A Civic Tech Research Lab Confronting Digital Threats to Democracies in the Global South.
Kampala-Nairobi-Washington DC
Joined July 2023
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Day One of our training in TFGBV with @TargetedRights at UNIMAC in Accra. Student Researchers and journalists are learning to document and report on online abuse safely.
Ebola has reached Kenya and Nigeria via travellers from eastern DRC who passed through Uganda. Uganda has no active cases but still faces US entry restrictions. Kenya, with nine cases, got an advisory. The map of fear still ignores the map of the virus:
thraets.org/ebola-and-the-ca…
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#ICYMI: Our September newsletter is out!
Our new report, The Cost of Candidacy, tracked 100,000+ posts from Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire’s 2025 elections and listened to 36 women leaders and human rights defenders.
Inside, you’ll also find our Annual Report 2025, two new networks born at #DataTamashaAfrica26 in Zanzibar, and stories from #FIFAfrica26 in Mauritius, Fort Portal and the African Union #InnoFest in Ethiopia.
Read it: mailchi.mp/pollicy/the-cost-…
The June 2025 DRC–Rwanda deal called for Rwandan withdrawal and action against the FDLR. Neither has happened. We don't claim the covert network caused that outcome, but its framing is recognisable in the deal's architecture.
the-war-btw.thraets.org/
In 2024, Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was taken from his residence in Nairobi and handed to Uganda, where he was charged before a military court. Nearly 2 years later, he is still detained.
In late July, he collapsed in court and was admitted to intensive care. His family continues to report serious health concerns. Kenya has faced no accountability for its part in his removal.
His case is one of 30 in The Nairobi Corridor, and it shows what happens after a rendition: the story doesn't end at the border.
nairobi-corridor.thraets.org…
Three weeks of hearings on Uganda's digital number plates, and plenty of claims are circulating. Here's what's confirmed, what's disputed and what's still unverified. thraets.org/surveillance-or-…
Cohort 2 of the Thraets and @CenterForOsint OSINT training is a wrap!
Fully online, with 15+ participants from 🇰🇪🇳🇬🇲🇼🇪🇹🇹🇿🇸🇴🇸🇸🇿🇼 building skills to investigate and verify information online.
Thank you all, and see you in Cohort 3! 👀
#OSINT #Verification
Uganda's digital number plates: Parliament found the plate isn't the tracker. A separate SIM-connected device inside the vehicle is. Were motorists told what they were paying for? Who can see the data?
thraets.org/surveillance-or-…
Online abuse often comes from people survivors know, on apps they trust, and almost none of it gets reported. Our new #TFGBV report with @TargetedRights draws on 46 participants, most of them women and most in Ghana. 🧵
Only 4 of the 38 participants who experienced abuse reported it. Some were laughed at or disbelieved. Others said: 'I didn't know where and how to report.'
Read the report here: thraets.org/wp-content/uploa…
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We heard from 46 participants in Ghana, with more voices from Uganda, The Gambia, Namibia and the African diaspora. Facebook (37% of incidents) and WhatsApp (20%) were the platforms most linked to abuse. Often, the abuser was someone they knew.
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Women pushed out of public life by tech-facilitated gender-based violence are paying that price.
Read Behind the Screens, share it, push back on it: thraets.org/behind-the-scree…
Thank you to CIPESA for bringing us together. #TFGBV
At #FIFAfrica26 in Mauritius, our research lead Mable Amuron joined Bill Marwa, Hayam Benzid, Grace and Jimmy Kainja on enforcing digital rights. The takeaway: rights exist on paper, but when they're violated, almost nobody answers.
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Meanwhile, our Programs Officer, Grace Naiserian, examined the enforcement of digital rights and their connection to civic participation. The discussion confronted a critical gap: the difference between rights recognised in law and citizens’ ability to actually exercise those rights.
For @MzalendoWatch, this is ultimately a governance and #accountability issue.
As public participation, political organising, access to information and engagement with Parliament increasingly move online, issues such as data protection, cybersecurity, surveillance and internet access directly shape citizens’ ability to participate in public life.
#FIFAfrica26 #ReCIPE #DigitalRights #DigitalGovernance #MalaboConvention
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What becomes possible after a woman goes through digital skills training?
Daisy Danai Chirawu follows the knowledge beyond the training room.
Who did she share it with?
What did she do differently?
Read her full reflection 👉🏾 medium.com/@pollicy/what-bec…
#digitalsafety
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Data protection is not just about protecting information. It is also about creating the conditions in which people can safely exercise their rights.
I am speaking at #FIFAFRICA26 on “Data Protection as an Enabler of Human Rights.”
Join me if you are around.
