
🇿🇦 researcher. child online protection, child rights, VAC & VAW, violence prevention. consultant @UNICEF Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Pacific Isles and others.
Cape Town
Joined February 2011
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Patrick Burton retweeted
Worth your time. If you want to understand the bromance between the Trump administration and South Africa's "white genocide victims." A great piece by Phillip Van Niekerk. africaunscrambled.substack.c…
Patrick Burton retweeted
This is hardly any different from 19th century British Lords and generals discussing what to do about Sudan, India, or Africa. Every word is predicated on the assumption that it's a westerner's right to talk like this.
Patrick Burton retweeted
This November, @UNGEI will be at 𝐅𝐀𝐖𝐄 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬’ 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚.
Join us for powerful conversations and opportunities to share solutions that can accelerate progress for girls.
girlsconference.fawe.org
Patrick Burton retweeted
Dr. Martha Muhwezi, Executive Director of @FAWEAfrica shares her relfections from the #Pancoged2 Conference on girls' education.
➡️Watch her interview here: instagram.com/reels/DbXoIp9j…
#girlseducation #FAWE #UNGEI
Patrick Burton retweeted
Are #socialmediabans actually working? 📱
@livingstone_s says no—kids bypass weak #agechecks because that's where their friends are.
Instead of blanket bans, we should focus on:
⚙️ Regulating pushy #algorithms
🎛️ Giving kids feed control
💬 Open family chats
👇Watch @cnn
Patrick Burton retweeted
Fox News and Facebook did to our parents exactly what they said video games would do to us.
Patrick Burton retweeted
Research from Steve Wood and the Digital Futures for Children centre: major platforms responded to early regulation - then stalled.
The framework exists. What's missing is enforcement and safety by design built in from the start.
🔗researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/…
#DigitalFutures4Children
Patrick Burton retweeted
Each man thought: one of the others is bound to say something soon, some protest, and then I’ll murmur agreement, not actually say anything, I’m not as stupid as that, but definitely murmur very firmly, so that the others will be in no doubt that I thoroughly disapprove, because at a time like this it behooves all decent men to nearly stand up and be almost heard…
But no one said anything. The cowards, each man thought.
- Guards! Guards!
Patrick Burton retweeted
Ahead of RightsCon 2026, I join UN experts in warning against the spread of intrusive surveillance technologies, including those powered by artificial intelligence – and call for stronger human rights safeguards
UN experts concerned over spread & normalisation of intrusive surveillance technologies – call for strengthening of #humanrights safeguards. “Digital surveillance creates environment of fear & exerts chilling effects on fundamental freedoms & civic space.”
ohchr.org/en/press-releases/…
Patrick Burton retweeted
I wrote this a little over a year ago and I think it even more relevant today.
I’m going to say something many will disagree with, but I don’t care: the Global South has a unique and unprecedented opportunity to step into the moral space left vacant by the United States and redefine itself as the true custodian of liberal democracy. For too long, power has been equated with geography, and influence with historical dominance. But the world is shifting, and the structures that once seemed immovable are beginning to crack.
This is not an easy undertaking. It will require strategic diplomacy, economic leverage, and intensive groundwork. But it is not impossible. A coalition of powerful nations could emerge, aligning with Europe where interests intersect, yet retaining the autonomy to shape a new global order that reflects the realities of the 21st century. It won’t be all of the Global South, of course, only a few will have both the vision and the means to take on this role, but South Africa is well positioned to be a major player. Its historical experience, democratic foundations, and strategic influence make it an ideal candidate.
Of course, I recognise that I, too, carry cognitive biases that I need to work through to fully define the scope of this vision. We have all been conditioned - whether consciously or not - to see the Global South as subsidiaries, as dependent rather than self-determined, as reacting rather than leading. This is a narrative deeply embedded in global politics, in economic structures, and even in our own minds. But narratives can be rewritten.
The question is: will the Global South seize this moment, or will it allow itself to be relegated to the margins of the world order and history once again?
PRESS RELEASE: Yesterday, the #Netherlands and #Iceland filed declarations of intervention under Article 63 of the #ICJ Statute in the case #SouthAfrica v. #Israel.
Link to the press release: go.icj-cij.org/4rwaZRJ
Patrick Burton retweeted
Replying to @blaiklockBP
South African white here, and no. You’re completely wrong. Also, there is no persecution or oppression of white folks here. And there never has been. Now rather keep quiet when you don’t know what you’re talking about - between us, it just makes you look foolish 😉
Patrick Burton retweeted
While discipline matters, this framing ignores the massive structural "invisible" barriers that make discipline possible in the first place. I’ll use myself as an example. Earlier this year, I went through Stanford’s LLM Engineering course. loved it. How did I consume it?
1/n
Patrick Burton retweeted
Replying to @amenya_nelson
100%! Few African countries desperate for health aid are going to refuse - yet if Prez @WilliamsRuto and others stuck together, they could negotiate better terms. The US may well feed Africa's health data into AI to enable 'machine learning'. 😔
healthpolicy-watch.news/afri…
Patrick Burton retweeted
URGENT: Kenya's Healthcare Sovereignty Under Siege
President Ruto is about to sign away Kenya's health data sovereignty through a fundamentally unconstitutional agreement with the US Government.
