Africa Censorship News

I Am Samuel is a 2020 Kenya / Canada / UK / USA documentary by Peter Murimi
Starring Steve Zahn, Jillian Bell and Sasha Knight  

Filmed verite style over five years, I Am Samuel is an intimate portrait of a Kenyan man torn between balancing duty to his family with his dreams for his future.

The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) has banned the gay documentary I am Samuel claiming that it sought to propagate values that are in dissonance with our constitution, culture values and norms. KFCB boss Christopher Wambua declared the film to be blasphemous and added:

Worse still, the production is demeaning of Christianity as two gay men in the film purport to conduct a religious marriage invoking the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Directed by a Kenyan filmmaker, I Am Samuel depicts a romantic relationship between two men living in Nairobi and promotes same-sex marriage as an acceptable way of life.

A recent government move in Nigeria to establish a state internet foundered after public opposition.

However the Nogerian government is undaunted and has now plotted another route to censor the media.

Information minister Lai Mohammad earlier in the week told the parliament to empower the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission by extending the agency's power to censor the media to include all online media through the ongoing amendment of the agency's Act currently being considered. Mohammed explained that the regulation of social media platforms is becoming a global practice saying:

Most countries have come to terms with the power wielded by the tech giants and how governments are vulnerable to such powers. Hence, the need for regulation

He said that Singapore, Algeria, Pakistan, Turkey censor social media and noted that Australia is about to be added to the list/ He added:

The UK had initiated a new law that places a fine up to 18 million pounds (about N10.8 billion) on social media companies if they failed to stamp out online abuses.

A few years ago African countries dreamt up a new, and quite onerous, tax on viewing blogs and social media.  The government considered it a good way to raise money -- and to muzzle inconvenient voices.

A year later, Techdirt was reporting on a sudden boom in VPN use among Ugandans keen to avoid the tax. The authorities turned to pressuring ISPs to ban the use of VPNs.

Inevitably after three years, the tax has failed. It has neither helped the government raise significant revenue nor curtailed lively online discussions by young Ugandans.

So the Ugandan government has come up with a pan B. On April 29, the government replaced the social media tax with a 12% excise duty on internet data that will likely hike the cost of internet access in the landlocked country that already has some of the highest and most unaffordable internet costs in the region.