Africa’s major Push to Hold big Tech firms Accountable

The African digital ecosystem is being dominated by big tech companies, resulting in an increase in discriminatory algorithms, market dominance abuse, and worker exploitation. This has raised concerns about how to regulate the behavior of these companies regarding content moderation and how to safeguard online users’ personal data, privacy, and autonomy.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Google, Amazon, and Meta have faced significant fines for purportedly breaking anti-competition/antitrust laws.

Meta was ordered to pay $52 million in 2020 as compensation to over 12,000 content moderators in the US who had experienced mental health issues while working.

In Africa, lawsuits have been filed against Meta and Tiktok by Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. They have accused the companies of violating local regulations and failing to control the spread of hate speech, violence, and misinformation on their platforms.

Based on previous occurrences, we cannot rely on big tech companies to adhere to their own content moderation policies. Instead, it is necessary for governments and other entities to establish rules and regulations to regulate their activities on the continent.

A former content moderator at Facebook won a case in a Kenyan court, claiming to have been subjected to adverse working conditions, low pay, and unjust termination. The court’s decision allows Facebook to be sued in Nairobi, setting an essential example for how Meta, Uber, and other companies can be held responsible for their content moderation labor practices in Kenya.

At the global level, there is an increase in the use of artificial intelligence as a tool for harm across social media networks.

In previous general elections in Kenya, fake news has been utilized to manipulate voters. Cambridge Analytica intentionally spread false information through social media to influence the outcome.

To prevent discrimination, exclusion of equally qualified women and minorities, and the dissemination of harmful content to children, there is a need for increased transparency, ethics, inclusion, and public oversight of big tech algorithms.