Written by Nimrah Perveen, Harisa Shahid, and Qurratulain Nisar (Edited by Jenna Manhau Fung)
The second training session of NetMission Academy 2023 was held successfully on January 12, 2023, with great moderation and facilitation by Luke Teoh and Lam Nha Truc. In this session, 37 participants and 10 alumni from all around the Asia Pacific joined our honorable speakers – Swaran Ravindra and Farhan Shahmi to learn more about the empowerment of people with disabilities, and disinformation & misinformation
The session began with a case study presentation on presented by our participants – Nattaya Kay Jaratruangsaeng and Harisa Shahid. They presented the following examples during the session:
- Social Media and Youth Empowerment in the Philippines 2022 National Elections.
- Surveillance of the Government on the Internet after the Tigrayan war in Ethiopia in November 2020
Access is when we can participate in a digital society. This may be in the form of being able to access the proper tools and technologies like the internet or computer. Empowerment is where we not only have these tools and technologies available but we are also able to actively participate. What is important about these two is that they are interrelated and interconnected because we have the proper access to these tools and technology. So if we have those it opens new opportunities to empower ourselves and others learning and by sharing ideas. In this process of improving and improving, we are initially also told that we have to be worried about misinformation and disinformation and learn how to check the facts.
In case study 1, The presenting group first started the presentation by illustrating the situation in the Philippines where their national election was held on May 9, 2022. During the campaign period, social media played a large role in encouraging Filipinos to nation-building, as well as fighting against misinformation and disinformation.
The Philippines recently held the elections which determined the 17 presidents and 15 vice presidents. In the election, the nation saw that social media is a key battleground against misinformation and disinformation in 2022. Facebook and Twitter were the main sources used for political campaigns. The solution is to continue to support and encourage the general public, especially the youth who are the future of the nation.
Followed by the case study on the surveillance after the Tigrayan war in Ethiopia in November 2020, the group presented the data released by the NetBlocks from Ethiopia confirming an internet disruption in the Tigray region. It was highlighted that some people in some areas are restricted to use the internet. The local government and authorities use the internet for their own purposes. Internet shutdown is increasingly common in Africa. Especially in Ethiopia, the practice has prevented it from being one of the government’s favorite tools to control information.
Prime minister Abiy Ahmed announced the launch of a military campaign against Tigrayan rebels on Facebook and Twitter. Phone lines and the Internet were shut down and a six-month state of emergency was declared in the region. It made people updated with the circumstance and It raised a thick layer of fog around actions that amounted to international crimes. The group believes that the Ethiopian authorities should use the media to provide transparent information that can discourage violence and direct security forces to act according to international Human rights.
The webinar proceeded with two presentations delivered by our honorable speakers, Swaran Ravindra and Farhan Shahmi.
Swaran Ravindra talked about Digital Empowerment – Access to knowledge for people with disabilities. Many people are unaware of their digital rights. Many community leaders believe that the cost of education is too high. People with disabilities are more likely to lose their jobs or stay unemployed. And in developing countries it is even worse: 16% of the world’s population has one or more disabilities. Digital devices must be designed to be accessible to everyone. Every child deserves an equal education. And people with disabilities enjoy the same human rights as us. People with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty. The poverty gap between people with and without disabilities in developing countries is over 20%.
Guest Speaker, Farhan Abdullah, talked about A crash course on Misinformation “Wait-but I read it on the internet?”. The fact is that Not all information we see on the internet is true. It is also used to spread fake news. Sometimes people share a piece of news by thinking that it is true without verifying it. It is very difficult to identify fake news. For this, the laws that uphold international human rights are very important.
In Breakout group 1, they discussed the importance of international cooperation, which particularly involved politically vulnerable countries, and also talked about the importance of media literacy to reduce negative use of the internet.
In Breakout group 2, it was discussed the internet shutdown in Bangladesh by high school children and in Myanmar and the problems regarding the internet they face in the pandemic for policy issue 1. For policy issue 2, the Government needs to invest in internet infrastructures. For policy issue 3, Education and awareness about Internet governance are very important for everyone.
In Breakout group 3, the internet shutdown problem is due to dictators or non-democratic rule in the country, to resolve this problem democracy is one of the solutions for policy issue 1. For policy issue 2, recognizing the internet as a fundamental right, the government should subsidize the internet in the national budget. For Policy issue 3, the multi-stakeholder process, if everyone’s rights are guaranteed, maybe every party will be discouraged from using the negative internet.