By Edrine Wanyama |
On April 28, 2023, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) submitted comments on the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development of the Uganda Parliament. The comments argue that the proposed law would undermine access to and use of digital tools and services.
The bill, among…
Announcement |
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is calling for proposals to support digital rights work across Africa. The current call is particularly interested in proposals for work related to:
Data governance including aspects of data localisation, cross-border data flows, biometric databases and digital ID
Digital resilience for human rights defenders, other activists and journalists
Censorship and…
By CIPESA Writer |
The Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) is an annual convening hosted by Nigeria based Paradigm Initiative. Themed “Building a sustainable Internet for all”, this year, the event is being hosted in Nairobi, Kenya on 12-14 April. DRIF is a platform where conversations on digital policy in Africa are shaped, policy directions debated and partnerships forged for…
By CIPESA Writer |
In many Sub-Saharan countries, state surveillance, which generally refers to state measures to monitor and supervise activities of the population, has become more pervasive and reliant on various digital technologies. The increasing communication surveillance, which entails the monitoring, interception, collection and retention of information through communication networks, undermines digital technology users’ rights, including to privacy, and…
By Paul Kimumwe |
Internet freedom in Africa has been on the decline over the past years with several countries continually adopting repressive measures that curtail civil liberties. Many governments have embraced digital authoritarianism, which has resulted in criminalisation of speech online, internet disruptions, arrests and prosecution of social media users, and abuse of citizens’ data rights, thus undermining free expression and civic participation.
Several…
News Update |
“There is no silver bullet to tackle online disinformation” was the conclusion of the Town Hall debate Jointly tackling disinformation while protecting human rights, organised by the African Union — European Union (AU-EU) Digital for Development (D4D) Hub at the Internet Governance Forum 2022.
The session, which took place on 2 December 2022 in a hybrid format, brought together…
By The East African |
What you need to know:
Concerns are growing about who else has access to people’s information, and how they are using it.
Motorists driving across any of the major roads in Uganda, or across the capital Kampala, will not fail to notice the white gantries overhead from which CCTV cameras hang, quietly observing and recording proceedings.
The first…
By Apolo Kakaire |
The Internet which is viewed as the panacea for democracy, participation and inclusion is increasingly becoming a tool of repression deployed by regimes across the world to stifle rights and voice. Africa, a continent already replete with poor democratic credentials and practices seems to be rapidly catching up on the new ‘epidemic’- digital authoritarianism.
The use…
By CIPESA Writer |
Digital rights as key to the realisation and enforcement of human rights on the African continent was among the thematic focus areas of the Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 73rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) held on October 17-18, 2022 in Banjul, the Gambia. Under the theme…
By Edrine Wanayama |
Across the world, journalists face daily affronts physically and online for the work they do. Although the proliferation of technology has come with benefits for the practice of journalism, it has also adversely affected the media landscape to the extent that in some countries journalism has come under siege under the digital era.
Technology has served to enable…