Rethinking Information Privacy in a “Connected” World

The emergence and usage of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) by states, institutions and individuals has challenged and created a shift in the normative idea of privacy from rights to solitude. Consequently, this chapter sought to ascertain if emerging democracies and economies such as South Africa and Nigeria have privacy frameworks that adequately guarantee and protect the privacy of their citizens in this globalized era. Using policy analysis, this chapter argues that although the privacy provisions in South Africa are comprehensive, the privacy framework fails to address the privacy leak associated with the usage of these ICTs. Whereas, in Nigeria, it was observed that the privacy framework is inadequate as there are no specific privacy provisions, thus the assertion that Nigerians have no privacy in this globalized era of connectivity.

Naming Crime Suspects in the News

Whereas some news outlets fully identify crime suspects with name, age, address, and other personal details, other news outlets refuse to fully identify any crime suspect—or even people who have been convicted for a crime. News media from a variety of countries have accused and fully identified people of being responsible for crimes, although those persons turned out to be innocent. Yet, when someone types the names of those people in online search engines, for many, stories containing the accusations will turn up at the top of the search results. This chapter examines the positive and negative aspects from those practices by examining journalistic routines in a variety of countries, such as the United States, Nigeria, and The Netherlands. This analysis demonstrates that important ethical imperatives—often represented in ethics codes of professional journalism organizations—can be contradictory in these decision-making processes. Journalists need to weigh whether they would like to “seek truth and report it” or “minimize harm” when describing crime suspects.

Overcoming the Legal Challenges of News Reporting

When one thinks of barriers to setting up a news corporation, one might think in terms of the costs of machinery and staffing. This case study of a start-up news corporation called Crocels News shows that the biggest cost can be in resolving legal disputes, most significantly from news articles scrutinising public bodies and their staff. This chapter investigates the difficulties faced by Crocels News in providing news content. By considering the legal correspondence received, the chapter provides insights into some of the problems all news services are likely to experience if they do not have access to the huge legal budgets of the established news corporations. The findings are particularly worrying for emerging forms of news reporting, such as citizen journalism. The chapter therefore proposes changes in statute so that case law that protects free speech is more easily enforced.

Intellectual Property Rights and the Protection of Africa's Traditional Knowledge

This chapter examines the media, intellectual property rights and the protection of Africa's traditional knowledge in the digital age. It reviews literature on intellectual property, intellectual property rights, the various forms of intellectual property rights and the misappropriation and infringement on intellectual property rights, traditional knowledge, and media in digital age. The chapter provides perspectives on the issues and controversies on the non-protection of traditional knowledge within the existing frameworks of IP system and rules. It points out that the products of Africa's traditional knowledge are in dire need of protection against global competitors and therefore urges African governments to take advantage of the IP rules to negotiate with industrialized countries for the protection of their products. The chapter called for the enactment of tougher legislations to halt the menace of counterfeiting and digital piracy and deliberate use of the media to promote the products. It also made some recommendations that would help Africa defend its IP.

Copying, Branding, and the Ethical Implications of Rights in Immaterial Cultural Goods

Laws and regulations are important instruments for governing the relationships between people. In recent years, however, scholars have noted a growing judicialization, which concerns particularly immaterial cultural goods that are turned into intellectual and cultural properties. This chapter explores the implications of these regulations for the different actors involved, their moral responsibility and economic practices in the domains of branding and copying with examples of immaterial cultural goods from different African countries and from Austria. It argues that legal regulations that govern the use of immaterial cultural goods form part of the capitalist system. These regulations may be good for some and a hindrance for others. Piracy might damage the investments of an entrepreneur or artist in a brand or art work but might also help to secure the livelihood of other people and enhance the renown of products. Hence, it is important to analyze the perspectives and interests of individuals that are related to these economically important and ethically relevant activities.

