Global Media News

M.T.N Calls For Regulation of Social Networks In South Africa

MTN Group, formerly M-Cell, is a South Africa-based multinational mobile cellphone company, operating in many African, European and Asian countries. An article from My Broad Band written by Staff Writer covers the story. This company believes that over-the-top services (OTT) in South Africa should be regulated just as cell-phone companies are. The portfolio committee on Telecommunications has heard their opinions and have scheduled to have a hearing on the matter. They will look into the impact of OTT social networks such as WhatsApp and Facebook on the industry and then make a decision of whether they should be required to licensing and regulatory rules. MTN claims that these social companies are “freeloading” by not paying taxes or creating jobs directly in South Africa. 

A spokesperson for MTN, Chris Maroleng stated:

“Services like WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Telegram must be regulated by the government, because while networks have to comply with license conditions, these services get off scot-free…We have to adhere to very stringent license conditions and other legislative instruments that regulate our industry and these are done in the interest of both the consumer and to ensure that the industry remains sustainable and viable…Competitors who do not create jobs in this country, who do not pay taxes in South Africa, and do not invest in the infrastructure for these services to be provided must be held accountable.” 

Another article posted by Times Live written by Gareth Van Zyl adds to this news story as well. Zyl adds that a reason these cellphone networks are so angry is because these social networks are in a way taking away their profits by providing a much more affordable way to send messages and make calls versus SMS. It is not a small dent either. WhatsApp has over 10 million users in South Africa alone according to a report done by World Wide Worx and Fuseware. The phone companies are understandably upset but to tackle every social network that has users based in South Africa and regulate them all seems like a job too big of a job for one cellphone company to handle. If the company could get other phone companies on board to agree with their complaints then they could possibly have a shot at this.

Global Media News Webcast #7: Thursday, October 27, 2016

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Ethiopia Disconnected

Ethiopia is one of the most censored countries in the world, ranking an 82 on Freedom House, (100 being the worst). The country is located in Sub Saharan Africa. It is the second most populated country in the region. Surprisingly, this densely populated country is extremely disconnected from the rest of the world. They have the lowest internet connectivity rate in the world, with only a 4.4% penetration. The minuscule population who is online, has very limited access. Freedom House reports that it can take 6 minutes to log on and open up one email! Consider yourself spoiled next time you clear out your inbox. 

Social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are often blocked in Ethiopia. In one case, the government claimed a social media ban was in order to prevent any distraction from students taking online entry exams. According to AlJazeera, the exam was in fact leaked and shared via social media which led to the ban.

In more serious cases the internet is often blocked to prevent protests and rallies. Earlier this month, the government declared a state of emergency after many people were hurt and 50 people were killed during a protest. The internet was blocked in attempt to prevent demonstrators from organizing further protests. Viber, Ethiopia's most popular messaging app was included in the ban. 

With unreliable internet access and blocked content, citizens in Ethiopia are going to have to resort to primitive means of organization. 

Why WhatsApp Is The Most Popular Social Media Network in South Africa

    First off, what exactly is WhatsApp? WhatsApp is a social media network that allows users to instant message anyone in the world who uses the app. They can send messages, pictures, GIFs, videos, audio, ect.  Although this social network is not so popular in the U.S., its popularity has soared in South Africa. It has become the most used mean of communication in the area. 

     An article from Forbes written by Toby Shapshak states that this app is often the first (sometimes second) app that users in South Africa download once they get a smartphone. WhatsApp is so successful in South Africa, that Facebook messenger couldn’t compete. The company ended up buying WhatsApp for twenty-two billion dollars and the app now has over 900 million active users worldwide. 

“WhatsApp has already achieved ubiquitous status in South Africa as the instant messenger of choice, beating Blackberry Messenger and WeChat in terms of popularity.” said an ICT industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

    One reason the app has gained this popularity in South Africa is because of its calling feature. The app allows users to call each other using their data rather than their “voice minutes”. Users can save the minutes they get from their phone companies and use their data instead for their calls which is generally cheaper and even has the option to be unlimited. (with a price) It has basically all together replaced simply texting because of the ability to send messages, as well as pictures, videos, and audio. Just like SMS. 

