Wednesday 2 May 2018

Africa, Algorithms and Resilience @re:publica2018


By Takura Zhangazha*

Its great to be back in Berlin after a two year hiatus for re:publica18. This year’s conference main motto 'POP', as it suggests, seeks to ‘pop the filter bubbles, step out into the public and make net culture and politics tangible for everyone.

Its turning out to be an enlightening experience that is motivated by fun, intellectualism and a firm grasp of issues such as the internet and knowledge production (epistemology), algorithmic influence, digitization’s impact on labour and how resilience really works (the future as a commodity).  Among many, many other topics of great interest.

There were and will be many other topics that have/will be discussed in the remaining two days.  But for the first day I participated, there are a number of issues that are worth highlighting.

The first being the issue of algorithms and their impact on perceptions, political attitudes and persuasions.  It is a hotly debated topic in the global north and significantly so on how algorithms have come to be default (or de-fault if you want) purveyors of racist and sexist attitudes.  It turns out there are some phases you may ‘google’ in good faith (even if full trust of your preferred search engine) but the first page of our ‘your’ results may have links to sexist/racist content.  

And how all of this is not driven by what individuals on the internet prefer but how they are working on algorithms through ‘clickbaiting’ and how search engine companies/leading monopolies such as google may be more motivated by following the advertising revenue/profit over than promoting fairness and equality.

If you are an African or of African descent, this is nothing new in real life but very significant in relation to your online presence.  And as some of the amazing speakers such as Dana Boyd, Safia Umoja Noble and Wendy Chun (see their profiles here) outlined, these algorithms or about getting the numbers/clicks are not merely mathematical but also informed by tapping into historical prejudices (colonialism, racism, sexism).  And therein lies the challenge not only globally but also specifically to be considered on the role of algorithm in influencing African societies.

African countries, largely as a result of colonial legacies/global cold wars (with some complicity), generally do not have as strong a tradition of democratic values and by dint of the same, an ability to push back against the conforming and persuasive influence on perception that are algorithmic functions of the internet/ and social media.  There is therefore need for African governments and citizens to reexamine the role of algorithms in creating perception that may reinforce racist, sexist attitudes or that may altogether create false and valueless political realities much to the detriment of much needed democratic values. The latter having reportedly been tried in the most recent Nigerian presidential election and the first round of the Kenyan general election. 

The second issue I picked up was one on the significance of always linking up any social media activism with action on the ground (basic point, I know).  But in her presentation Ece Temulkuran titled, ‘How to lose a Country, the New Political Ice Age’, I learnt that genuine or at least public interest intellectualism of sorts is always key.  And that social media platforms are facing a huge vacuum in this respect.

A final topic that was of great interest was one on resilient speculation by Orit Halpern. Illustrated with equations, engaging thoughts on data and climate change and examples of smart mining, smart cities, the chilling knowledge that the future has become an exchangeable commodity gives one pause for serious reflection.  While most of the examples given were from the global north and east, the uptake of smart cities as a concept on the African continent is growing.  The speculation and investment around a future that may not obtain as envisaged by those with the capital to do so is not yet well known.  And may never be unless we all step up.

A final thought however that crossed my mind was that in all of the issues/topics I picked up during the course of the day, I realized that back home, be it in Zimbabwe or the rest of the African continent, these are issues that we haven’t begun to deal with at such a thoughtful, passionate and even intellectual scale.  Perhaps in the near future we will do so with a new sense of urgency.  Because after all, the internet as a medium will invariably be everywhere. Deriving democratic utilitarian value from it requires greater understanding of context and an active pursuit of ensuring that it also retains a significant public interest role in Africa. And now on to Day 2 of @re:publica18 

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)


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