The Makerere University Principal, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof Hellen Nambalirwa has called for the regulation of social media as this will enable responsible communication among users across African countries
Her call comes at a time when social media has become a dominant platform for sharing ideas some of which include harmful rhetoric and defamatory remarks.
Prof Nambalirwa notes that it is crucial to establish measures to curtail the spread of such harmful content in the interest of national security.
”As we explore ways to protect security on our high seas, we’re also facing a looming threat from misinformation powered by artificial intelligence. While AI has been harnessed for innovations like disease detection and air quality monitoring, it can also be used for malicious purposes, such as spreading misinformation”, she stated.
She made the remarks at the 8th edition of the Kampala Geopolitics Conference, a two day academic event discussing current geopolitical trends and questions inspired by the flagship event of the ”Geopolitics of Nantes” in France. This year’s edition comprised of numerous topics relating to international relations, regional security ,peace keeping and building peace keeping
While speaking at the event, the Ambassador of France in Uganda H.E. Xavier Sticker urged African leaders to continue advocating for stronger representation at the United Nations specifically calling for Africa to be allocated at least to permanent seats on the UN Security Council.
”With Africa facing numerous conflicts ,having a permanent presence on the Security Council will enable African nations to directly contribute to peace and security at the global stage” H.E explained .
Nils Wormer, Director of the Regional Programme Security Dialogue for East Africa at KAS, underscored the need for Africans to lead the call for reform at the UN “If Africans are not pushing for it nothing will happen ,we must have a serious discussion about the future of the global order ”,he explained .
”The United Nations still matters , the idea behind its sound but we must ask whether the current structure of the security council is still relevant ”,Wörmer added.
