[kictanet] social media in UG blocked on election day

Fri Feb 19 07:53:42 EAT 2016

Happy Furahi Day!
Peaceful, progressive elections to our Ugandan relatives! You and your country are our home too.
Without necessarily going into the political interests and whether this is right/wrong, justifiable or not, this situation also raises "on the role of the respective service providers in customer service.
On how prepared they are with back-up or alternative temporary services in the event their mainstream services "collapse" for any reason within our markets. Their customers have invested heavily in data, networks, storage of information and livelihoods thus customers rely on them to be available.
It would be perplexing if the only way to access services is through what may be viewed as back-door services by another provider circumventing your own systems or directing the customer to a new service (...potential loss of customer in future).
For instance whereby a bank's only ATM system is faulty within a town, one would expect the bank staff to "camp with a lorry of money" at the ATM point to serve customers or on the other hand open a quick arrangement with another bank with a functional ATM to serve its customers temporarily- on their behalf. With the current scenario of back-door management, we would have some ingenious characters break into the bank and start servicing the bank's customers or the customers wait until the bank's services are restored.
We have  had similar situations with services such as mobile money and the customer is at the mercy of the providers for instance during back up and maintenance - until they restore their services make use of the competitor alternative or wait.
On a lighter note, yesterday on air, one radio caller enquired as to why there was no hue and cry when Mrs.Clinton and Condolleza visited Kenya and there was "blockage" to some services and slowing down of  services for communication. On the other hand it was noted that during President Obama and the Pope's visit this was not obviously evident. Perhaps reflecting improvement in the capabilities of the security agency capabilities or complexity of the newer communication tools or appreciation that all require to be secure for you to be too. .
Blessed day and happy weekend!
Regards/Wangari ---
Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth".

    On Friday, 19 February 2016, 5:35, Juliet Nanfuka. via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

 Hello all,Thanks Percy for your email. In response to Ebele's email, the process used to throttle the internet remains questionable. MTN issued a statement indicating that a directive was received from the regulator. It's unclear how long it will last.See this blog from yesterday: http://ln.is/www.cipesa.org/2016/ItAHeBest,
JulietOn Feb 18, 2016 1:28 PM, "Ephraim Percy Kenyanito via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Hey guys,
This week I reached out to some of our Ugandan local partners on another mailing list in the event this would happen.The good thing is that there are free tools to circumvent such similar violations on the of freedom of expression. Please feel free to reach out to reach out to Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline, through which activists, independent media, and civil society organizations across the globe can get real-time, direct technical assistance and advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Last Friday (12th) our 24 hour  Digital Security Helpline and some of our local partners detected a minor outage that lasted not more than an hour and this made us prepare for any eventuality.
This is part of an unfortunate and growing trend. Rather than an exception, internet shutdowns are becoming the norm as more governments order the suspension or throttling of entire networks. Often justified for public safety purposes, shutdowns instead cut off access to vital information and emergency services, plunging whole societies into darkness.

This is despite previous research showing that Internet Shutdowns and state violence Go hand in hand, and this is something Access Now and local partners documented while dealing with Internet Shutdowns in Egypt, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Burundi, among other places outside the African Union member states.
A growing body of jurisprudence declares shutdowns to violate international law. U.N. and regional human rights experts issued an historic statement declaring that internet “kill switches” can never be justified under international human rights law, even in times of conflict. General Comment 34 of the Human Rights Committee, the official interpreter of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, emphasizes that restrictions on speech online must be strictly necessary and proportionate to achieve a legitimate purpose.In times of shutdown, it is incumbent on the entire tech and telecom sector to join together to assert the rights of their users to freedom of expression, access to information, and assembly. Only by presenting a united front, and calling out the disproportionate and harmful impacts of government-ordered shutdowns, will the sector begin to mitigate and eventually prevent this abusive tactic.
Please feel free to enlist the help of Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline, through which activists, independent media, and civil society organizations across the globe can get real-time, direct technical assistance and advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These services, include:

   - Rapid response on digital security incidents
   - Personalized recommendations, instruction, and follow-up support on digital security issues
   - Help assessing risks and creating organizational or community security strategies
   - Guidance on security practices and tools for organizations, communities, groups, and individuals
   - Support for securing technical infrastructure, websites, and social media against attacks
   - Referrals, capacity-building, in-person consultations, and training
   - Education materials in multiple languages
--
Best Regards,Ephraim Percy KenyanitoSub-Saharan Africa Policy Analyst
Access Now | accessnow.org

@ekenyanito
PGP: E6BA8DC1Fingerprint: B0FA394AF73DEB7AA1FDC7360CFED26DE6BA8DC1

Subscribe to the Access Now Express, our weekly newsletter on digital rights
Sign up for our action alertsOn 18 Feb 2016 12:21, "Ebele Okobi via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Was it announced as a temporary block, or an ongoing block? If the former, did they announce a date by which it would end? And have they simply asked operators to throttle access? I’m curious w/r to the democratic process they invoked, and the basis they used.
Ebele Okobi | Head of Public Policy, Africam. +44 (0) 771 156 13152 Stephen St | London | W1T 1ANebeleokobi at fb.com

From: "Juliet Nanfuka." <juliet at cipesa.org>
Date: Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 9:10 AM
To: Ebele Okobi <ebeleokobi at fb.com>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] social media in UG blocked on election day

Hello Ebele,There was a televised interview with the commission earlier.
On Feb 18, 2016 12:04 PM, "Ebele Okobi" <ebeleokobi at fb.com> wrote:

Have they made a public statement?
Ebele Okobi | Head of Public Policy, Africam.+44 (0) 771 156 13152 Stephen St | London | W1T 1ANebeleokobi at fb.com

From: kictanet <kictanet-bounces+ebeleokobi=fb.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke> on behalf of "Juliet Nanfuka. via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Reply-To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Date: Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 8:59 AM
To: Ebele Okobi <ebeleokobi at fb.com>
Cc: "Juliet Nanfuka." <juliet at cipesa.org>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] social media in UG blocked on election day

Hello Riva,Yes were have been following the developments and have access to social media.Blockage has been confirmed by the Uganda Communications Commission.Kind regards,
JulietCIPESA colleagues, are you able to access social media?
http://www.theinsider.ug/uganda-blocks-facebook-twitter-on-election-day-as-ballots-go-missing/
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.

KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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