CIPESA, Small Media Make Stakeholder Submissions to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Digital Rights in South Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe

By Ashnah Kalemera |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) together with Small Media last week made joint stakeholder submissions on digital rights in South Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The submissions were made as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism which is an assessment of a country’s human rights under the auspices of the Human Rights Council. Every United Nations (UN) member state has its human rights record assessed, and all UN member states are involved in the review process. It happens every four-and-a-half years, for every state.

The submissions urge the three countries to ensure that rights to freedom of expression, freedom of information, equal access and opportunity as well as data protection and privacy are protected both offline and online pursuant to constitutional guarantees, regional and international instruments. Based on developments since the three countries’ previous UPR back in November 2016, the submissions make recommendations to be considered during the upcoming third cycle of the UPR, tentatively scheduled for November 2021.

The South Sudan submission was made in partnership with Defy Hate Now and supported by eight institutions – Rise Initiative for Women’s Rights Advocacy (RiWA), Freedom of Expression Hub, Koneta hub, Okay Africa Foundation, Anataban Initiative, IamPeace, Internet Governance Forum (IGF) South Sudan and Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) Network.

The submission for Uganda was supported by Access Now, Freedom of Expression Hub, Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Internet Society – Uganda Chapter and Pollicy.

Access Now, Paradigm Initiative, Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, Association for Progressive Communication (APC), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Zimbabwe Centre for Media and Information Literacy (ZCMIL), Media Alliance of Zimbabwe supported the Zimbabwe Submission.

Read the full submissions:

The three submissions bring to 14 the total number of UPR submissions made by CIPESA and Small Media on digital rights in Africa since 2018. Previous submissions made include: Ethiopia, the Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania

How Surveillance, Collection of Biometric Data and Limitation of Encryption are Undermining Privacy Rights in Africa

By Paul Kimumwe |

The right to privacy online has become a critical human rights issue, given its intricate connection with, and its being a foundation for the realisation of other rights including the rights to freedoms of expression, information, assembly, and association and preservation of human dignity. However, many African countries have steadily taken measures to undermine this right, including enacting retrogressive laws and policies that facilitate surveillance and the collection of biometric data, and others that limit the use of encryption

The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the privacy concerns yet in several countries, digital rights were already under steady attack, including via internet shutdowns, criminalisation of “false news”, misinformation and disinformation campaigns by state and non-state actors, harassment and prosecution of social media users, and growing state surveillance.

In responding to the pandemic, many countries adopted regulations and practices, including deploying surveillance technologies and untested applications, to enable them collect and process personal data for purposes of tracing, contacting, and isolating those suspected to be carrying the virus and those confirmed to carry it. These measures were quickly adopted, often without adequate regulation or oversight.

In this research report, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has analysed laws and policies that impact on privacy, notably those that regulate surveillance, data localisation, biometric databases, and encryption.

The research covered 19 countries – Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

Summary findings

Growing Surveillance: The research findings show that overall, there has been notable progress in the enactment of specific laws and policies safeguarding the right to privacy, including requiring judicial authority to authorise surveillance in countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda.

However, there are a few cases, such as in Zimbabwe, where authorisation for monitoring and intercepting communications is offered by non-independent and partial actors such as ministers. In addition, many of the countries’ laws do not measure up to international human rights standards and fail to establish clear and appropriate oversight, redress, and remedy mechanisms.

Indeed, “national security” considerations have been employed in laws in various countries broadly to justify and authorise the interception of communication, restrict privacy rights, grant wide search and seizure powers to law enforcement agencies, mandate intermediaries such as telecommunication service providers to facilitate interception, and to require data localisation.

In addition, while various countries have criminalised illegal surveillance and placed various safeguards on the conduct of state surveillance, many of them still contain retrogressive provisions that leave scope for intrusion, including enabling state surveillance with limited safeguards.

Limitation of Encryption Anonymity and the use of encryption in digital communications are critical in advancing both the right to freedom of expression and right to privacy. In the absence of these rights,  the capacity of individuals to communicate anonymously and without fear of their communications being intercepted cannot be guaranteed.

