Online Freedoms

Open Letter | In recent months, Tanzania has faced increased measures resulting in the shrinking of civic and democratic space in the country. Draconian legislation enacted since 2015 and legal and extra-judicial methods used to harass human rights defenders, threaten independent journalism, and to restrict freedoms of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association have been used […] Read more

Announcement | On September 23-26, 2019 the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) will host the sixth Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica). This landmark event convenes a spectrum of stakeholders from across the internet governance and online rights arenas in Africa and beyond to deliberate on gaps, concerns […] Read more

By Juliet Nanfuka | This year marks the 26th celebration of WPFD and is themed, “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation”. The day will be celebrated in more than 100 countries in addition to the main event that will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the African Union Headquarters; and […] Read more

Call for Applications | With a quarter of Africa’s population using the internet and with 76 mobile phone connection for every 100 individuals, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has become pivotal to improving livelihoods and promoting human rights on the continent. However, with rising digital rights violations such as arrests and intimidation of internet users, […] Read more

By Rocio Campos | Signed by African journalists during a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seminar in May 1991, the Declaration of Windhoek is a statement of free press principles that led to the proclamation of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) on 3 May by the UN General Assembly in 1993.  This year, the Global […] Read more

By Ashnah Kalemera | Senegal’s diverse media landscape helps it to attain relatively high scores in international press freedom rankings. It is ranked 50 out of 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, up from 79 in 2015. The country’s Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression thus: “Everyone shall have the […] Read more

By Ashnah Kalemera | Despite the promises and efforts made by Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Ali, to transform the country after years of political repression and state control of major forms of media, the country is yet to experience substantive change in the state of digital rights. Restrictions to freedom of expression, privacy, […] Read more

By Juliet Nanfuka | March 28, 2019 will mark a year without access to social media platforms for citizens in Chad. The current disruption, which has left internet users in Chad unable to utilise platforms such as Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter, was initiated after an initial complete internet shutdown in January 2018, which lasted 48 […] Read more

Nouveau Rapport | Au cours des quatre dernières années, pas moins 22 gouvernements africains ont ordonné des coupures du réseau Internet. Depuis le début de l’année 2019, six pays africains dont l’Algérie, la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), le Tchad, le Gabon, le Soudan et le Zimbabwe ont déjà connu des coupures d’Internet. Un nouveau […] Read more

Report | Up to 22 African governments have ordered network disruptions in the last four years and since the start of 2019, six African countries – Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Chad, Gabon, Sudan and Zimbabwe – have experienced internet shutdowns. A new report by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for […] Read more