by Thinus Ferreira
There's plentiful irony insta-baked into a social media star from Zimbabwe winning the continent's category as African Social Star 2021 at E!'s 2021 People's Choice Awards, as social media influencers continue to struggle as they try to carve out businesses and amass clout while African governments do the opposite with wholesale switch-offs of the internet as soon as they come under pressure.
From Zimbabwe to Ethiopia, from Zambia and Uganda, to Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt, Nigeria and a string of other African nations like Togo, Benin, Gabon, Burundi, Chad, Mali, Malawi, Mauritania, Guinea, Eritrea, Liberia and Tanzania, dictatorial African leaders are becoming brazenly shameless in cutting off the internet in their countries when they're trying to block and mute what the public is saying.
Imitating countries like social media censorship rife China, African countries - trying to stifle public discourse and social media communication - are more and more prone to do wholesale cut-offs of the internet when the citizenry rise up online to say things they don't like and that threaten their power.
Cue NBCUniversal International Networks that again returned the African Social Star of the year category to the 2021 People's Choice Awards, with Africans - and indeed E! (DStv 124) viewers worldwide, who got to vote in 40 categories for their favourites.
For the third time in the history of the People's Choice Awards since it switched to E!, the competition specifically included an African Social Star, with Zimbabwe's Tyra Chikocho (known as Madam Boss) who won, and with Kenya's Azziad Nasenya second and the South African TikTokker Witney Ramabulana coming in third place.
The Harare-born Tyra Chikocho who began her entertainment career as a gospel singer
before her comedy skits started going viral on social media became the
first Zimbabwean comedian to pass 1-million followers on Facebook and is well
on her way to the same milestone on Instagram.
What do these African social media trailblazers on the African continent make of African governments and countries simply switching off the internet willy-nilly, and in the process damaging public discourse but also businesses, livelihoods, and economies?
TVwithThinus asked during a recent virtual media press conference that had to be submitted as a written question on Zoom for E!'s African Social Star 2021 in the People's Choice Awards and was promised an answer during the session, but none were ever forthcoming.
What is clear, although they don't really seem to yet quite fathom why, African governments switching off or restricting internet access won't end well - for them.
While internet service providers (ISPs) dutifully cut access when ordered to millions of users in African countries that are struggling to uphold basic democratic values like freedom of expression and freedom of speech, it's clear that draconian African governments trying to stifle free speech will eventually find themselves on the wrong side of history.
It's futile to try and mute or control public comment and discussion, and as Africa rises, so does its social media users, internet consumers and social media stars who - if gagged - will find other ways to give expression to their voices.
As Africa gives rise to more social media stars across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok - conversations and online mass communication relationships grow exponentially. It's expanding, not contracting.
Even if African governments and despot rulers and ruling parties don't understand it, trying to dam up and stop a river doesn't stop its flow.
The ceremony will be repeated the following day on
Wednesday 8 December at 20:00.
