Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoSOMALIA / AL SHABAB INTERNET
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: SOMALIA / AL SHABAB INTERNET
TRT: 2:26
SOURCE: AU/UN IST
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ SOMALI/ NATS
DATELINE: 14 JANUARY 2014 MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
1. Wide shot, billboards advertising 3G coverage offered by Somali network companies
2. Med shot, billboards advertising 3G coverage offered by Somali network companies
3. Close up, computer monitor
4. Med shot, an individual using a computer at a cyber cafe
5. Close up, an individual using a computer at a cyber cafe
6. Close up, a hand using a computer mouse at a cyber cafe
7. Wide shot, Liban Ahmed- Internet Café owner using a computer
8. Med shot, Liban Ahmed- Internet Café owner using a computer
9. Close up, computer monitor
10. SOUND BITE (Somali) Liban Ahmed- Internet Café/ Travel Agency Owner:
“The Internet is especially beneficial to the whole city and particularly for businesses. For us, in our work as a travel agency, we rely on the Internet one hundred percent. Our customers are not only those living in this area; they live all over the world. Some live in the US and in the UK as well. We book their ticket online and we send it to them via email. So this service is made possible by the Internet connection.”
11. Wide shot, billboards advertising 3G coverage offered by Somali network companies
12. Med shot, individual in Mogadishu using his mobile handset
13. Close up, individual in Mogadishu using his mobile handset
14. SOUND BITE (Somali) Deeq Ahmed Shire- Internet User/ Mogadishu Resident:
“We cannot do without Internet. It is very convenient and we have become used to it and it is what keeps us busy. We talk to our friends and we converse with the world. We are able to be in touch everywhere. So it is very beneficial for us. So companies like Hormuud have made access to this service easier.”
15. Wide shot, kilometer four round about Mogadishu
16. Med Shot, Bus stop at Macca Al mukkrahma road
17. Med Shot, Bus stop at Macca Al mukkrahma road
18. Med shot, Abdi Aynte talking to interviewee
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdi Aynte- Executive Director/ The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies:
“I think there are three reasons Shabab did this number one is, it is part of there broader strategy to instill fear in the minds of the people, number two I think they are afraid to be exposed because mobile technology with high speed internet will allow citizens to transmit data into the rest of the world through social media or through the internet and what not, and the third and perhaps the most important one is that they are afraid that this technology will be used to track some of there top fighters as the operations of drones permeates in the areas that Al Shabab controls in South and Central Somalia.”
20. Wide shot, ship laying the fiber optic cable off shore
21. Wide shot, mechanical technical site of the fiber optic cable laying at the shore
22. Close up, the fiber optic cable laying at the shore
23. Wide shot, billboards advertising 3G coverage offered by Somali network companies
24. Med shot, billboards advertising 3G coverage offered by Somali network companies
Billboards advertising Internet services dot the thoroughfares in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
Businesses, schools, non-governmental organizations and public institutions are increasingly reliant on the Internet and this hasn’t boded too well with the insurgent group, al Shabab.
Last week, the group issued a statement banning the use of mobile Internet services and gave service providers a 15-day ultimatum to disconnect the service, threatening to punish those who do not comply.
The Somali Federal Government was quick to assuage the fears of telecom companies and customers, urging them to ignore the threat and carry on.
Al Shabab, known for its trademark sweeping statements has promised to enforce the ban once the deadline expires but this doesn’t seem to faze a lot of Somalis.
Liban Ahmed, who runs an Internet café that also doubles as a travel agency, says the lives of many Somalis and businesses now thrive on the Internet. Though the ban does not affect the Internet cafés, Ahmed says Internet usage is now part and parcel of the Somali lifestyle.
SOUND BITE (Somali) Liban Ahmed- Internet Café/ Travel Agency Owner:
“The Internet is especially beneficial to the whole city and particularly for businesses. For us, in our work as a travel agency, we rely on the Internet one hundred percent. Our customers are not only those living in this area; they live all over the world. Some live in the US and in the UK as well. We book their ticket online and we send it to them via email. So this service is made possible by the Internet connection.”
With Hormuud Telecom and Nationlink as the main service providers, Internet usage has become integral in the daily lives of many Somalis, making it difficult for them to comprehend life without it.
Deeq Ahmed Shire, a resident of Mogadishu and a mobile Internet user says he enjoys daily connection to the rest of the world and needs the Internet.
SOUND BITE (Somali) Deeq Ahmed Shire- Internet User/ Mogadishu Resident:
“We cannot do without Internet. It is very convenient and we have become used to it and it is what keeps us busy. We talk to our friends and we converse with the world. We are able to be in touch everywhere. So it is very beneficial for us. So companies like Hormuud have made access to this service easier.”
Such a move is aimed at instilling fear in the public sphere, analysts say, adding that Al Shabab is getting increasingly paranoid; afraid that the Internet could be used to track them in their hideouts.
The militia frequently uses social media to propagate its views and even to communicate during operations such as the terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya.
Abdi Aynte, the Executive Director of the Heritage Institute of Policy Studies (HIPS), a Somali think tank organization says the ban is not easily enforceable and explains some of the possible motives behind this action.
SOUNDBITE (English) Abdi Aynte- Executive Director/ The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies:
“I think there are three reasons Shabab did this number one is, it is part of there broader strategy to instill fear in the minds of the people, number two I think they are afraid to be exposed because mobile technology with high speed internet will allow citizens to transmit data into the rest of the world through social media or through the internet and what not, and the third and perhaps the most important one is that they are afraid that this technology will be used to track some of there top fighters as the operations of drones permeates in the areas that Al Shabab controls in South and Central Somalia.”
Al Shabab’s ban extends to fiber optic technology. The fiber optic cable, touched shore in Somalia last year as part of the East African Submarine System. Once operational, this is expected to revitalize Internet access and usage as the country witnesses significant growth in the telecommunications sector.
As the deadline to the enforcement of the ban looms closer, it’s a wait and see approach for most Somalis. In the meantime, they’ll live their lives online thanks to the Internet.