Digital Media in Uganda

This chapter is an analysis of the law in the face of the growing digital media in Uganda. It begins with a summary of Uganda's digital media terrain which helps the chapter to raise an argument of numbers in relation to relevance and external pressure, as forces behind digital media regulation. The background introduces the gist of the chapter, which is the regulation of Uganda's media in the digital age. A recent court case in Uganda, in which a local singer was sentenced to one year in jail along with her video producer, who was convicted for producing a pornographic music video that was distributed online, inspires this chapter. Didi Mugisha pleaded guilty and became the first victim of the Anti-Pornography Act, which was signed into law in 2014. Beyond that court drama and the international fame it garnered are some serious concerns. First is the relationship between the bulk of Uganda's media laws and the existing producer/consumer digital platforms, and secondly are the broad implications the current state of affairs of that and similar laws has on the freedom of expression.

Ethical and Legal Challenges of Election Reporting in Nigeria

The probing thesis in this study is premised on investigating why the mass media which are globally regarded as the playing field of politics as well as the road upon which presidential campaign travels every four years could suddenly develop contours, leading to the game of politics being devoid of convivial and smooth playing in Nigeria, especially between 1999 and 2011. The study observes that hardly was there any election in the post-independent era in Nigeria that did not end in serious disputations, crisis, violence and bloodletting such that academics across disciplines declared that since independence on October 1, 1960, the electioneering process in Nigeria has been an experience of tears, blood and sorrow. The study evaluates media compliance to reportorial code which demands factual, accurate, balanced and fair reportage of electioneering stories. Using historical research method which relies on primary and secondary data collected from 150 media professionals consisting of 44 political editors, 10 line editors and 96 political reporters, the study, using power and conflict theories found out that non-compliance to ethical code of conduct for media professionals as well as legal rules governing the practice of journalism as one of the major factors responsible for publication or airing of provocative stories capable of engendering violence during elections. The study therefore suggested how the existing plural media system could be exploited to grow democracy, engender peace and promote national development as it's done in South Africa and other countries of the world.

Ethical Pitfalls in the Digital Age

Using the case study approach, this chapter examines ethical shortfalls confronting the media in the Internet era. The one case is drawn from a story published in The New York Times in 2015, while the other is a story published in a Zimbabwean newspaper, the Daily News. The objective was to broaden knowledge on how the Internet is impacting ethical practices in local and global political environments. The chapter argues that the Internet's architecture predisposes journalists to a host of unethical practices that were uncommon to the legacy media environment. Its immediacy exerts pressure on journalists to publish stories without adequate verification out of the fear of being “scooped” by competitors and citizen journalists who are less constrained to adhere to old-age journalistic ethics such as factual reporting and verification.

Deferring Citizens' “Right to Know” in an Information Age

Namibia is one of the emerging democracies that have not yet enacted the Access to Information legislation. While the country has guaranteed freedom of expression and media in its constitution, it has not provided for Access to Information as a constitutional right. This chapter seeks to examine Namibia's reluctance to adopt an Access to Information legislation. It interrogates views that locate the omission of this fundamental human right in the country's constitutional (legal) and policy frameworks. It underscores the failure by Namibia to reverse the information black-out suffered under the Apartheid dispensation. The chapter starts with a theoretical/philosophical rationale for the right to know to elicit an understanding of this discourse and its relevance to emerging democracies, such as Namibia. It then examines attempts by state and civil society to introduce the legislation in the country. Predicted on praxis, the chapter in conclusion provides some suggestions that may help resolving the impasse in adopting the Access to Information legislation in the county.

Boko Haram Insurgency in Cameroon

Cameroon has recently become a target of deadly attacks including shootings, kidnappings and suicide bombings by the Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram. Cognizant of the fact that Cameroon has not experienced anything like this since independence, the Cameroon mass media is challenged as to how to appropriately report this insurgency in a manner that will result in conflict containment and management rather than escalation. The researcher set to examine the role of the media in managing this armed conflict through the critical analysis of documents as well as interviews and observations from the theoretical perspective of framing. Framing by the media has been a very effective strategy in managing the conflict by mobilizing the national population against the sect while maintaining calm and lessening panic and anxiety. This effort by Cameroon media is highly commended although more still needs to be done.