Nnenna Nwakanma: "Cut Internet is always the manifestation of a dictator"

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Nnenna Nwakanma performs on stage at this 2018 edition of the Web Summit on behalf of the Web Foundation. RFI / Marc Etcheverry

It was the presentation that caused a sensation at the Web Summit, the great Portuguese meeting of the world Tech, the new "contract for the Web" that the inventor of the Web, Tim Bernes-Lee, came to promote in nobody. Nnenna Nwakanma, director of public policy at the Web Foundation, who is leading the project, looks back at the reasons for writing this text. The opportunity also to evoke with this "Abidjanese of Nigerian origin", as it presents itself, the reports of Africa to the internet.

From our special envoy to Lisbon,

RFI: Tim Berners-Lee, who is considered the "father of the Web," made a notable opening statement at the Web Summit presenting his idea of ​​a " contract for the Web " . Is it time to review our relationship to the Web ?

Nnenna Nwakanma: The "contract for the Web" was born of its commitment to make the Web a space of opportunity, a space of mutual aid, a safe space, which one should not be afraid, a space where the users feel confident in carrying out their activities. But thirty years after its invention, only half of the world is connected, power on the Web begins to be concentrated in the hands of a few, and the use that is made of it causes harm to humanity.

Some net giants like Google and Facebook have already signed this "contract". The French government too. How will this materialize next?

In this contract, there are nine principles, three per level of involvement: government, private sector and civil society. And since yesterday [ Monday, October 5, date of the opening of the summit, ed ], nearly 2,000 players have already signed. The next step is to have everyone sit around the table and say, " Here are the commitments we've made, that's what we're going to do. Let us engage in the fight for the price of the internet, for the defense of net neutrality, for the respect of personal data, etc. "

Here are the main lines of @timberners_lee's "Contract #ForTheWeb" and the @webfoundation #WebSummit pic.twitter.com/SpRbRMY1XW

Who will verify that the commitments are respected?

We plan to introduce an annual or bi-annual evaluation mechanism. Because there are often big statements and then after nothing.

In this fight that you lead for a " better Web " , Africa is a particular field of action ...

I am African, an Abidjan woman of Nigerian origin. For the last six years I have been at the Web Foundation we have been working hard to open up data by assisting African governments, lowering the price of the internet, as in Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, or Liberia. And we are also working for women's rights, because our research has shown that women are the biggest losers.

Tim Berners-Lee (L), considered the founder of the Web, came to the Web Summit to present his solutions for the "save". RFI / Marc Etcheverry

In 2013, you have just launched the Affordable Internet Alliance, in which the Internet giants participate, with a goal that continues to be revised upward. Where is the initiative ?

Today we aim to move the price of gigabytes of data below 2% of a family's average monthly income. In Paris, a gigabyte can make you smile, but in some countries, a gigabyte is 30 to 40% of monthly income.

And there are many disparities ...

We can not obviously compare Ouagadougou to Paris, because the infrastructures that we find in Europe do not exist in Africa. But we can not compare Abidjan to Bamako for example, because Mali is a landlocked country and it is difficult to trace the submarine cables to Bamako. So internet is going to cost more than in Abidjan.

It also requires a strong political commitment.

It takes money to build these infrastructures and we see that it is not the states that invest, it is the private sector. And when the private sector invests, it wants a return on investment. We need economic and social stability, which encourages people to come and invest billions of dollars to develop the Internet. We must also see the desires of taxation: there are countries that think that taxing telecommunications is easy because everyone uses them. They do not imagine what they do as damage ...

Internet access in Africa is happening and will be even more mobile in the future. In this sector, Facebook, with its program Freebasics, partners with operators to provide access to the internet - a limited Internet and shaped by the social network - without additional cost for the user. Should we worry ?

I would like all Africans to hear me: Facebook has never given free internet to anyone. What Facebook does is what every trader does. When you go to the market and you are offered something: you taste once, twice and after you buy.

And Facebook does not give access to the Web for free, it gives free access to its platform. It's like going to the big market in the city and stopping at the only chicken stall and then leaving. You have not seen anything of the market.

Another imperative for both Africa and the rest of the world is the protection of personal data. Except that on the continent, very few countries - about fifteen - have legislation that refers to it. What can be done at the supranational level ?

First, the problem of data protection is a problem of those who are online. However, 75% of Africans do not have a digital life, so for them the data protection does not tell them anything - however someone can take your data and put them online, without your knowledge.

Secondly, there is no African convention dedicated to this issue, even though there is an African convention on cyber security [written in 2014]. But there is a directive that has been proposed recently.

Generally, in all Constitutions, privacy is recognized as a right, but that can not hide the threat we are experiencing. And even in countries like Côte d'Ivoire where there is a law, the application is non-existent. I do not know anyone who has been brought to justice for this reason. So first we need laws - and the African Union Commission can not force any country to vote on them. Then you have to popularize them. Citizens need to be aware of the importance [of the subject]. MPs can not pass laws and go home, they must be able to challenge them to explain what they voted. Finally we need organs to monitor their application and when there is fault, we must be able to punish.

Politics can also be very intrusive. We have also seen in several countries or geographical areas of Africa (English-speaking Cameroon, Burundi, DRC), internet be cut on the orders of the authorities.

I say one thing: there is no greater political mistake nowadays than cutting off the internet. This is called the "shutdown". Cut off access to the internet, because you fear that you can write things that Mr. President does not like, that's a big mistake and it's hogwash. Today, all payments are made online, we go to school online. And what happens to trade? Many of our young people are also application developers. They are in the country, they are not dying in the sea. They are in the process of coping online, and their computer and mobile phone are their livelihoods.

I had to talk to those governments that cut the Internet: they are never decisions supported by parliaments, they are always arbitrary decisions. It's always the manifestation of a dictator.

Finally how do you want an investor to invest in this country, if overnight, Madam First Lady is happy with what X or Y wrote, call her husband, who calls the minister, who end up threatening internet service providers. In the 21st century, it must stop.