a cold, oh he said, now behind me, you can see that upon case of being prepared, they smell absolutely delicious. the most popular flavor i'm told is read caviar. of course, i'm not just here to observe the making of the pancake. i'm here to try them as well. hey, we go with the little boy, are you with me today? now behind a you can see a tom this is lakesha rush. unfortunately, i don't want to lie do a bit to me. so now this is norma, is willing to claim this is about cameron a cupboard rules we don't up i should are in faces. where like brother,

his brother is. this is the training we prepare and we're preparing to defend our fan mit our families, our children, our wives daniel celebrations, always end with the burning of massive effigies and ancient pagan tradition. that has stood the test of time. the ritual symbolizes the end of winter and the beginning of a new period of life. monday millions of orthodox christian believers will begin the 48 day lent districts in their menus and lifestyles ahead of us. all for me, peter, scott. but nicky are and will be here at the top of the i will all the latest news as well as a low back as some of this week's help stories. what have you got up to this weekend? i hope it was great. thanks very much for watching. censorship is something that the west has long criticized china for, but now it is no longer just a chinese problems. it's

a global one. internet black out, social media shut down and bandwidth brawling by governments. costs the global economy, $5500000000.00 in 2021. and not only that, but internet shut down are dangerous. as with it come censorship, information regulation and isolation from the outside world. i'm because the i and you're watching the costs of everything. where today we're going to be looking at the dangers of internet censorship and what it cost be. call me when the internet gets shut down and the citizens are disconnected. ah. now, according to one study, the economic cost of government enforce internet. shutdowns grew 36 percent last year compared to 2020 estimates of almost 500000000 people were affected by these internet blackouts. now in 2021, there were

a 182 documented cases of internet shut down across 34 different countries. and in africa, government directed internet shutdowns have threatened digital penetration and growth. me and mars economy was the most severely impacted by internet shutdowns in 2021 following the military coup. this was followed by the extensive internet and social media shut down as local journalists reported that they have been locked off of platforms such as telegram and signal. qu, leaders have imposed a near total internet, shut down and have introduced a draft cybersecurity law that would impose draconian rule and allow the government access to user data. as a result, miramar took a hit of $2800000000.00. now, ethiopia, northern te gray region, has been in nearly 2 year internet and phone shut down. after prime minister abbey ordered a military offensive on the breakaway region in november of 2020. these government

now holds the record for the 2nd longest internet shut down in the world. this is estimated to have a cost of over a $165000000.00. when internet access is restricted in africa, everyone who is part of the fast growing internet economy, including online vendors who sell items on instagram, banks that rely on the internet to facilitate payments, personal communication, media, access, etc. everyone is affected. almost all internet shutdowns in africa for the last 5 years have been because of political protests. a studies show that these shutdowns occur in times of political contestation, such as elections rising fuel prices in the country. and protests. nigeria was also heavily impacted after it blocked access to twitter in june of 2021. and the estimated economic loss is around $1500000000.00. so what happens when governments

cut the internet in their countries? the economic costs of internet shutdowns around the globe equated to about $5500000000.00 in 2021. and this includes over 30000 hours of government internet disruptions. twitter was the most walk social media platform with over 12000 hours of disruption, which is 60 percent more than facebook. and for more, let's bring in doctor winston mano, author, and university of winston professor. so professor, it seems like all the shut down occur during times of political unrest, but does it shutting down off access to communication and the internet a good strategy to quell unrest or does it actually promote further dissatisfaction? i think it said the wrong moves by african governments and also other governments in the world to think that they can just shut down the internet. ah,

and is beside it, block social media applications that are people that are popular with the members of the public. ah, i think our before internet people used to have, you know, add that older, tentative ways or for circulating information. so when these that in that had sat down, it doesn't mean the clothes off, communicate santano's, it just means either 10 hours kick in, for example, people or was to be able to find each other. people still be able to psyche latino information there we f white record, the pavement radio in africa, the little manual where the word of mouth can spread rapidly. our people can clearly weds and news and spread it. ah, and to have such things say, it's the wrong in terms of election, or when you have a pandemic like cove it i, it means sometimes the information that is circulating is that verified. it's