There are few positive provisions in some countries that require the protection of personal data through technical security measures which include encryption. On the other hand, many countries in the study have passed legislation that limit anonymity and the use of encryption through criminalisation of possession and use of cryptographic software or hardware, providing for fines and prison sentences.

The findings show that in countries like Chad, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia, there are penalties for offering cryptographic services without licensing, registration or authorisation. Interception of communications provisions often require service providers to decrypt any encrypted information that they may intercept in the course of offering assistance to lawful interception. In countries such as Mali and Tanzania, the laws require the encryption service providers, upon registration with the authorities, to disclose the technologies they plan to use for encryption.

Data Localisation The findings show that a growing number of African countries have been legislating on data localisation, which has mostly taken the form of a requirement to store data locally and forbidding unauthorised cross-border data transfers. Various countries have specified the conditions for authorising transfer, mostly where the data subject has offered consent and where an adequate level of protection is assured in the recipient country or international organisation.

Several African countries have adopted different approaches towards data localisation. Several countries use laws on financial services (Nigeria, Ethiopia and Rwanda), cybersecurity and cybercrimes (Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe), telecommunications (Cameroon, Rwanda and Nigeria) and data protection (Kenya, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda) to place restrictions on cross-border transfer of data.

Some countries have specified the data that cannot be exported without authorisation. Kenya specifies all public data; Nigeria mentions all government data and all subscriber and consumer data; while Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tunisia cite personal information.

Establishment of Biometric Databases  In several countries, government agencies are collecting and processing personal data without adequate data protection laws, amidst limited oversight mechanisms and inadequate remedies. While many have recently passed data protection laws and policies, implementation is not effective, and the safeguards are not water-tight as required under international human rights law.

Some laws in countries such as Chad, Kenya, Tunisia, Uganda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, prohibit the collection of certain categories of data, including specific types of biometric data generally, or where certain conditions are not complied with. In the other countries studied, the laws require the mandatory collection of biometric information for the registration of telecommunications subscribers, for digital identity programmes and during voters’ registration. Several laws and policies on biometric data collection contain provisions on sanctions and penalties for breach.

Weak Oversight, Transparency and Accountability Mechanisms The study found that countries have adopted different approaches to oversight, including specifying courts, data protection authorities, sector regulators and administrative bodies as key oversight bodies. Some of these bodies are located within the executive, and therefore may lack the proper legal, financial, and institutional independence to stem violations within government, and especially by state security agencies. The laws in most countries require judicial authorities to issue a warrant for interception or monitoring of communications. However, in some countries interception orders can be issued by non-judicial officials, such as ministers.

The deficiency of accountability and transparency is among the weakest links in the various countries’ surveillance laws. While some countries, such as Nigeria, Rwanda, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, have commendable oversight and accountability provisions, it is not known whether they are applied. No entity in any of the countries studied permits public access to records on interception which the laws require state authorities to compile periodically, or publishes any data related to interception warrants issued and if at all they do record such data, they are categorised as classified information under state secrets laws. Thus, the public and oversight institutions such as judiciaries and parliaments remain in the dark about the extent and legality of the conduct of surveillance in the respective countries.

Recommendations

  • Governments should review existing laws, policies and practices on surveillance, including Covid-19 surveillance, biometric data collection, encryption and data localisation to ensure they comply with the principles in the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa and international human rights standards.
  • Governments should also adopt multi-stakeholder approaches to ensure meaningful participation of all stakeholders in the development of policies and laws that affect the right to privacy and data protection.
  • Civil society actors should use strategic public interest litigation as an avenue to challenge laws that violate privacy rights and push for policies and practices reforms that uphold privacy.
  • Civil society actors should also monitor and document privacy rights violations through evidence-based research, and report on state compliance with their obligations to human rights monitoring bodies.

See the full research report here.

CIPESA and WBA to Host Roundtable on Digital Inclusion in Africa

Roundtable Meeting |

In 2020, four of Africa’s leading digital companies (SafaricomJumiaMTN, and Naspers) were ranked and scored on digital inclusion by World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA)‘s Digital Inclusion Benchmark. These companies as well as the other benchmarked companies have business footprints in more than 30 countries in Africa.

