As more people connect to social media in Africa, their expectations for real-time information are changing, especially in terms of security. This is leading those charged with community safety to alter their ways of interacting with the public, posing new challenges concerning the rapid flow of (mis)information. At the same time, social media creates opportunities for security sector agencies to engage more directly with the public in providing information, and potentially offers new prospects for improved cooperation in enhancing community safety.
Research for the SMS:Africa project has focused on Kenya, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. SMS:Africa provides evidence-based research on the role social media can play in shaping relationships between technology, power and the dynamics of democracy. It maps how both those charged with community safety and non-state actors are using social media in a security context, developing an understanding of how their actions reflect on the nature of ICT and their ability to re-cast power relations, (in)security and democracy in fragile states.