actually, it can be very dangerous, can hardly to protest countries that lead to more dangerous environment. so in my view, shutting down is not the answer, keeping them open, but managing them and making sure the government promotes is one point of view alongside other perspectives. is much more fruitful that this should be the way to go. and are there ways to bypass internet shutdowns that are well known for citizens in these countries. just like the p ins, people deployed them, they, they dump the walls that they weren't got in that, that i put in. and when the restrictions like in any kind of, for example, the introduced an extra touch on using what's up and this,

this, this see, this was not productive. i mean, when people are using this, they can still share whatever comes through using add their media tests. let's out . they are so many applications. so for politicians to target specific applications and shut them down, it doesn't or go away. but i also want to say, you know, this is why it's important to, to, to, to advocate at an excel. it is for that these, the content there can not be controlled in the content. it should be available freely should be also multifaceted and people must have options and limitations when they are using the internet and how our business is affected during these internet shut downs. not just the local businesses, but the platforms like twitter, youtube, facebook, either shut downs, a big hit to their bottom lines as well. oh yes, to some extent. is quite

a lot of business that they get from using the internet. oh, oh, i like, for example, when the leasing maps nor customers or, or international customers in this day and age africa as you know, or what you needed to trade to with not or leave people within africa but outside. and when the internet is down, some people use the internet, it's instagram, ah, what's up? a google, as in odessa of tissues here. and when there is no business coming through, say the locker ebay equivalent, then it means that the day of the air intake for the day would be limited. so how do they negotiate this things? the anomaly would subscribe to more than one or platform. they would say to maximize the if it presents in different platforms, it's

a strategy that is very want to where if in for telephone communications, most businesses, the own telephone lines that are run by different telecommunications companies, will differ. one telecommunication company is not a viable, then they go to another. and this has been a strategy that works here. now india had a massive internet blackout in 2020 that caused the country and estimate $2800000000.00 laws and $4000000000.00 in global losses. why we're the internet curves in india higher than any other country. i in india, there they are very kid in the clearing in done it in ways that wet for them. i think they are taking a lift from dana, which is using in our local outs until you're seeing it on it in order to

leverage their own business operations. so in india, for example, when they head in 2016, a barn, when facebook, they were very keen on protecting net neutrality so that their applications that they would lay on her and internet shut downs ah, sup, denser, implemented fob, political reasons, like when they say a political protest, or which are triggered by information on the internet. but like i said, the strategy of closing down for me does not wake you end up in a pin, amazing, even business, wending to deal with their political situation. so it needs their policy environments that are much more responsive to the needs and it needs as take order kind of for, you know, approach where you talk to business suspicion,

but also to see for society and work. howard solutions that i agree with. everyone is not just about what the government wants or what the political party in charge, and this can be wrong. dr. winston model. thank you so much. dr. winston will be joining us again after the break when we discuss how the internet's most basic function of communication is used as a control and censorship tool in africa. since they're vastly dependent on just one tech giant, we'll have more after the re ah news. with

what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have. it's crazy confrontation, let it be an arms. race is often very dramatic. a development only. mostly i'm going to resist. i don't see how that strategy will be successful, very critical arm time to sit down and talk ah, welcome back. while most of us think about the internet as a valuable news outlet and a place to consume entertainment,

one of the most basic functions of the internet is actually communication. meta owed messaging app, what's app is extremely popular internationally as it operates on a why fi connection for free african nations, argentina, malaysia, colombia, and brazil have some of the highest whatsapp user rates. and more than 90 percent of internet users are on whatsapp. in these countries, what's up is basically the portal into the internet. what that allows people to communicate and chat with friends, receive news, updates, and media coverage, as well as set up a merchant commerce account to operate a small business and receive payments. so when there is a communication blackout on what's up, there is confusion and panic as citizens are suddenly unable to communicate with friends and family. and while we think of censorship as a power move that is often associated with political regimes, trying to control the media. censorship at a basic level holds communication between people in

