June 22nd, 2020. Ramada Resort, Dar es salaam.
By Zaituni Njovu
Civic space is the cornerstone of a democratic society. An open civic space allows citizen journalists and human rights defenders to organize, participate and communicate without arbitrary interference. The phenomenon of ‘closing’ civic space is characterized by a prevalent trend of repressive laws and practices “designed to prevent organizations and people from organizing, speaking out their opinions, seeking accountability and transparency, engaging in democratic rights, and enjoying their rights.” (Anton Mavunge, Localization Sprint Attendee)
In Tanzania, surveillance and censorship have increased under the current administration and the deterioration of human rights has been reported frequently by international and local organizations. In recent years human rights defenders in Tanzania have gone missing and some human rights organizations have even had their advocacy activities suspended by the government. Freedom in the civic space is shrinking within Tanzania’s borders, and as Tanzania heads toward elections in October of this year, surveillance and censorship are expected to increase even more.
Psiphon, as a circumvention tool, aids journalists, activists and other human rights defenders in the face of deteriorating human and digital rights by allowing them to access the open internet and promote freedom of expression online. This is even more essential around an election period.
To ensure that Tanzanians (and the millions of Swahilli speakers across Sub-Saharan Africa) have access to circumvention options in preparation for the elections, Ziana Foundation with the support of Localization Lab hosted a full day localization sprint to localize the Psiphon mobile and desktop applications into Swahili.
Localizing Psiphon for Swahili Speakers
On June 22nd, 2020 Zaina Foundation, Localization Lab, Wikipedia Tanzania and several other stakeholders attended a day-long localization sprint to localize Psiphon for a Tanzanian context. The sprint included ten Tanzanians participants, five of whom were female and 5 male. The team worked for nine hours and in addition to localizing Psiphon, the participants also downloaded, installed and tested Psiphon on their own devices to share collected feedback with the Psiphon team.
In the morning participants enjoyed a virtual presentation from Localization Lab’s Localization Program Manager, Erin McConnell, who shared that “Localization Lab is more a community than an NGO,” with over 7,000 volunteers world-wide who localize over 50 open source internet freedom projects into 200 languages and regional dialects. Localization is not just about increasing access for non-English speakers, it is a path toward decolonizing and diversifying the internet.
In the afternoon, after the sprint participants had translated roughly 1,650 words of the Psiphon mobile and desktop interfaces, Localization Lab and Psiphon joined for another virtual meeting to close out the event. Participants learned more about Psiphon and how it works to bypass censorship and differs from other circumvention tools. They were also able to ask questions and share user feedback from earlier in the day. Participants were particularly interested to learn how Psiphon differs from basic VPNs and were pleased that it does not record or backup user data.
The Way Forward
At the end of sprint participants had translated roughly 30% of the Psiphon Android interface, with 50% more needed to reach the threshold for release. To follow up with the translations and ensure that they would be finished well before the elections participants discussed and organized strategies for remote contribution so that Psiphon across all platforms would be available for release in August. Zaina Foundation also planned a smaller mini localization sprint for mid-August to reach the translation goal.
Post-Event Updates:
Not only is Psiphon for Android ready to deploy in Swahili, but Psiphon for desktop and for iOS are also set to be released before the end of August. At the 2020 Arusha Women’s School of Internet Governance convening in September, attendees at a Localization Lab sponsored localization sprint will review the Swahili translations of the Psiphon website and focus on localizing Psiphon and circumvention educational and outreach materials.
