KATE THOMPSON DAVY: How do we ensure a free and fair internet future? Not by buying Twitter

• Author: Kate Thompson Davy Columnist
• Published date: 03 May 2022
• Publication title: Business Day: Web Edition Articles (Johannesburg, South Africa)

A representative of Access Now called these intentional shutdowns "vicious weapons of digital dictatorship", explaining how this tactic was wielded to silence dissent during war, protest and elections. The motley crew of internet shutdownhappy governments include Myanmar, Iran and Sudan, but the worst offender was India, which reportedly flipped the off switch 106 times in 2021. India has been the worst offender on this measure for four consecutive years

This may be why India chose not to sign the Declaration of the Future of the Internet, a new set of guidelines signed by 60 countries earlier this week, including the US and the UK — but not, noticeably, SA, or almost any other country on the continent.

Refraining from imposing governmentinstituted internet shutdowns is one of the principles of the declaration, a document championed by the US and tabled as an attempt to implement some codes for the conduct of authorities on the unruly web. The idea is that this will inform national policies on matters such as digital surveillance and the provision of affordable connectivity.

To be fair to all signees and nonsignees, this is not a binding agreement and it may yet still be signed by more countries in the coming weeks. Though I've not seen a commitment from SA yet, I see that Kenya, for example, says it still needs to review the document and get it through its internal structures before publicly endorsing it. Fair enough.

The volunteer hall monitors of Musk's reputation lurk in the comments section, after all.

Efforts like this declaration are not efficient. They are not elegant, streamlined or simple. There are many reasons to critique them, to consider who signs and why, but they are also collaborative and — largely — transparent. Meanwhile, the world's richest man is so concerned about consequencefree speech and his continued ability to manipulate cryptocurrency values and share prices…

Sorry, scratch that. Best not test anyone's tolerance for free(ly offered) critique. The volunteer hall monitors of Musk's reputation lurk in the comments section, after all. Let me rephrase: meanwhile, Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk is so concerned about the plight of free speech in the world that he's pushed through his purchase of Twitter, with plans to take the "digital public square" back into private ownership.

Exactly how he is stumping up the money for the $44bn buyout is still taking shape. The latest iteration of the proposal will entail Musk covering about 75%...