a country and because the internet in africa is basically meta, it is centralized and becomes very easy for those in power to enforce these shutdowns. so how exactly do these shutdowns work? well, one way is for the authorities to issue a notice to the individual service providers, in this case meta to carry out their will. this is known as u r. l base blocking, which is a filter that prevents access to a list of band sites. users trying to access these sites might see that the server was not found. another method is called throttling, where it's severely limits traffic to specific sites, giving the impression that the service is slow thereby discouraging access. it is more subtle because it is difficult to know whether these sites are being actively restricted, or whether or broadband infrastructure is to blame. and as a final measure, telecom companies can be required to shut down their services entirely,

preventing all access. and because internet service providers like meta are licensed by governments, they risk fines or the loss of their contracts if they do not comply. and for more or less bring back dr. winston mano, author, and professor of the university of westminster. so facebook is not just the online social network, it is a big owner of the internet infrastructure in africa. so just how plug in is facebook to the daily lives of the people in africa. some of these businesses, they enter the market like africa, we down to clearly declaring that interest to, you know, to do business without telling the african that look, we're here to, you know, we're here to look after our business. but we are also here to try to promote your business. so many africans the few that we need to end as africa. it is actually an

investor, which is coming to employment, which is coming to provide solutions. but the solutions, one must understand this solutions out of your slee, initially meant for them. so as the solutions that will promote different brands. and so when facebook was banned in india, when asked the question, why was facebook the same free basics program? why was the accepted in africa? why is it going to be common in more than you know, to african countries? there is something wrong, you know, because people have y explanation or understanding of that argument that was used by the intense in africa. it is growing without much pet of this is that facebook is seems lend from its mistakes in india, in africa,

they proceeded quietly according to research. they for example, putnam civil society and they have amplified to they are fight against the packers sat down. and so the discourse is not necessarily what facebook is doing, it's about something else. so it's about, you know, government behavior. it's about being dentist. i'm not saying they should not be focused on that. but facebook is used the, the kind of, you know, issues in the african environment to mask some of it's just, it should declaim strategy. it should be much more forthcoming. so that is a win win intervention in africa. now kenya wants to ban facebook over hate speech raising fears of censorship. but what will life and can be like without facebook? i think when can you can, you know,

if he shows or saying that they're saying, look, let's talk. these are issues that are really important. yeah. you saw that you knew in a data binding twitter saying the, the issue is your relation now. accountability. where by, you know, these tick giants, they need to just stop thinking of them. so it's, it's technology companies. they also have a lot of media, you know, a lot of communicative ability, which is affecting or denied life. we all know about, you know, they can pretend, take our pro, blame, or know how this book is now, emily kitted in it's all good. and so now we know influencing the way, make decisions in elections. they can, i laid certain content at the expense of the content. and what you're saying is, but the need for the 1st book to actually listen,

i've seen some videos we max, who come back here sometimes brought to the congress to answer certain questions. we don't have this policy power. we didn't africa in most african countries is a lot of trusts that these ticket company is coming in. good faith. but that good faith is not. what did so when can i say, look, we don't like the prediction of speech on facebook. they had looking for it and they're looking for at his point from fist with facebook and dad. something was it about tackling it, had speech, they need to to wait with lockers in order to identify the associates of speech. and if verified with local police, the players verified this should be taken down and promoted because we know that,

you know, fis book, like all the tech companies they benefit from. it's from eyes that come to visual content here. so you should remove, couldn't that, that mexican profit, but it's affecting local us interests here. and what's up is the biggest social media platform in africa. and it's clear that a lot of people get their news from what's up as well. is it dangerous? when all of this is centralized on one platform, so the meta can basically control all narrative and new sources. yes, i think what's up is quite popular. also, increasingly now we chat is being popular the chinese location. but to what's up is way, way i had. and a list of people, again, in africa we use what's up to really news. a lot of people are publishing newspapers for what's up the curate news stories they share to live with large

groups. but it's also a source of light. it's also fake news to source of inaccurate information. so what's up is not just, you know, social media for people saying hello to each other in africa in context which, you know, we can do information order with and just saved pain for mission. so media like what's become really important, get ways for people, they expecting quality information. so how do you recommend that and the movement, i think the functions of what's out, what's out by very controversial in some cases, you have some controls that are being used like care in symbolic way. i give you an example that came out this week. one