The Digital Inclusion Benchmark results showed that commitment and contribution towards digital inclusion are highly uneven across industries in the digital sector. Clear and consistent support to improve digital skills is needed, especially for vulnerable and underrepresented groups. There is also an opportunity for companies to help bridge the gender digital divide, through initiatives that target skills training for women and girls.

It is for this reason that WBA and The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) are holding a roundtable with stakeholders committed to digital inclusion in the region. We aim for this roundtable to help foster coordinated multi-stakeholder actions that encourage a race to the top on digital inclusion and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the digital divide in Sub-Saharan Africa. More people require internet access and intermediate skills to work remotely due to the measures put in place to manage COVID-19.

According to a 2020 report by Global System for Mobile Communications Associations (GSMA) on Mobile Internet Connectivity, mobile internet adoption stood at 26% in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2019. The region accounts for almost half of the global population not covered by a mobile broadband network. 3G internet coverage stood at 75% while 4G coverage was at only 49%, according to GSMA. The gender gap and a rural-urban gap in mobile internet stand at 37% and 60%, respectively. The lack of digital literacy skills, especially for women and rural populations, is the biggest barrier to mobile internet adoption, according to GSMA.

Objectives

  • Bring together African multi-stakeholders to foster greater collaboration on digital inclusion.
  • Share WBA’s Digital Inclusion Benchmark data as a tool for companies, governments, investors and civil society organizations for driving digital development.

Date: 9 June 2021

Time: 15.00 EAT |14.00 CEST | 08.00 EDT

LocationZoom Room

The speakers include:

  • Andrew Rugege – International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Regional Director for Africa
  • Dr. Wairagala Wakabi – Executive Director, CIPESA
  • Philippe-André Rodriguez – Deputy Director of the Center for International Digital Policy, Global Affairs Canada
  • Onica N. Makwakwa – World Wide Web Foundation, Head of Africa, Alliance for Affordable Internet
  • Farid Abasov – Emerging Markets Telecoms Analyst, Fidelity International
  • Benjamin Makai – Senior Manager, Technology for Development, Safaricom PLC

The event will be moderated by the distinguished Waihiga Mwaura, 2018 BBC Komla Dumor Award winner and Special Projects Editor at Citizen TV Kenya.

We invite you to register for the event 

Botswana ICT Challenges: In Quest For A Knowledge-Based Society

By Hopeton S. Dunn |

During his inauguration in November 2019, Botswana’s President, Mokgweetsi Masisi, declared his intention to diversify Botswana’s economy and transform it into a knowledge-based one. President Masisi was acutely aware that Botswana’s rapid rise to become an upper middle income country was largely based on earnings from diamond exports and, to a lesser extent, high-end tourism, industries that are either volatile or unsustainable in the longer run.

Botswana has a record of economic transformation which saw Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grow at an average  rate of 8.78% between 1991 and 2014. In the same period, literacy levels moved from 68.58% in 1991 to 87.7% by 2014, having been at 34% in 1981. However, job creation has not kept pace with population growth or the increasing literacy levels. According to Statistics Botswana, while unemployment stood at 10.75% in 1981, by 2013 it had grown to 20%.

Between 2015 and 2019, GDP grew by an average of 2.59 %, a significant fall from the preceding decades.

To move  from a minerals-led to a knowledge-based economy, the government undertook to implement reforms to expand employment and make Botswana’s products and services more competitive on the world market. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector was expected to contribute to this effort. As an indicator of its prospects, cellular phone subscriptions moved from 13 per 100 inhabitants in 2000, to over 169 per 100 of inhabitants in 2014. There was a distinct possibility of ICT opening up new jobs and development opportunities, especially for youth in new occupational areas such as digital design, online content production, and data analytics. According to the Youth Empowerment Minister, Tumiso Rakgare: “We want to move with new trends and best practices in the content creation industry.”

This would require improved internet access, new e-government strategies, and expanded use of ICT as measures towards job creation and ICT-enabled development.  As is shown below, it has been a mixed record.

