Wilhelmina Iimene
The evolution of digital communication platforms has offered a mixed bag of results when it comes to disseminating credible information, as some individuals have been prone to online harassment and violation of others’ rights.
Postgraduate research fellow at the University of Johannesburg Professor Admire Mare, a former Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) lecturer, said Namibia is a highly patriarchal society, where masculinities and femininities are constructed as stable and unchangeable.
For this, many women have been exposed to online violence, harassment and threats.
The cases of Betty Davids, and First Lady Monica Geingos vs Abed ‘Bishop’ Hishoono are some the examples of online violence.
“Female politicians are constantly belittled, vilified and labelled all sort of names on Twitter and Facebook,” said Mare.
He said this at a recent Digital Rights and Inclusion forum, which was held under the theme, ‘Towards a Digitally Inclusive and Rights Respecting Africa’.
He noted that human rights, such as freedom of expression, opinion and the right to information are essential; “however, there are legitimate grounds of national security, public order, decency and morality defamation or incitement to an offence”.
He said the internet and social media, with the opportunities it offers to people to express themselves, is an enabler of the exercise of this right.
“Online freedom of expression is a contentious issue that is generally counterbalanced by the right of the state to establish limitations for the sake of morality, public order and general welfare,” Mare said.
He applauds the criminal defamation laws in Namibia.
In 2020, the disinformation and misinformation related to Covid-19 have recently been outlawed, and it is punishable with a fine of N$2 000 or imprisonment of up to six months.
Racial discrimination and defamation are criminal offences – and so far, there have been several court cases.
Hate speech, however, has not been outlawed yet in Namibia, and this exposes minority groups and vulnerable constituencies to hate language.
“Freedom of speech is thriving in Namibia, but there are red flags that need to be nipped in the bud,” the professor said at the forum.
He emphasised there is a need to amend Article 21 of the Namibian Constitution to remove the restrictions of freedom of speech on the undefined grounds of decency, morality or defamation.
Data protection and privacy legislation in compliance with Article 21 of the Constitution and international human rights standards and obligations also need to enact cyber crime amendment going forward.
“The government must desist from threatening to regulate social media,” he said.