[kictanet] Telcos regulator seeks to monitor WhatsApp

Mon Nov 5 14:35:51 EAT 2018

 Brother Francis,
The risks are real (its a fact - not an opinion) and they have actually materialized in other countries - including mature democracies like the US and emerging economies like India (where innocent people have been murdered due to fake whatsapp posts).
I have pasted some links with more info from broad sources at the bottom of my message. Please be sure to have a look.
We are not immune. Kenya is a fragile and flawed "democracy" where leaders heavily rely on identity politics to acquire or keep power. The intensity and increasingly high stakes of our winner take all politics should not be taken lightly. 
As much as we claim high literary levels, our education system does not teach us *how* to think with a view of forming rational and well informed opinions of events around us. This makes most Kenyans highly susceptible to manipulation though disinformation - especially on emotive issues.
What many of us take for "normal" (partly because we haven't seen anything else), including the 4-5 year sprints of fragile peace (which is more like a pause in hostilities imo), is in reality utter *insanity* when one does a comparative evaluation against mature democracies: we, a poor developing country, have the world's most expensive elections for example, and every 4 years the economy literally grinds to a halt as politics takes over and holds everyone hostage. Is this normal? I don't think so!
On Kenyan media... Truth be told, our media has failed us by exploiting, perpetuating (and therefore entrenching) ethnic divisions and tensions to boost their own profits (literally playing with fire). Media has the capacity to mould public thought away from ethnic kingpinship and towards real issues like economy, jobs, health, human rights and a systematization culture - rather than personality/saviour orientation.
For example, why not disseminate a quarterly dashboard to inform the public on how their leaders are delivering on promises / targets along these *real* issues?
One might argue that media is delivering by highlighting corruption but to me it looks like they are not really doing it for us common wananchi; corruption is sensational and reporting on corruption sells. It also creates political ammo that further feeds into our divisive high-stakes politics. 
Is there a better way? Why not proactively track how counties and state agencies are implementing anti-corruption systems to identify and seal loopholes? It looks to me like as much as that is what is needed, it does not make a "big story". It is boring and doesn't pay, so they don't bother. This is why NYS happened *twice* (and will keep happening) because it is more profitable to yell that the horse has bolted than to help close the barn door... and in that respect the media is a complicit participant and beneficiary in the corruption ecosystem.
Links / references:
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/how-whatsapp-became-linked-mob-violence-fake-news-why-it-n929981

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-11-01/whatsapp-groups-and-misinformation-are-a-threat-to-fragile-democracies

https://socialnomics.net/2014/03/04/the-shocking-truth-about-social-networking-crime/

https://amp.ft.com/content/19364166-866c-11e7-8bb1-5ba57d47eff7

https://theconversation.com/amp/social-media-and-crime-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-66397
Good day,Patrick.

    On Monday, November 5, 2018, 11:00:28 AM GMT+3, Francis Monyango <monyango93 at gmail.com> wrote:  

 Morning Mr Patrick Maina,
You mention how messaging apps facilitate fake news, crime and other things. You also lay peace,development on a scale versus human rights such as free speech and privacy. Sir, it is good to be objective and factual. Last year Kenya had 10 months of hot politics. Research shows that the Kenyan authorities did not attempt to control, disrupt or shutdown the internet. Hence this tired line of the country going into flames because of the internet (messaging apps) doesn't hold any weight. The number of Kenyan users of these messaging apps and other factors such as social class of users, bots affect the impact of the internet in democratic transitions. The broadcast media shut down in January should tell which communication medium has more impact on the Kenyan society. 😉 I believe your intention was to state why companies that offer over the top services should pay taxes here. That is a different argument all together with a different set of facts unless you are advocating for a blanket over the top tax to be paid by users to avoid 'spread of gossip and lies' just like in Uganda.

On Fri, 2 Nov 2018, 13:26 Patrick A. M. Maina via kictanet, <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

 These messaging apps facilitate fake news, crime, foreign meddling (to subvert democracy), brainwashing and hate speech on a massive scale. We know this for a fact. 
So as citizens and stakeholders in our country, we need to ask: what do we value more, is it things that improve peace, stability, economic development and democracy, OR, is it some utopian, unbounded notion of free speech and privacy that is disconnected from our contextual reality (e.g. protects criminals, malicious defamers and violence mongers in equal proportion as law abiding citizens)?
The companies running these uncontrolled messaging platforms will not be impacted if our country goes up in flames. They cost governments tons of money in maintaining internal security (especially during democratic transitions - sometimes to existential levels) yet they don't pay any taxes... and mark you, they are *billion dollar* companies! This also means that funds that ought to have bought, say, medicine to save lives gets diverted to fix an *imported problem* with no path to holding the parent company accountable for damage caused.
Gok needs to modernize our tax laws, which currently are based on the traditional "for profit" enterprise model and thus out of touch with Silicon Valley's "make losses by design" model. The basic assumption that entrepreneurship is a profit oriented endeavour does not hold for Silicon Valley VC subsidized companies. They are designed to operate as loss makers for decades (but still move *massive* amounts of financial resources at massive scale). This has the technical effect of *tax avoidance* because massive profits *are* still being made by the offshore VCs - which denies governments billions in taxes (despite imposing local burdens as illustrated above). 

A smart government would create modernized laws to tax VC funded Silicon Valley companies e.g. on the basis of *funding rounds* and *valuations* because this is their *real* business i.e. its how the investors intend to make money from day one - and the primary reason they push for perpetual losses!
There should also be a turnover tax and VAT on online revenue earned in Kenya by foreign billion dollar internet companies (e.g. advertisement revenue and appstore revenue), to level the tax playing field for local businesses. Similar to what other countries like the UK are working on: 
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/facebook-uk-tax-bill

CA will obviously have a hard time monitoring and enforcing though, under the current traditional framework due to technical barriers (e.g. encryption) and also due to jurisdictional challenges. 
So the other thing that CA really needs to do once the rules are set is to consider blocking non-compliant foreign apps completely at ISP level (especially now that political temperatures are cool and people and thinking clearly). Lets have local startups filling any gaps with copycat apps China-style. 
To be clear, I support free speech and privacy. But I also support peace, stability, safe neighbourhoods, democracy, sovereignty and economic predictability!
A delicate balance is needed to maximise the rights of law abiding citizens while minimising the ability of those with evil intent to exploit basic rights in order to harm the innocent.
Good day.Patrick.

    On Thursday, November 1, 2018, 11:00:44 PM GMT+3, Grace Githaiga via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:  

Kenya is considering regulating online services such as WhatsApp and Skype in a radical move that could force the internet-based service providers to share data with the government.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is in search of a consultant to study and determine how the so-called over-the-top services (OTTS) operated by groups such as Facebook, which runs WhatsApp, and Skype owner Microsoft, could be regulated.
Read on: https://www.nation.co.ke/business/Telcos-regulator-seeks-to-monitor-WhatsApp/996-4833020-fn9u7s/index.html

Best regards

Githaiga, Grace

Co-Convenor
Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet)
Twitter:@ggithaiga
Tel: 254722701495
Skype: gracegithaiga
Alternate email: ggithaiga at hotmail.com
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