Julie Owono
Born1986 (age 37–38)
Cameroon
EducationMaster in International Law
Alma materSorbonne Law School
OccupationLawyer

Julie Owono (born 1986) is a French and Cameroonian lawyer. As of 2021, she serves as executive director of Internet Without Borders (IWB), and as an inaugural member of Facebook's independent Oversight Board.[1][2][3]

Early life

Owono was born in Cameroon and grew up in Russia and France.[4] Owono received a master's degree in International Law from La Sorbonne Law School.[5] She has worked as a blogger for Global Voices and an opinion columnist for Al-Jazeera, commenting on the politics of the Gulf of Guinea.[6][7]

Internet Sans Frontieres

By the mid-2010s, Owono was active in Internet Sans Frontieres, "a Paris-based non-profit organization advocating for freedom of expression on the internet",[8] becoming head of its Africa desk.[9] In that capacity, she lauded the growth of internet growth in African countries, but cautioned that their governments must avoid censoring the internet, stating that "[a] government cannot say that it wants to fully get into the digital economy and treat the essential commodity of that economy in the way we have seen so far".[9]

In 2018 and 2019, Owono sought to pressure the government of Chad to restore internet access that had been cut off certain parts of the country. Owono indicated that the restriction occurred "because videos of violent clashes among the Zaghawa tribe in northern Chad were being shared on WhatsApp".[8] Owono sought to persuade western military allies to pressure the government of Chad to restore access but was disappointed in the response. Owono also oversaw a fundraiser to buy premium VPN access for journalists and activists, which raised €2,000 ($2250).[8]

In 2020, Owono was one of 20 individuals from around the world named to the Facebook Oversight Board, an organization established to make consequential precedential decisions about content moderation on the platforms of Facebook and Instagram.[10]

As of 2023, Owono is the Executive Director at IWB.[11][12] In July 2023, following a recommendation from the oversight board to deplatform Cambodian head of state Hun Sen, the government of Cambodia listed Owono as one of 22 people connected with Meta who were banned from entering the country.[13]

References

  1. ^ Ben Mohamed, Dounia (2020-06-11). "Career Julie Owono "French-speaking Africa is the area where there are the most needs concerning freedom of speech"". Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  2. ^ "Announcing the First Members of the Oversight Board". Oversight Board. Oversight Board. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Julie Owono: Affiliate". Berkman Klein Center.
  4. ^ Sonnemaker, Tyler (2020-09-26). "As Facebook prepares to outsource tough content decisions to its new 'Supreme Court,' experts warn it still operates within a dictatorship and can't legislate a better government". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  5. ^ "PERSON: Julie Owono, Practitioner Fellow, Digital Civil Society Lab, Stanford PACS (2019-20, 2020-21)". Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  6. ^ "Global Voices Contributor Julie Owono". Global Voices. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  7. ^ "Julie Owono. More the from the Author". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  8. ^ a b c Adeoye, Aanu (April 25, 2019). "Chadians feel 'anger, revolt' as they struggle without internet for one year". CNN.
  9. ^ a b "The Battle for a Free Internet in Africa". OZY. June 27, 2017.
  10. ^ Bursztynsky, Jessica (6 May 2020). "These are the people Facebook put in charge of deciding whether to delete controversial posts". CNBC.
  11. ^ Ingram, David (May 6, 2020). "Facebook names 20 people to its 'Supreme Court' for content moderation". NBC News.
  12. ^ Culliford, Elizabeth (May 6, 2020). "Factbox: Who are the first members of Facebook's oversight board?". Reuters.
  13. ^ "Cambodia bans 22 members of the Board of Directors of Meta Platforms. Inc from entering country - Khmer Times". July 4, 2023.

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