Amazing Infrastructure

Over the last decade, Botswana invested extensively in infrastructure to support the vision of a digital-enabled development, with USD 32.3 million pumped into the Trans-Kalahari Fibre Network. The network was intended to deliver 2,000 kilometres of optical fibre across the land-locked country’s southern regions and to link into nearby countries such as Namibia and South Africa.

Another fibre-optic loop links the capital, Gaborone, in the south, to the northern population hub of Francistown. The country is also linked to the rest of Africa through the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and the West Africa Cable System (WACS).

Against the background of these major investments, Botswana’s ICT policy and regulatory arrangements were to be repurposed to help translate this elaborate infrastructure into advanced levels of corporate communication, citizen access and high-speed connectivity for national development. The current national strategic masterplan, dubbed Vision 2036, aims to realise these goals by transforming Botswana from an upper middle-income country to a high-income country by 2036. Its implicit aim is to use ICT as a transformational tool towards creating a knowledge-based society.

Deficits and Challenges

While the broad provisions of the strategic plan remain relevant and admirable, it is evident that a foundation of technological transformation was not explicitly embedded in the Plan’s published descriptors. A dedicated ICT pillar, as a necessary component of the sought after knowledge society, seems to be missing. While there has been progress in implementing such laws and policies as the Cyber Crime and Computer Related Crimes Act (2018) and the Botswana National Cyber Security Strategy (2020), other approved policies and laws remain in abeyance. These include the Data Protection Act, which was approved by Parliament in 2018 but has not yet implemented. This is because the establishment of some key institutional structures and regulations are awaited. The same is true for Botswana’s controversial Media Practitioners Act 2008, which is now facing revocation and a possible re-write.

If the noble objectives in Vision 2036 are to be realised, Botswana’s policy and implementation structures will need to be more agile in order to meet the commitment for a knowledge-based society. This goal will also remain challenging given the economic setbacks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite the high levels of infrastructure investment, there is little evidence of an expected incoming flow of ICT-related foreign direct investments, or of innovative local investors preparing to build out digital platforms and offer new creative services. It is these initiatives and hoped-for investments that would generate the increased employment levels that the Youth Empowerment Minister had envisaged. In reality, expanded career opportunities such as those in content development services, animation, film production and digital design appear slow to emerge, but are necessary catalysts. Hopefully, the expected early fruits of the vast infrastructure investment in an intended diversified knowledge economy will emerge soon.

One of the agencies that could help to drive the process of renewal is the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), whose function it is to oversee a converged ICT and Broadcasting environment – key building blocks of the digital, knowledge-based economy. BOCRA’s roles include oversight over the electronic media, regulation of internet service provision and promoting the broader telecommunications network systems that are needed to power the development of data intensive services.

Established in 2013, the well-resourced BOCRA inherited considerable experience from its predecessor, the Botswana Telecommunications Authority. The institutional restructuring that gave rise to BOCRA was clearly part of a process of telecoms liberalisation that spawned several small internet service providers (ISPs) and new radio broadcasters. The regulatory restructuring also led to the creation of Botswana Fibre Networks Limited, BOFINET, the infrastructure provider, and to the emergence of a separate privatised BTC mobile telephony offshoot called BeMobile. These too should be playing a more dynamic and visible part in building the knowledge society. This new BeMobile company has become a cell phone competitor to its more established incumbents, Orange and Mascom.

This liberalised competitive framework was undergirded by some key legislative reforms that were meant to give legs to the country’s strategic development plan, Vision 2036, and no doubt to the new drive for knowledge society status. The liberalisation process and its outcome were given context by Botswana’s earlier  National ICT Policy of 2004, widely known as ‘Maitlamo’, that foreshadowed many of the current regulatory and legislative changes.  The Communications Regulatory Authority Act of 2012 that established BOCRA as a converged regulator, was also meant to help streamline the country’s ICT strategies, but key challenges remain.

