Can African Feminist Philosophy Inform a Holistic Multilateral Approach to Governing Social Media?

Multilateral initiatives are underway in various parts of the world to propose rules for digital technologies broadly and social media specifically, indicating a broader interest in regional and international instruments to regulate digital technologies. This chapter argues that our approaches to regulation are animated by specific regulatory concerns and that African feminism can be a philosophy used to shape multilateral regulation of social media in a more holistic way. First, it summarises the ongoing efforts to develop a standard of multilateral regulation of social media and argues that regulation is a process animated by distinct if unnamed philosophies. Second, the chapter summarises the various approaches taken by African countries to regulate social media, demonstrating that these approaches are animated by concerns over the survival of the Westphalian state rather than authentic concerns about the wellbeing of African people. Finally, the chapter presents African feminism as a philosophical approach that could resolve the contradictions that emerge from the use of Western philosophy as the foundation for regulating social media in Africa.