Online freedom

Manifesto Launch | The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has joined civil society organisations and industry in a rally against the potential threat of cybercrime on human rights and freedoms as well as the open internet. Day-by-day the effects of cybercrime continue to get worse. Although something clearly needs […] Read more

By Ashnah Kalemera | The digital landscape of Somalia and the breakaway states of Somaliland and Puntland is largely shaped by the region’s history of terrorism and political turmoil. Website censorship, internet disruptions and crackdowns on the media co-exist in a fast-evolving technology sector, within a regressive policy and regulatory environment. With support from the […] Read more

By CIPESA Writer | The African Internet Rights Alliance (AIRA), a coalition of civil society organisations from around the continent, has racked up various joint interventions to advance digital rights on the continent. The Alliance works to promote privacy and data protection, affordability and access to the internet, access to information and freedoms of assembly, expression […] Read more

The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (#FIFAFRICA) is a landmark event that convenes various stakeholders from the internet governance and online rights arenas in Africa and beyond to deliberate on gaps, concerns and opportunities for advancing privacy, access to information, free expression, non-discrimination and the free flow of information online on the continent. Click […] Read more

By Simone Toussi | Guinea’s media landscape boasts over 70 media outlets including streaming media, radio, television and print media. Yet still, the country does not score highly on international press freedom indices – it is ranked 107 out of 180 countries in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index. Nonetheless, the country’s growing internet penetration […] Read more

By Nwachukwu Egbunike | Africa’s landscape of online free speech and dissent is gradually, but consistently, being tightened. In legal and economic terms, the cost of speaking out is rapidly rising across the continent. While most governments are considered democratic in that they hold elections with multi-party candidates and profess participatory ideals, in practice, many operate […] Read more

By Netblocks’ Writer | At the 2018 Forum for Internet Freedom in Africa in Accra, Ghana, NetBlocks is demonstrating new tools and methodologies to defend human rights, empowering local communities and creating a space for open and progressive policies for internet access and telecommunications. In a joint panel on data-driven advocacy on Friday, NetBlocks along […] Read more

The internet and indeed social media plays a key role in improving communication between citizens, government-to-government interactions and at government-to-citizen level. Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and MySpace, has the potential to improve governance and democracy practices. Accordingly, the Uganda government through the National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) has developed guidelines […] Read more

With internet usage continuing to spread across Africa, there are numerous purposes to which African users are putting the internet – from mobile banking, to connecting with fellow citizens and with leaders, tracking corruption and poor service delivery, innovating for social good, and just about everything else. The increasing usage of the internet, however, has […] Read more