Bulelani Jili on Africa’s Demand for and Adoption of Chinese Surveillance Technologies
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 26 June 2023
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Countries across Africa are procuring and employing surveillance tools from China. This trend is a product of China’s diplomatic strategy, its technological ambitions, and growing corporate power and reach, as well as African domestic demands. A white paper from the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) at the Atlantic Council argues that research on this topic disproportionately focuses on the motivations and ambitions of the supplier, and seeks instead to focus on the local features that drive the adoption of Chinese surveillance tools.
Lawfare’s Fellow in Technology Policy and Law, Eugenia Lostri, sat down with Bulelani Jili, the author of the white paper. Bulelani is a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, and a Meta Research Ph.D. Fellow at Harvard University. They discussed the supply and demand drivers for surveillance technology in Africa, the risks to civil liberties that come from the deployment of these technologies without proper checks and balances, and how all this fits in the context of U.S.-China competition.
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Transcript
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| 0:22.0 | rational security, chatter, law fair no bull, and the aftermath. |
| 0:29.0 | On the Africa side, you know, the domestic demand somewhat varies. |
| 0:39.0 | But I would argue that it's kind of mostly held together by a general interest |
| 0:47.0 | in applying surveillance for developmental purposes. |
| 0:52.0 | I am Eugenia Lachdray, LawFair's fellow in technology policy and law. |
| 0:57.0 | And this is the LawFair podcast June 26, 2023. |
| 1:02.0 | Countries across Africa are procuring and employing surveillance tools from China. |
| 1:08.0 | This trend is a product of China's diplomatic strategy, its technological ambitions, |
| 1:14.0 | and growing corporate power and reach, as well as African domestic demands. |
| 1:19.0 | A white paper from the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council |
| 1:25.0 | argues that research on this topic disproportionately focuses on the motivations and ambitions of the supplier, |
| 1:32.0 | and 16st ed to focus on the local features that drive the adoption of Chinese surveillance tools. |
| 1:39.0 | I sat down with Bullilani Julie, the author of the white paper. |
| 1:45.0 | Bullilani is a fellow at the Atlantic Council's Cyber State Craft Initiative |
| 1:50.0 | and a meta-research PhD fellow at Harvard University. |
| 1:55.0 | We discuss the supply and demand drivers for surveillance technology in Africa, |
| 2:00.0 | the risks to civil liberties that come from the deployment of these technologies |
... |
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