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Violent contents discourage social media monetization in South Sudan: Adok

Authors: Madrama James | Chany Ninrew | Published: January 29, 2025

Napoleon Adok Gai, the Director General of the National Communication Authority - Courtesy

The Director General of National Communication Authority (NCA) said on Tuesday that posting graphic contents in South Sudan’s social media space is one factor discouraging tech companies from enabling content monetization in the country.

Addressing lawmakers, Napoleon Adok said social media platforms including Facebook, Tiktok and X (formerly Twitter) are yet to invest in the country because South Sudan-based contents mainly depict violence.

“A question has been raised, why are our people not getting monetization of their content? Yes, the reason you do not get monetization of content created from South Sudan is because those platforms are not here,” he said.

Mr. Adok said the recent ban on social media that the communication regulator ordered was also prompted by lack of content filtering mechanisms in the country.

He explained that if such mechanisms existed, it would have allowed NCA to identify and address specific accounts circulating content deemed unacceptable to national culture and averted the ban.

Graphic footages were widely circulated on social media of South Sudanese nationals in civilian clothes killed alleged by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) following the recapture of Wad Madani on January 11, 2025.

The atrocities angered youth in South Sudan as they attacked a number of Sudanese-owned shops in markets in Juba, Aweil and other towns.

The South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS) confirmed the death of more than 10 people in the nationwide violent demonstrations before calm was restored.

Inspector General of Police Gen. Abraham Manyuat declared night-time curfew and the NCA ordered a 90-day ban on social media platforms – a decision that was met with criticisms.

Meanwhile, Mr. Adok justified that his institution is legally mandated to limit technologies that interfere with societal values and cultural norms.

He added that the objective of removing the offensive videos was achieved and the ban lifted shorter than expected.

On content monetization, Mr. Adok said it is only when content moderation is in place and South Sudanese users abstain from posting violent contents – that the government can only compel tech firms to initiate monetization.

“Nobody will pay for content that exhibit violence. So, I call also on content creators to also help us reduce these gruesome contents that are depicting bad values,” he said.

“Facebook is used for marketing globally by many people. It’s used for exchange. But of course, you’ve got to attract the people also so that they know we have something better than violence. We have something better than death and robbery and looting.”

The communication official said South Sudanese must take it upon themselves to transform the image of their country by abandoning disturbing contents and focusing on showcasing the country’s beauty to the world.

“It is upon us to collectively to project the image we would like others to see. We need to work on it so that we have an identity, and it is that identity that people want to pay for. It is not duplication of other people’s work.

“We have a lot. We have wildlife. We have wrestling, we have music, we have comedians who are producing excellent quality, but they are not getting paid because those who see those materials will trace where it is generated and find it is the same place where you post dead people on the street.”

Further, the NCA chief said they continue to engage with Meta and other companies to ensure that they bring content monetization to South Sudan as well as to target accounts responsible for posting content that incites unrest or contravenes the country’s cultural standards.

Adok also noted that the NCA has consulted with the Media Authority to regulate content such as explicit imagery, including depictions of nudity and dead bodies, which it considers counterproductive to the nation’s values.

“We are also working to talk with Facebook and all these points including how our youth can get money from these platforms, will be on the table so that we also try to work now to prevent future shutdown.”

 

 

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