Poor Network Service

Contrary to BOCRA’s 2015 User Survey, which indicated that almost 80% of internet users were satisfied with service quality, there appears to be deepening concerns about effective internet access and network service quality by a growing community of smartphone users. Stats Botswana indicates that while mobile broadband subscription was at 3 per 100 of inhabitants in 2000, this had grown to 67 per 100 of inhabitants by 2017. Despite this dramatic growth in mobile cellular subscription, there are complaints that prices on mobile airtime and on data bundles are challenging for lower income users, including students and some educators who have been forced to migrate online in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic’s effect on educational service delivery.

A February 4, 2018 report in the Sunday Standard newspaper said BOCRA, the regulator, had released a report on recent consumer complaints against telecoms service providers. The newspaper report said that, according to BOCRA, the complaints concerned, among others, billing, missing airtime and data bundles, faulty telephone lines, slow internet speeds, mobile money and termination of contracts. In an  earlier report  in The Gazette newspaper of March 30, 2017, it was alleged that consumer prices were inflated. The newspaper posed questions to operators, including,  “why do all mobile operators charge almost similar – between 60 thebe and 1.50 (pula) per MB?” The Gazette also inquired about what operators thought of “consumer complaints about the high prices in the market”. The report suggested that to some users, internet service provision in Botswana was expensive, spotty and way too slow for promised package speeds.

In light of these challenges, a key question for policy-makers is how regulation of internet prices and mobile service quality will be carried out in order to facilitate innovation among youthful ICT enthusiasts and digital business ventures. Should there be more consistent oversight over mobile termination rates and more aggressive monitoring of service quality?

Yet, getting to the coveted ‘knowledge society’ threshold cannot be based primarily on improved ICT service delivery and reduced pricing alone. It must also include reforms in broadcasting policy, provisions for cost-effective management of big data, training in cultural and creative industries, and competitive regional marketing for design and production services. While the critical issues of digital access, network quality and affordable prices remain central to successfully driving buildout of the future knowledge society, other factors, such as incentives for private investments, wide-scale ICT training and agile policy implementation are also crucial in transforming one of Africa’s most peaceful and prosperous countries.


Hopeton S. Dunn is a a Professor of Media and Communications at University of Botswana. As a   CIPESA Fellow, he is interested in communications policy reform, digital literacy and inclusion, effective internet access and equity, especially as they relate to people in the Global South. His work spans media regulation, technology policy-making, and new theoretical constructs for development. 

One Year In: Covid-19 Deepening Africa’s Democratic Regression

By CIPESA Staff Writer |

In September 2020, our research on the State of Internet Freedom in Africa established that the ultimate effect of the measures instituted in fighting Covid-19 was that they had deepened the democracy deficit in several African countries. This was because, increasingly, more states in the region had fallen short of living up to their citizens’ democratic expectations as they implemented measures to fight the pandemic.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was faring badly in its democratic credentials, fighting for bottom position with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Of the 44 African countries included in the Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index for 2019, half were characterised as authoritarian regimes and many of the others were semi-authoritarian.

As anticipated, it has gotten worse. According to the Democracy Index for 2020, the number of authoritarian regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa last year rose from 22 to 24 – more than half of the 44 countries in the region that the index covered. Burkina Faso and Mali were the new entrants to the unsavoury ranks of authoritarian regimes. Many Sub-Saharan African countries are concentrated at the bottom of the index, and the region boasts just one “full democracy” – Mauritius. During 2020, 31 countries in the region were downgraded, eight stagnated, and just five scored better.

“After experiencing two consecutive years of significant setbacks, democracy in Africa appears to be in a perilous state,” notes the index. The region’s overall average score “fell to by far the lowest score for the continent since the index began in 2006.” The fight against Covid-19, muddled and stolen elections, and insecurity (including Jihadist insurgencies in west Africa), all played their part in the democratic regression experienced in the region.

As is shown in the 2020 edition of the State of Internet Freedom in Africa report, a plethora of regressive measures were introduced in fighting the pandemic, and they had starkly undermined democracy, marked by a dwindling respect for rights to expression, information, assembly, and privacy. In many instances, these measures resulted in a lower level of stakeholder engagement in public affairs and a decline in governments’ transparency and accountability.

Deepening the Democracy Deficit: The democratic regression in a number of countries in the region could persist beyond the Covid-19 crisis, unless the measures imposed are reversed and deliberate efforts are taken to promote greater respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.