     Another article posted on MyBroadBand.Com written by Jan Vermeulen, also discusses the rise in popularity of WhatsApp in South Africa. Vermeulen makes the point that even without the network releasing its official user numbers for South Africa, it remains clear that it is the most successful network in that area. She mentions an older app called “Mxit” which attempted to offer the same this that WhatsApp currently offers. The issue was that in order to stay running, they were charging customers per-message, which didn’t go over to well with users who quickly dropped the app. Users were also only able to send messages when both users were online at the same time. They now much prefer how WhatsApp strictly uses data only and you can send messages whenever and just wait for a response when the receiver sees it. BBM, A Blackberry messaging app simply failed because you had to have one specific phone to use it which was understandably not available to everyone. WhatsApp is available on a wide variety of mobile phones. 

    SMS being so limited and expensive in South Africa is what ultimately led to the rise of WhatsApp, along with its ability to completely replace SMS services and even provide more. Vaermeulen ends her discussion on this networks popularity by stating that,

“All this considered, it’s easy to see why we love WhatsApp so much. It is simply better than anything mobile networks have to offer.”

 

Fighting Communism One Tweet at a Time

Vietnam, a communist state is according to the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), currently the 6th most censored country in the nation. Bloggers in Vietnam risk jail time for anti-state content. The governments intent is to prevent citizens from reporting on news. A law was put in effect known as Decree 72, which was created to control the type of content shared on social media platforms. Decree 72 prohibits the use of social media for news, allowing only personal information to be shared. It's difficult to imagine, considering most of us obtain majority of our news while scrolling Facebook and Twitter. Isn't that the only reason we tolerate the mindless tweets?  Well that and because, lets be honest, they can be wildly entertaining. But mostly because we know if we keep scrolling, well find something to nourish our curious minds. A perfect balance of entertainment and significance. 

So how does the Vietnamese do Facebook? Well if they're lucky its not temporarily blocked.  But does this mean their feeds are entirely filled with baby pictures and engagement announcements?  They haven't given up just yet, 80% of smartphone users are on social media. 

If it weren't for people like Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, citizens would have absolutely no insight to what's going on in their country. There are people like her who risk their safety to report on important social issues such as police brutality, and government corruption. In the CPJ article, she discusses how she has to go "undercover" and dress in plain clothes to cover a protest. It hasn't been easy for her. Quynh was detained after police raided her home while she was sleeping. They arrested her following a blog article she published about government land confiscation. 

As technology develops, people in Vietnam are finding a way around the secure internet. We can only hope for their benefit, that the government ceases to keep up with the societies intel. 

The Risk of Social Media: Vietnam

It is no surprise that a communist country such as Vietnam is guilty of social and political injustices. 

A traditional response to injustice is protest. Many people are apprehensive to protest, due to the infringement on their rights, and potential danger. Protesters are handled with excessive force, they are intimidated, harassed and in many cases face detention. In alternative, activists use social media, especially blogging, as a tool to inform society. It's successful because of the ability to reach millions of people. The problem begins when bloggers receive a lot of attention.The citizens who follow bloggers online, are relying on them to expose corruption. They simply cannot detain every citizen who blogs against the state therefore they target the most prominent bloggers. The Civil Rights Defenders states, "More than three million individuals host blogs in Vietnam." The detainees include bloggers with the most viewers, and most radical content. 

Some of the many issues Vietnam struggles with include Human Rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press. and more. An article published by the Civil Rights Defenders, explains in detail the types of  Human Rights violations occurring in Vietnam.

On a social standpoint, one injustice that Vietnamese citizens are fighting against involves land ownership. Land owners are commonly forced to give up their land to corporate development projects. In return, they receive unfair compensation for their land. Another major social issue is police brutality one that Americans are particularly familiar with. The difference is this: With the rise of social media in the U.S., we have seen evidence of police brutality. Typically, in the form of video footage from a witness. In Vietnam, individuals must be extremely cautious of what they post online. Any content shared that the government deems "anti-state," can lead to arrest and in worst case incarceration. 

Nguyễn Hữu Vinh, a well known blogger, was sentenced to 5 years for his published articles. His main focus? Government corruption. In an even worse case,  blogger  Ngô Hào, received a 15 year sentence. A petition has been created for both bloggers in attempt to get them out of prison. 

 

How Many People Use Social Media in Africa?

A study taken in 2014 showed that 100 million people were active on Facebook each month across Africa. Eighty-percent of people accessed Facebook using a mobile device. Now, a CNN article posted in January by Phoebe Parke, states that this number has risen to over 120 million people.

“Four and a half million of those Facebook users are based in Kenya, 15 million in Nigeria and 12 million in South Africa, in statistics first reported by Reuters.”

