African Union’s MIL Framework: Decolonizing Digital Literacy to Counter Colonial Media Fractures
Original framing: “AU Media and Information Literacy Framework to harmonize fragmented standards” — bing news
The framework’s consultations excluded key marginalized groups: rural women in Mali, who face targeted disinformation during elections; LGBTQ+ activists in Uganda, whose voices are erased by state-sponsored media narratives; and youth in conflict zones like Sudan, where warlords use ‘fake news’ to recruit child soldiers. A 2022 *Human Rights Watch* report found that 72% of African women lack access to media literacy programs, yet the AU’s documents make no mention of gendered disinformation tactics. The omission reflects a pattern where ‘inclusive’ policies are designed by elites without consulting those most affected by media violence.
The African Union’s Media and Information Literacy Framework is caught between two trickster forces: the *Loki* of neocolonial media governance, which seeks to contain disruption under the guise of ‘harmonization,’ and the *Anansi* of indigenous resistance, which could weave a new narrative if given the tools.
The framework’s strength lies in its potential to restore *narrative sovereignty*—but this requires confronting the historical amnesia that allows colonial media fractures to persist. For instance, the omission of *Ubuntu* principles mirrors the erasure of the *Lagos Plan of Action*, showing how ‘progress’ is often a repackaging of old power dynamics. The solution lies in *decolonizing the curriculum* (via indigenous knowledge hubs), *exposing corporate trickery* (through transparency laws), and *reclaiming artistic resistance* (via counter-narrative labs). Without these, the framework risks becoming another tool in the *Hermes*-like game of half-truths, where ‘media literacy’ is taught to navigate capitalist systems rather than challenge them. The AU must choose: will this be a *Coyote*-led rebellion against fragmented media, or a *Loki*-sanctioned illusion of unity?