While the Arab Spring was a turning point on digital rights in the region, Covid-19 could be another profoundly negative watershed moment. The Arab Spring, during which social media aided organising against autocratic regimes, some of which were overthrown, opened the eyes of many African authoritarian regimes to the power of digital technologies, and they went ahead to make laws to prescribe cyber crimes, to enable interception of communications, to control use of online platforms, and they started instituting measures such as website blockages, censorship of short messaging services, and disruption of networks. – State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2020

According to the index, world over the biggest regressions during 2020 occurred in the most authoritarian countries, where regimes took advantage of the global health emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic to persecute and crack down on dissenters and political opponents.

Full democracy Flawed democracy Hybrid regime Authoritarian regime
Mauritius Cape Verde Malawi Mali Eswatini
Botswana Madagascar Mauritania Guinea
South Africa Senegal Burkina Faso Togo
Namibia Liberia Angola Cameroon
Ghana Tanzania Gabon Djibouti
Lesotho Kenya Mozambique Guinea-Bissau
Uganda Ethiopia Eritrea
Zambia Niger Burundi
Sierra Leone Zimbabwe Equatorial Guinea
Benin Congo Brazzaville Chad
Gambia Rwanda CAR
Ivory Coast Comoros DRC
Nigeria

The index states that the decline in Africa’s overall democracy score in 2020 was partly driven by coronavirus-related lockdowns, which had a negative bearing on civil liberties, including stripping citizens of their freedom to assemble and travel, and causing severe interruption to livelihoods. There was high-handedness of the police in enforcing curfews, in such countries as Nigeria (where police killed people in enforcing the lockdown), Kenya and Senegal.

Africa’s deterioration was also precipitated by declining scores for many countries in the category of electoral process and pluralism, with disputed elections in Tanzania and Guinea cited as examples. Of note, Malawi’s standing improved on account of a smooth election held during the year, in which the incumbent president was defeated by an opposition candidate.

Yet some countries saw Covid-19 as an opportunity to stifle opposition campaigns during election times. The index states: “Constraints placed on political activity – applied disproportionately for the opposition – ahead of January 2021 elections in Uganda illustrated how autocrats use the excuse of new threats such as coronavirus to crack down on the opposition and hold on to power during a time of crisis.”

Covid-19 control measures have chipped away at many of hallmarks of a democratic society, such as the ability by citizens to participate in civic matters and the conduct of public affairs. In the countries where civil liberties have been eroded the most, growing hostility of governments to dissenting opinions, including on their handling of Covid-19, has contributed to the adoption of stringent measures and the enactment and enforcement of repressive laws on surveillance, fake news and criminal defamation and practices such as legal threats, intimidation, arrests, detentions, prosecutions, and state surveillance.

These measures have, in turn, forced human rights defenders, journalists, activists, the political opposition, and ordinary citizens to self-censor, disengage from participating in public affairs, and refrain from exercising their rights to participate online and offline. This has been the case in countries such as Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Egypt, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, and Algeria. Yet, in the absence of engaged citizens, the respect for human rights, including the rule of law, suffers. Such a trend, if left unchecked, could persist well beyond the coronavirus crisis.

While Covid-19 could have served as a driver towards improving access and use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Africa, it has potentially widened the digital divide on the continent, yet for the most part the actions of many governments have undermined, rather than promoted, greater access and affordability of digital technologies.

Although technology can play an important role in containing the pandemic, its application should not violate human rights. In most countries, the measures introduced to check the spread of Covid-19 were necessary to address a public health emergency, but some were applied beyond the intended purpose, and need to be revised to imbed human rights principles. As it is, the imposition of unregulated, unchecked and excessive emergency measures by governments in collaboration with non-state actors during the pandemic period raises fundamental questions on their commitment to protecting digital rights. Thus, the debate about the ethics and legality of measures undertaken, and the extent of the associated risks, is imperative in resetting digital rights amidst the Covid-19 fallout.

See more of our work on the impact of Covid-19 in the African digital rights and democracy landscape.