EALS HOST OVER 50 TANZANIA JOURNALIST AND CIVIL SOCIETY REPRESENTATIVE TO BUILD RESILIENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF USING DIGITAL PLATFORMS

The East Africa Law Society (EALS) hosts a High-Level Media and Civil Society Convening, Digital Resilience and Accountability Discussed in Dar es Salaam.

The hosted over 50 Tanzanian journalists and civil society representatives operating in the digital space for a timely conversation on ways of building resilience and accountability for stakeholders using digital platforms.

This comes at a time when the paradigm shift to a completely digital world and digital way of life is almost complete and over 50% of the Tanzanian population has access to and use digital platforms in their everyday life.

Speaking at the convening, which also had a master class on the concept of digital rights and the effective use of the digital space to promote and defend the freedom of expression and association, the Chief Executive Officer of the East Africa Law Society, Mr. David Sigano underscored the need for CSOs, journalists and media houses to generate capacity to effectively and beneficially utilise the digital space to positively impact Society.

He noted the critical role of journalists and civil society in preserving and protecting online and offline freedoms and called for more resilience and adaptability by stakeholders to effectively manoeuvre even when laws appear repressive.

Mr. Bill Marwa, Oxfam’s Digital Rights Advisor for Africa delivered a digital rights master class which sought to build the capacity of journalists and civil society to effectively navigate the digital space.

During the convening, delegates also had a chance to comprehensively review the laws and policies governing digital rights in Tanzania. Presented by Mr. Fulgence Massawe, Director, Advocacy and Reforms at the Legal and Human Rights Centre, this provided them with an opportunity to understand and appreciate the legal environment within which they operate and the potential challenges posed by the current laws to their work.

The convening highlighted challenges hindering the effective utilization of Tanzania’s digital space which has hampered the full realization of it’s potential.

These challenges include limited digital literacy among a large chunk of Tanzania’s population, access barriers to digital platforms including incidences of internet shutdown/censorship, online harassment and surveillance and rising incidences of disinformation and fake news.

Speaking at the session, Mr. Maxence Melo, Executive Director, Jamii Forums highlighted his personal struggle for an open digital space and in Tanzania and quipped that despite the challenges, the opening up of the digital space and rising number of users of digital platforms has brought with it lots of opportunities including growth of online businesses.

Other key speakers at the convening included Freedom House Inc Chief of Party in Tanzania, Mr. Daniel Naphtal Lema who addressed the question of digital resilience in Tanzania, Mr. Edwin Mugambila, Chief Executive Officer, Tanzania Relief Initiatives who reiterated this message and Ms. Nuru Maro, Advocacy, Research and Engagement lead at THRDC. who addressed the issue of digital accountability.

Mr. Nuzulack Dausen, Chief Executive Officer, Nukta Africa and Reuters Correspondent provided the icing on the cake by teaching delegates ways of using digital platforms to generate income.

The convening concluded with resolutions by delegates to work together in addressing the identified challenges and to leverage on emerging opportunities to create a digitally resilient and accountable digital environment that will give more Tanzanian citizens a chance to fully enjoy their digital rights.

The CEO of EALS then officially announced future comprehensive training and capacity building for media and civil society on digital and other fundamental rights as well as the provision of support to journalists and CSOs under persecution.

The East Africa Law Society (EALS) is the umbrella regional bar association of the respective national law societies in East Africa (the Law Society of Kenya, Tanganyika Law Society, Uganda Law Society, Zanzibar Law Society, Rwanda Bar Association, Burundi Bar Association and the South Sudan Bar Association) together with their individual members now amounting to over 30,000.