The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), under the OpenNet Africa initiative, held a debate filled and insights driven Forum on Internet Freedoms in East Africa. The two-day Forum took place on  28 – 29 September 2015, at the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala, Uganda, to coincide with the International Right to Know Day.
During the Forum, discussion entailed the current state of internet freedoms in Africa, including threats, emerging issues, and opportunities for action to promote access, privacy and security online. The Forum brought together human rights defenders, journalists, government officials, academia, bloggers, developers, the arts community, law enforcement agencies and communication regulators, all of whom have a role to play in advancing the rights of citizens to privacy and freedom of expression in the online sphere. At the inaugural 2014 forum, we hosted 85 participants from Burundi, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda.

A highlight at the Forum was the launch the State of Internet Freedom in East Africa 2015 Report, which also provides an update to last year’s edition of the State of Internet Freedoms in East Africa.

We are grateful for the support from Hivos Eastern Africa and the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) through the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto that made the 2014 Forum a success. The 2015 Forum was supported by Hivos, African Centre for Media Excellence, the World Wide Web Foundation, Ford Foundation and the Open Technology Fund. See last year’s conference agenda here and the conference report here.
Follow us on @cipesaug and @opennetafrica | #FIFEA  was used for the online conversation
See the Forum Programme and the line up of Panelists

Countries represented: Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, South Sudan,  Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Panelist affiliations: Article 19, Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Bayimba, Bloggers Association Kenya, ICT Association Uganda (ICTAU), Globaleaks, iHub Research (Kenya), Internet Society (Africa, Burundi, Uganda), UNESCO, Facebook, Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), Makerere University, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Ministry of ICT (Uganda), Paradigm Initiative Uganda, Protège QV, Uganda Communication Commission (UCC), Ugandan Police Cyber Crime Unit, Uganda Media Centre, UNESCO, University of Nairobi, Web We Want, Writivism, Women Of Uganda Network (WOUGNET)  and many more!

Media:

• Techjaja: State of Internet Freedom in East Africa Report To be Launched Next Week
• Dignited: Access to Information in Uganda to be Recognised at Internet Freedom Forum
  Uganda Goes Online (Ugo): Internet Freedom Forum In East Africa 2015 Underway

  UNESCO: UNESCO discusses with stakeholders how Internet Universality principles are relevant to East Africa
• The Horn Observer: High Level Forum On Internet Freedoms In East Africa 2015 Concluded In Kampala, Uganda
• Akvorsr: Forum on Internet Freedoms in East Africa 2015
• Mail and Guardian Africa: The sweet and sour bits from the East African internet freedom report; where Kenya, Rwanda lead and Burundi trails
• CPI Financial: Internet As a Basic Human Right
• CEO Magazine: CIPESA unveils State of Internet Freedom in East Africa Report
• Catholic Radio Network: UNESCO recommends South Sudan to establish Internet Society
• Kasese District News: Internet is A Right to Everyone
• Hivos: State of Internet Freedom in East Africa 2015: Survey on Access, Privacy and Security