Citizenship, language and digital rights: the question of language in the process of decolonising the internet and digital rights

Purpose

Much of the vocabulary of digital rights have not been translated into Kiswahili. This means that technology experts and digital rights defenders often use English words when they are discussing technology. This contributes to the frailty of efforts to defend digital rights because those who attempt to explain the importance of these issues to the broader societies are forced to rely on English vocabulary that is not rooted in or connected to Kiswahili contexts. This paper aims to discuss the importance of inviting people to use African languages on the internet.

Design/methodology/approach

Kiswahili is the most widely spoken African language in the world. Nearly 140 million people in East Africa speak Kiswahili as a first or second language, including in Kenya and Tanzania where it is the national language. There is a long history of Kiswahili writing, publishing and cultural production in Kiswahili. Kiswahili is also the only African language that is an official language at the African Union. Even so, Kiswahili lags behind significantly in the development of a vocabulary and grammar of technology.

Findings

Beyond vocabulary, the use of African languages online is important to strengthening democracy on the internet because language is keenly connected to identity. Efforts to translate the vocabulary of technology into Kiswahili are aimed at encouraging societies in East Africa to build communities online that represent their interests keenly. This article therefore looks at the importance of language in building society and the efforts by residents of East Africa to decolonise the internet, so that they are able to exist in their fullness on the internet. The article further examines the semiotics of language in digital innovation, and the importance of representing Kiswahili language communities properly online in efforts to decolonise the internet. This paper does not presume that Kiswahili is the only African language that can decolonise the internet, because even Kiswahili has a history of domination over other language communities in the region. Rather, the article uses the example of Kiswahili to urge the use of indigenous languages to defend digital diversity.

Originality/value

The importance of this article is in demonstrating the importance of language in the movement to develop digital rights and especially to remove colonial approaches to technology, an issue that, to the best of the author’s knowledge, has never been discussed in relation to the Kiswahili language.