iWatch Africa Launches Digital Rights Initiative to Tackle Online Harassment in Ghana

iWatch Africa News Update |

iWatch Africa, a non-profit organization, has launched a digital rights initiative in Accra to curb online harassment experienced by human rights activists and journalists in Ghana.

iWatch Africa in collaboration with the Commission on Human Rights Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the police will monitor and prosecute individuals who use various online platforms to trample on the fundamental…

Silent No More! Africa’s Feminist Voices Are Growing Louder

By Juliet Nanfuka |

In much of Africa, feminism is often incorrectly considered a new movement. However, the reality is that feminism in the continent has played a role in shaping social and cultural relations, as well as policy and business development around the continent for decades. It is perhaps the increased vibrancy of feminist narratives in the African digital sphere…

Governments and Donors Urged to Advance ICT Access for Persons with Disabilities

By CIPESA Writer |

While advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) including the Internet have created avenues of inclusion, for some, especially persons with disabilities, it has also widened the extent to which they are excluded from the social and economic potential of the digital society.

Persons with disabilities are more likely to experience adverse socio-economic outcomes than persons without disabilities,…

African Countries Broadening Control Over the Internet

By FIFAfrica19 |

For the last 20 years, African countries have been broadening and enhancing control measures that govern the use of digital communications including the internet.

According to a new report by the Collaboration for International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), these controls when viewed collectively, continue to undermine democracy and cement authoritarians hold on political power.

With only…

An Enabling Environment for Inclusive Digital Transformation

FIFAfrica19 |

The digital economy, including cross-border services, digital trade, and electronic commerce (eCommerce), contributes to democratic and economic development by expanding market access for local businesses, promoting inclusive trade, creating jobs, and expanding tax revenue for governments to provide essential services. As the scope of digital innovation expands around the continent, so must national and regional priorities and policies align…

End of Politeness: African Feminist Movements and Digital Voice

FIFAfrica19 |

Feminism movements online face audience aggression and are often misunderstood. Nonetheless, in recent years, the voice and presence of African feminists online is growing and reinforcing decades long offline efforts aimed at shifting norms, perceptions and power tilted against women and vulnerable communities. As such, growing feminist movements are contributing to narratives which previously did not feature much in…

World Press Freedom Day: Exploring the Relationship Between Media, Network Disruptions and Disinformation

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 will serve as a platform to discuss…

Digital Space and the Protection of Freedoms of Association and Peaceful Assembly in Africa

By Juliet Nanfuka |

As technology evolves, so do the ways in which society assembles and interacts. This is often accompanied with convenience and lower costs of communication which have a far reaching implications on how people acquire knowledge, do business, participate in governance processes and seek social, economic and political change. However, alongside this is the proliferation of affronts to…

NetBlocks and the Internet Society Launch Tool to Calculate the Cost of Internet Censorship Worldwide

News Update |

10 DECEMBER 2018 — A new tool to support internet freedom is being launched by NetBlocks and The Internet Society, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to the open development, use and evolution of the Internet.

Launch COSTRun the Cost of Shutdown Tool

The organisations have partnered up to build COST, a tool that seeks to measure the economic…

Sections of Kenya’s Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018 Temporarily Suspended

By Juliet Nanfuka |

Barely two weeks after the presidential assent to the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018, a High Court judge has issued a conservatory order suspending the entry into force of 26 sections of Kenya’s contentious Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018. The order by Judge Chacha Mwita, suspending the sections until July 18, follows a petition filed by the…