THE SMOKING GUN:
I have obtained three explosive documents:
1. Model Specimen Sharing Agreement
2. PEPFAR Bilateral MOU Template
3. Legal Advisory by Dr. Mugambi Laibuta proving this violates Kenyan law
HERE'S WHAT RUTO IS SIGNING:
REAL-TIME SURVEILLANCE OF ALL KENYANS
US gets 24/7 access to Kenya's ENTIRE national health database
Every HIV test, TB diagnosis, malaria case - accessible to US officials
Your medical records, your children's health data - all exposed
NO anonymization required
NO consent from you
NO restrictions on what they can see
YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS? GONE.
Legal analysis confirms this violates:
Article 31: Your Right to Privacy - VIOLATED
Kenya Data Protection Act - COMPLETELY IGNORED
Health Act confidentiality provisions - BYPASSED
Digital Health Act - RENDERED USELESS
THE MOST DANGEROUS CLAUSE:
"This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with U.S. federal law."
Read that again. US law - not Kenyan law - will govern YOUR health data.
This means:
Office of Data Protection Commissioner: POWERLESS
Kenyan courts: NO JURISDICTION
Your data protection rights: DON'T EXIST
US has weaker privacy laws than Kenya: YOUR DATA LESS PROTECTED
IT GETS WORSE:
25-YEAR PATHOGEN EXTRACTION
Kenya must hand over disease specimens within 5 DAYS of US request
US shares with 10 private American pharmaceutical companies. They develop vaccines and drugs from OUR diseases. Kenya gets NOTHING guaranteed in return. US serves its own needs first. 25 YEARS of this arrangement
COUNTY GOVERNMENTS LOCKED OUT
Health is devolved - counties run these systems
Counties haven't been consulted
This violates Intergovernmental Relations Act
FINANCIAL BLACKMAIL BUILT IN:
"Failure to fulfill commitments could result in changes in planned assistance or discontinuation of this MOU."
Translation: Give us your data or lose funding.
WHAT THEY GET ACCESS TO:
Not just statistics. Not just aggregated data. They get:
Direct system access to query ANY patient record.
Rights to audit 5% of health facilities randomly selected
Access to lab results, treatment records, epidemiological data
Metadata and system architecture
Real-time disease surveillance
All diagnostic and testing data
50+ MILLION KENYANS' MEDICAL PRIVACY - GONE.
DR. MUGAMBI LAIBUTA'S LEGAL VERDICT:
"This Agreement, as drafted, is NOT legally compliant, poses CRITICAL constitutional and sovereignty risks, and must be SIGNIFICANTLY renegotiated before Kenya can lawfully sign or operationalize it."
THE BOTTOM LINE:
This is not cooperation. This is:
Data extraction disguised as aid.
Biopiracy of our pathogens for pharmaceutical profit.
Surveillance infrastructure embedded in our health systems.
Constitutional rights traded for donor dollars.
25 years of compromised sovereignty.
OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES ARE SAYING NO
The template shows this is being pushed across Africa. Reasonable countries are rejecting these terms. But Ruto, desperate for any "investment" narrative, is ready to sign away our most sensitive data.
WHAT MUST HAPPEN NOW:
This cannot be signed as drafted. The Constitution doesn't allow it. The law doesn't permit it. Our dignity as a sovereign nation demands better.
We need:
IMMEDIATE PUBLIC DISCLOSURE - Full text published
COUNTY CONSULTATION - Governors must weigh in
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE - MPs must approve or reject
ODPC REVIEW - Data Protection Commissioner must audit for compliance
COMPLETE RENEGOTIATION - Fair terms or no deal
You cannot sign agreements that violate the Constitution. This is not about being anti-partnership. This is about protecting Kenyan citizens' rights and maintaining our sovereignty.
Patrick Burton retweeted
Replying to @Livingstone_S
@Livingstone_S spoke at the International Meeting on children’s rights & #AI:
“We must move beyond safety-by-design & privacy-by-design to embrace #ChildRights by Design.”
📜Declaration of Intent presented to #PopeLeo XIV: fondazionechild.it/13-novemb…
#ChildRights #DigitalSafety
Patrick Burton retweeted
📱 Children face new risks online—and new opportunities. Our #WorldChildrensDay panel explored what’s working, what’s not, and what’s urgently needed to protect their rights in digital spaces.
🎥 Watch: youtu.be/UuVKWzdBcL8
🎧 Listen: lse.ac.uk/lse-player?id=b21d…
@Livingstone_S
Patrick Burton retweeted
If you had an ounce of loyalty to the people of South Africa, you would repudiate these lies, not repeat them. Your schadenfreude shows AfriSol's real attitude. Why did you not retweet all the other G20 leaders' praise for SA and the G20 summit? #kruipgatbytrump
