Although those numbers may sounds large, in reality, that is only about Nine-percent of Africans that are using social media. South African users are actually some of the people who spend the most time of social networks a day by using it for over three hours. This number is in comparison with the global average of about two and a half hours. For a small but growing number of people in Africa, social media is becoming a daily part of their everyday life. 

"We discuss life, love, politics, philosophy, and all else one would expect," says Mark Kaigwa, founder of African digital strategy consultancy Nendo.

Kaigwa also states in the article that social media brings a new light to the views of Africa. Social Media is beginning to show more of what everyday life is like rather than constant poverty and corruption. Snapchat, for one day, allowed users in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to host a public channel that the world could view. “Kenyans were quick to put Americans expecting wildlife and wilderness in check.” This sparked the trending hashtag of Twitter #TheAfricaTheyNeverShowYou. (Also, #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou)

As social media rises in Africa, so does the competition between social networks. What networks will be used the most? Which one will rise to the top? Facebook is currently the main source of social media communication on the continent, but with the rise of WeChat and WhatsApp, they may not be at the top for long as more citizens begin to join the online community. 

 

Global Media News Webcast #6: Thursday, October 13, 2016

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Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering media news from around the world.  GMN is a production of  Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Old Westbury.   We scour the web for news about media, journalism and technology. 

Listen to our next webcast from the Global Media Newsroom  streaming live on Thursday, October 27, 2016 @ 10am EST.

Can't listen live? Our next webcast  will be posted by 2:00pm, Thursday, October 27, 2016.

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U.K. Gaming Rides the Coattails of Japan and the U.S.

    According to a 2014 article by Creative industries, "The UK is one of the highest consumers of video games in the world, alongside Japan and the US". The U.K. had one of the biggest headquarters with a large amount of power to have success in Europe. This is why everyone is choosing the U.K. and this is why the U.K. video game industry is booming. A lot of the oversea video game industries are throwing money at them to support their games so that gives U.K. a lot of money. 

    Creative industries also explains that "The UK games industry is worth £2.9bn (4 per cent year-on-year growth) and accounts for 40.2 per cent of the country’s entertainment industry.  It is expected to grow by 23 per cent between 2011 and 2015". This is showing how much money they really are making. As for studios, the U.K. are in the lead and have 23 of the worlds top studios. That continues to bring in the dough for the U.K. within Europe. 

    The numbers don't lie, the United Kingdom is tearing it up in business within Europe. The talent is there to continue to bring in the money. They have the biggest development community in Europe. Creative industries says "The UK has the largest development community in Europe, with over 250 development studios and hundreds more small development teams and freelancers". The statistics continue to show why the U.K. is doing things correct in the video game industry. They build relationships with a lot of different studios and industries which leads to more business. 

United Kingdom is the King of Video Games in Europe

    Out of all the countries in Europe, the United Kingdom leads the way in Video Gaming. Creative industries explains in a 2014 article, "The UK has been widely identified as the leading industry for games development in Europe. The Games Developer Conference (GDC) (a government source in which they promote U.K. Creative industries), polled 400-plus games professionals across europe and found that the UK emerged top for tax incentives and also as the best source of games both 10 years ago and as the likely source of the best games in five year from now". It leads the way in tax incentives and apparently its a fan favorite with the best games in the past 10 years as well. The U.K. is one of the largest development markets in Europe and a lot more people play video games there than you think. In fact, 95% of U.K. gaming companies sell products outside the U.K. so that means most of them get money other ways and that they are very profitable. This is showing that video games are doing well in the U.K. And according to Creative industries article, "Twice as many Britons would miss playing video games as watching DVDs" from a Communications Market source. So more people are into games than movies.

    The audience they are targeting is actually more middle age and older people. About 70% of the population plays video games, that is a huge portion of Britons that are involved in video games. The video games are booming over in the United Kingdom.

    The U.K. is keeping up with the times because they are increasing their internet speeds, pushing the PC market, making things more affordable and increasing the growth of social networks. These all are making the video game industry for U.K. better. The app market is a huge chunk of their video game production. Just like Japan, they are really into pushing mobile gaming sales. "According to Creative industries, The UK is a unique market for the games industry. Straddling both the USA and the wider European markets, it also provides fast-track access to the Middle East and India and has become the top inward-investment destination for companies outside of Europe. For early stage and new technology and content players, the UK is an essential first market due to its early-adopter environment, meaning companies can test their new applications in a well developed and high-spending economy". 

    All of this content is giving a background look of how the U.K. is doing in Europe compared to other continents and countries. Since U.K. is one of the world's biggest media platforms, they have a big advantage with making great games overall.