Morocco calls for preservation of Africa’s interests in new global digital order

Africa’s interests as an important component of the Global South must be preserved in the new global digital order, stressed from London Latifa Akharbach, President of Morocco’s High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA).

Speaking at the University of Westminster as part of an international conference on “The regulation of digital media and its challenges for the Global South,” Ms. Akharbach, who also chairs the Network of African Communication Regulatory Authorities, stated that “the reality of digital risks on the continent is not sufficiently known at the international level, and the accountability measures already implemented for global digital players do not take account of African contexts.”

Ms. Akharbach, who backed up her comments with numerous examples and statistics, stated that “the issue of the resilience of democracies in the face of information disorder in the new public space transformed by economically and technologically powerful private digital players has become particularly acute in Africa.”

“In addition to the persistence of the digital divide and electronic illiteracy, the continent faces several vulnerabilities induced by the growing dominance of social networks as a source of information and a space for political engagement exposed to all kinds of interference and instrumentalization,” explained the chairwoman of the Network of African Communication Regulatory Authorities.

Ms. Akharbach also reiterated HACA’s commitment to the online rights of African users of global digital platforms, voicing hope that Big Tech’s geopolitical vision of the continent would evolve.

In the meantime, she continued, “despite the mobilization of African public authorities, particularly regulators, global digital players continue to invest in infrastructure to expand their African market. However, these investments are not correlated with the resources and efforts allocated to ensure a safe digital environment that respects the rights of African users.”

The conference, organized by the Communication and Media Research Institute, a world-renowned research center attached to the School of Media and Communication at the University of Westminster in London, brought together experts, researchers, and university lecturers from the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa.