (2017) Digital Hegemonies: The Localness of Search Engine Results, Annals of the American Association of Geographers