Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

#7: Internet access & Technology censorship - Why and how African governments are increasing internet restrictions

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about technology & Internet censorship in Africa. We’ll discuss internet access across African countries, how censorship works, examples of censorship and end with our views on internet censorship across Africa. This episode was recorded on July 12, 2020


Companies discussed: ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), Loon & ByteDance (TikTok)


Concepts discussed: Internet access, Internet censorship, Technology censorship, China Tech, India Tech & Government influence on technology


Conversation highlights:

  • (01:22) - Highlights from public launch - listener breakdown
  • (04:22) - Background on internet access in Africa
  • (09:30) - Loon launch in Kenya and licenses in other African countries
  • (12:13) - Introduction to internet censorship
  • (13:21) - Common reasons for internet censorship
  • (14:36) - The internet is not as decentralized as you think
  • (15:14) - Autonomous Systems and Internet access
  • (17:25) - Examples of internet censorship and highly censored countries
  • (22:20) - Indian internet ban on 59 Chinese apps (most notably TikTok & WeChat)
  • (24:09) - Internet censorship in Africa - Heavy, Medium and Low levels of censorship
  • (29:10) - How users respond to internet censorship
  • (34:16) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
  • (34:42) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
  • (39:42) - Bankole’s recommendations and small wins
  • (41:58) - Olumide’s recommendation and small wins


    • Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Recommendation: Business model canvas (by Alexander Osterwalder)
    • Small win: Stumbled on childhood music that made me happy

      • Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

      • Recommendation: How to take smart notes (by Sonnke Ahrens) 
      • Small win: Started using Roam Research for my note taking this past week
      • Other content mentioned: Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University - For metrics about autonomous systems and points of control


        • We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email [email protected]


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        Afrobility: Africa Tech and BusinessBy Olumide Ogunsanwo and Bankole Makanju
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