woman with tissues was a man belonging to what a group. and she complained about salaries and other colleagues to join it. and that discussion in a private group ended up with the police because one of the person mentioned the group reported it to the police. and these, and when police officials advocated the woman so we can see how, what's up in vitamin. that's that, that i don't care if, you know, we don't want that to limited freedom away. people sadly, with the basic issues it can assume other dimensions but can undermine, you know, the dreams of net internet. we don't that, do you know the fathers of, of cities to wended with these technologies. but we have is a continue to continue to kind of restrictions that, that they become non 4

o $44.00 forms within this context in. so it's, so it's a real problem i can is what's up shaping democracy in africa. we have a study here that shows that what's up has been both emancipatory, as well as destructive during election campaigns. in my view, in my handbook view, it is provided via information which others went to sent out. but it's also double we saw in a way to also provides inaccurate information. and in most cases, if use us are not savvy, you will find that they may end up in aligning with blocks. but at the moment i would, i get this note much, you know, when i, when i go to in bye bye, see my relatives from what i already know. ro,

areas are areas that are not fully saved by must media. they, they are, i, in the know, they would know what is happening from messages that are 2nd later on what's up. so what's up is brought to is waived in the news kind of audience. it is in a way provided you know, and, and emancipatory function whereby people have access to the news. the decision that they make more research is needed. after looking at the us at the moment, the decision they make, it doesn't necessarily lead to the what's up, say active is there. but in a way, the directive is name is as taking ship where president used to lie and say things without challenge. i have written about this, sometimes the go say, you know what's up or twitter and claim to have done a, b, c, d, people replaced it. i always say no,

you are lying. i live in this area. you did not do this. so it is sort of force that new kind of politics where the does need to be much more, you know, accountable need to be much more fluent in the data relationship with the electorate. doctor winston motto: thank you so much for your time and insight. now there are very few winners in an environment where access to information is restricted, but in these areas, demand for vpn services has skyrocketed as citizens sought to regain access to news and communication. now another alternative is of course, a decentralized web $3.00. but that is still in its infancy and is not yet able to provide the same ease of access that people are used to. it also does not have enough users and content to match that of the traditional web either. but these centralizing the internet may be a lot harder than many realize, and even crypto is not the perfect solution. crypto company,

elaborate ceo is trying to raise awareness among the theory and validators running the flash bought software that they may be unintentionally contributing to censorship within the theory him network. according to survey approximately 45 to 50 percent of all east walks currently being validated, run m e v boost relay flash pots, and comply with the us sanctions. validators have a financial incentive to use these relays as they're being paid to use it. and these findings were reinforced when another study found that of the $900400.00 blocks verified by flash, pots relay, none of them included a single tornado cash transaction. and ornate of cash, as you recall, was banned by the us treasury earlier this year. censorship fears had deep and post merge, and as the power of cause of becoming a validator could result in

a consolidation of validate or nose to bigger crypto firms who are much more susceptible to being influenced by government sanctions. so it is disturbing that in this day and age where we take our freedom of speech for granted, there is a trend very fine, that freedom is slowly getting eroded away from all sides. i'm christy, i thanks for watching and we'll see you right back here next time on the cost of everything for oh, nations may be able to tie to atrocities in other countries. the united states of america is different. wearable people long to be free. they will find a friend in the united states. ah, with me,

a little bit about it all to anybody basie. so the city in p draw. you look at the book, they incentives of each cigarette. a few color revel notions is one among several means to reach the goal of conquering foreign lands and bringing them onto the help of u. s. western economic interests. people in sadie, i do that. he did what i grew by the democrats. yeah. during retreating corollary, sol suite best say low, their soft power america to the final goal of these thing, revolutions to ensure that there are no independent players in the world anymore. oh, a

ah ah, let's talk step down. vote. the intimidation meyer the presidential and parliamentary elections in africa, law just nation nigeria to israelis killed the drive by shooting in the west bank, radiant palestinian authorities. me didn't jordan for secure to talk also ahead of freedom and peace is only possible with independently from america. we are not an instrument to break out yet another war america has already twice let war begin it from german soil and it's not.