Tech Companies: Data Privacy, Censorship, Algorithms, and the Overlooked Influence in Africa -By Abdullateef Olayemi Lukman

Technology has made life easier for human beings.The advent of technologies like social media in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century has connected the world in an incredible manner. This rise has brought questions about the protection of user data and censorship by these technology companies, as social media technology keeps growing.

There are 4.95 billion social media users globally. As of 2022, Africa has 384 million social media users,roughly about 7% of the global user base, and this number continues to grow, according to a data from Statista. This is a huge data pool of users, so what are leaders in Africa doing to address the issues of data privacy, censorship and Algorithms?

There have been incidents around the world where data from these technology companies has been used by third parties to interfere in elections. Examples include the 2016 American general election and the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union during the Brexit campaign. A documentary by Netflix in 2018 revealed how a consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, used data obtained from Facebook to target users.

The spreading of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech by users is where censorship becomes a concern. I do not support infringement on the freedom of speech of users, but how can these issues be addressed? For example, Facebook was famously implicated in Myanmar for triggering genocide and ethnic violence, leading to the country banning the social app in 2014. Additionally, fake news and cyber bullying are also rampant.

The scariest part, for me, is the inability of major stakeholders,  i.e., the big technology companies, to sit down and agree that these algorithms pose some existential threat to humanity. However, it would be hypocritical of me to completely paint these algorithms in a negative light because they have also contributed immensely in positive ways.

Let’s go a little deeper to explain how the algorithms work. Firstly, most of these companies’ major source of revenue is from advertising. So, these algorithms are created to draw users’ attention and keep bombarding them with content to keep them on these platforms for a longer time. The longer a user spends on a platform, the more ads they encounter, which translates to more advertising revenue.

Secondly, these algorithms limit the scope of content displayed to users, which is very alarming. Users are limited only to viewpoints that align with their existing beliefs on topical issues bordering on politics, religion, or ethnicity, etc. This breeds subjectivity and a lack of tolerance for other people’s opinions in users, indirectly aiding the spread of propaganda.

Lastly, a solution must be proffered to these problems from data Privacy, misinformation, disinformation, hate speech, cyber bullying to finding a balance between the good and unintended negative or profit-motivated aspects of these algorithms. Currently, the only solution I can think of is a truthful dialogue between technology companies and governments to produce a lasting solution that protect all parties.