Expanding geographies of accountability: rising contestations of Big Tech in Africa, and their meaning for policymaking

Abstract

This chapter examines two diametrically different cases of contestation of the narratives and practices advanced by Big Tech in Africa. One is the challenge brought by content moderators in Kenya to the company Meta, accused of imposing dire working conditions on them under the questionable banner of impact sourcing – an alternative to development aid, seeking to offer dignified work to the poorest. The other is the shutdown of Facebook during the 2021 Ugandan elections, motivated by a selective takedown by the platform of pages and users tied to political parties. Despite the obvious disparities, both cases are indicative of an expansion of the areas in which Big Tech is being asked to account for its power, including the marginal spaces where tech companies have historically sought immunity for the consequences of their actions. They also reveal greater confidence emerging in Africa, and a willingness to reject or redefine the position of subalternity in which the continent has been placed since the diffusion of the global internet. As we argue at the end of the chapter, while this re-definition of roles has inspired new ways to act, it has not been able to shape new policies, which still tend to replicate old forms of dependency. And yet, greater opportunities exist to experiment with forms of cooperation, as Achille Mbembe stressed, that can find inspiration in Africa’s long tradition of flexible, networked sovereignty.