•Says NGO are Selective Where They Get Funding
The director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan, has raised concerns over the dangers posed by social media.
Speaking at the flagship public lecture in Ghana, on the evolution of civic spaces in contemporary African democracy on Tuesday, Idayat highlighted fears over the dangers of social media.
“Social media is more dangerous than we are talking about but the attention we give it is very little.”
She stated that there are external and internal factors affecting the civic space and there is a Freedom of Information Act in almost all 15 West African countries, which is positive for civic society and anti-corruption efforts.
“In almost all 15 West African countries, we have a Freedom of Information Act and that is positive for civic society and anti-corruption efforts.
“There are external and internal factors affecting the civic space. Some of the external factors include unconstitutional change of mandates, rise of non-state actors and Internet shutdown.”
She said that many countries are drifting towards the Chinese mode of digital authoritarianism
“Across the countries that have experienced coups, there are trends. These include contested elections and insecurity.
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“Many countries are moving towards the Chinese model of digital authoritarianism. WhatsApp, which used to be safe, is now being tapped.”
According to her, civil societies should be careful where funds are gotten from and every money received should be accountable for.
“When it comes to funding civil society are careful where we get our funds from. We have to scrutinise and account for every money received.”