The Institute for Rebooting Social Media (RSM) at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society is seeking volunteer reviewers for a research project focused on the liability of social media companies and digital platforms across 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Over the past year, as part of her fellowship project RSM Employee Fellow, June Okal has qualitatively and quantitatively mapped all of Sub-Saharan Africa’s laws, regulations, policies, instrument proposals, regulator and policymaker sentiments and relevant news on Intermediary Liability for social media companies.
If “A” posts illegal content that offends “B” on social media platform “C”, generally “A” would be primarily and “C” secondarily liable. However, through law, platforms may be exempt from such liability if they take specific laid down steps.
The goal of this study is to highlight African countries’ position on such frameworks and how they propose social media should be regulated or approached by undertaking extensive qualitative and quantitative research. The research is focused on Sub-Saharan Africa: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Individuals with an interest or expertise in tech policy, internet governance, digital rights, and/or social media regulation are encouraged to apply. As a reviewer, we would greatly appreciate your expertise and insights in evaluating the rigor of the research methodology, as well as the adequacy and accuracy of data collection and analysis.
Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to hearing from you. Participants shall be selected on a rolling basis and selected participants shall be informed of detailed next steps by the Research team. The form shall remain open until all countries in the study are represented.
Please note that this engagement will not be remunerated but due acknowledgement of contribution shall be published. In case of any questions or clarifications please contact rebootingsocialmedia@cyber.harvard.edu.
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