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INTRODUCTION
For the Ruth First Fellowships, of which African Studies is a sponsor, we seek new, younger voices to address a pressing, current issue in the tradition of Ruth First’s activist research. In 2021, we asked applications for the Fellowship to speak to the following key question: What do the radical changes in the public sphere enabled by the power of Big Tech mean for the public sphere? We hoped to tease out the meaning, paradoxes and contradictions of the impact of the big technology companies and their instruments with regard to the public sphere.
Murray Hunter responded with a proposal to produce an essay – part narrative, part analysis – meditating on why the private power of giant technology companies seem largely to be treated as more palatable and benign than state power. And, equally importantly, what we need to do about it. At a hybrid event hosted live at The Forge in Braamfontein and online, Hunter delivered the 2021 Ruth First Memorial Lecture in January 2022, with a keynote address by Nanjala Nyabola, writer, political analyst, and activist based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful for the support of the Ruth First Fellowship Committee, and assistance from Bob and Sueanne Huston, Bongani Kona, Dominic Cull, Eric Williams, Gavin Borrageiro, Heidi Swart, Jane Duncan, Kenicho Serino, Michael Kwet, Sophia Phirripides, Ziyanda Stuurman, and colleagues at ALT Advisory, where I took employment during the course of research. ALT Advisory is partnered to the public interest law firm Power Singh Inc., legal representatives for amicus curiae in the Vumacam court case.
Disclosure statement
No conflict of interest was declared by the author.
Notes
1 AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism NPC v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services; Minister of Police v AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism NPC [2021] ZACC 3
2 Vumacam (Pty) Ltd v Johannesburg Roads Agency, 2020/14867, Respondents’ Answering Affidavit, para 3.1.
3 Vumacam (Pty) Ltd (ibid), Founding affidavit, Annexure FA6.
4 Ibid.
5 Vumacam (Pty) Ltd v Johannesburg Roads Agency (14867/20) [2020] ZAGPJHC 186 (20 August 2020) para 16.
6 I reached out to the Johannesburg Roads Agency for comment and did not get a response. I reached out to Rambau, who now works at another agency, and did not get a response.
7 Poorest Cities in America, https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-city-rankings/poorest-cities-in-america
8 Interview Eric Williams, 4 August 2021, Detroit.
9 Ibid.
10 Vumacam, LPR hits per minute at 21 October 2021. https://vumacam.co.za
11 As a side note, it reflects an odd misunderstanding to say an algorithm is non-biased because it is not ‘pre-programmed to identify race’. When it comes to discrimination, machines are much like humans: their bias is usually implicit. An algorithm need not be designed to identify a characteristic such as race, gender, economic class, sexual identity, and so forth, in order to discriminate along those characteristics.
13 Ibid.
14 Section 72 of the Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005.
15 Interview Ziyanda Stuurman, 24 August 2021, Cape Town.
16 Ibid.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Murray Hunter
Murray Hunter is a digital rights, advocacy and communications specialist at ALT Advisory. He held various advocacy and leadership roles at the Right2Know Campaign, Open Secrets and the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism.