Ghana In Cyberspace: state control and the new media

Until about a decade ago, both the print and the electronic media in Ghana were the absolute preserves of the government of the day. Appointments to the top hierarchies of the state-run media establishments, which of course were the cardinal conduits for disseminating public information, were lock, stock and barrel controlled and managed by the government in power, depicting how politics was conducted and covered. Dissenting views were seen to be very dangerous, destabilizing and could hardly bypass the heavy lens of editors who, by virtue of their appointments and political leanings, owed allegiance to the political authority of the day and answerable to it. The Libel law and other extra-judicial measures were employed to gag those who dared challenged the status quo.

Comparatively the new media, by virtue of its exponential ease of connection, unlike the traditional media, has set the tone to dislodge the last vestige of government control over the media in Ghana and other countries where the media is still seen as propaganda machinery, which needs to be controlled and regulated by the powers that be.

What commenced under the Department of Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) in the United States and came to be known as the ARPRANET, was initially conceived, by its military originators, as a mechanism to keep military data in a way to withstand large scale destruction (nuclear attack), in case there was any, during the cold war. Oblivious to them was the fact that half a century later, it would not only help to prevent the mass destruction of military data in such an instance but would assume a spearheading role in the spread of free speech in its most massive form the world has ever witnessed.

Since coming into public use (i.e. the internet), the absolutes of the ‘Westphalian system’, based on territorial borders within which resides sovereign political authority including control over the media, continues to be effaced in cyberspace with the rise of powerful non-state actors with no geographical limitations. Government restrictions on speech in its various forms-print, electronic, audio and visual among others-before they are disseminated have declined considerably in cyberspace. In Ghana, though the transformation has not been very expeditious, it has progressively transformed the media outlook tending political cum media discourses towards what is becoming freer and freer of government restrictions by providing alternative conduits/aperture by which the government and the public can interact.

It is compelling how these significant changes in the Ghanaian media outlook occurred over the last decade. The return of the country to a constitutional democracy in 1992 was a very significant development with its dividends in the proliferation of newspapers; radio and TV stations completely owned and managed by private entities. Although there were serious tensions between the government of the day and some of the privately-owned media establishments, this development was timely enough to prepare the ground for the landmark repeal of the Criminal Libel Law (July 2001) before the internet explosion which begun in 1998.

Presently, there are multiplicity of on-line media houses reporting news, hosting feature articles, commentaries, commercials and editorials, among others, on Ghana. The fascinating thing is that, unlike in the past when censorship was the prerogative of the government with the possibility of killing stories it found distasteful, things have changed a great deal today. Some of these on-line media houses operate in a way similar to offshore businesses. They are hosted by service providers far away from Ghanaian shores, therefore, eluding control mechanisms which may apply to locally-run or hosted media houses and other media houses with government stake in them. Outsourcing of news, sometimes with or without the consent of the originators, have become a common feature of this transformations in cyberspace. Ghanaweb, Ghana Review International, Ghana News, All Africa News are a few citable examples.

Homing in on Ghanaweb, the most widely surfed web site among Ghanaians both home abroad with regards to online news, it is incredible how an individual’s innovation and ingenuity can challenge and eventually surpass the might of nationally resourced media houses like the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, The Daily Graphic and the Ghanaian Times among others. It has successfully played host to The Daily Graphic, The Ghanaian Times, GBC and a host of privately-owned newspapers and radio stations. The import of this development is that with the resources-financial, human and political power-available at the disposal of the state-owned media enterprises, they are completely stuck in the past, resisting change and refusing to open up to innovation. Clearly, the issue cannot be said to be financial but the innovation that is required to lead and transform a post-modern media enterprise to be dynamic to the rapidly changing media landscape the world has ever seen.

It is, however, encouraging to note that the private media, especially those online have, in an unprecedented development, dislodged all the traditional gatekeepers associated with the state-owned media in their conventionality. The construction of a hyper interactive site by Ghanaweb and Joyfm are no mean achievements in consolidating free speech among Ghanaians who wish to contribute to issues of concern to them. The Ghanaian with limited political clout, who may choose to be faceless or choose to adopt pseudonyms, is now granted unfettered access to public participation in decision making without necessarily going through the press, political parties and other gatekeepers. The regulatory roles of these gatekeepers are progressively dissipating in cyberspace, as the internet provides multi-links decreasing the opportunity for regulatory intercessions (disruption of media hierarchies).

More encouraging still is the emergence of an array of interest groups and pressure groups with unfettered geographical limitation in cyberspace. Many of them do not and are not present in Ghana but are playing very meaningful roles in influencing government policies through their well-informed commentaries, feature articles, memorandums and alternative policy statements among others. To mention but a few, Ghana Leadership Union, Imani, National Party, Africa Youth Centre for Excellence are constantly at the forefront informing and educating Ghanaians about what alternatives there are for government policies, challenging and proposing new ways of approach to development issues plaguing the country.

In spite of these positive developments, there is the propensity towards a drift to the use of base language of vituperation, ethnocentrism and the unchecked peddling of untruths in cyberspace (interactive sites) which could undermine the credibility, sense of purpose and judgement among users. The Ashanti-Ewe dichotomy is becoming very pronounced and sickening on this platform just as the peddling of untruths and instant emotional outburst without thoughtful considerations for the sensibilities of other contributors. Though it is good we voice out our concerns about issues of most concern to us; it is better when our concerns are presented dispassionately devoid of emotions; and laudable when we are empathic in calibrating our free speech towards a good end.

Indeed, government’s or service provider’s regulatory intercessional mechanisms may look attractive in curbing the use of untoward language that is becoming very phenomenal in this space. But its applicability will be incontrovertibly inconsistent with the times. It will set back the clock of progress with regards to free speech.

This does not mean that restrictions have not been considered in the higher echelons of power. Of course, there have been such considerations-flagrant and subtle, overt and covert-when a cabinet minister (Hackman Owusus Agyeman) in the current administration descended heavily on Ghanaweb, accusing its management of nursing a diabolic agenda to discredit the government.

Now, the bottom line is that those who think there could still be restrictions on the media are simply behind time. Ghana, like any other state with internet connectivity, is now completely enmeshed in a global cyberspace with little or no geographical limitations. Ghana as a country is thus reduced to a local authority of the global system and can no longer independently affect or influence the socio-political activities within its territories. Online media service providers have become more powerful than her state-run media establishments which are even hosted by some of these privately-owned online media houses. Further to this is the availability of group email mechanisms to reaching multitudes to disseminate sensitive information which may be restricted by legislative provisions. Certainly, these important landmark developments put regulatory intercessions at variance with the times.

For the benefit of readership, the issue of restriction brings to mind attempts by the United States to control what her citizens put out in cyberspace in the 1990s by enacting the Communication Decency Act in 1996 (CDA 1996). Seen as a ‘trial of the internet’ the law was repealed months after it was successfully challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (Reno V. ACLU, June 26 1997 [96-511]).

It is, therefore, incumbent on participants in the new media to be guided by the truth at all times for that is the most fundamental principle to safeguard against defamatory or slanderous publications. Rejoinders, rebuttals, disclosures and explanation of issues are also available mechanism to repudiate the untruths but definitely not restrictive measures or emotional outbursts.

Folks, this is the information superhighway. Let’s use it and apply it judiciously.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.