By Afi Edoh |
For four years Togo has been inching towards issuing a digital identity (ID) card. While there are indications that 2022 may be the year in which the west African country finally delivers the long-awaited digital ID, the road ahead remains uncertain. Challenges lie both in bureaucratic delays and citizens’ caginess about handing their data to a government with…
News update |
GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Following public outrage, Botswana’s government has revised a controversial spy bill which would have allowed investigators to intercept private communications without a court order. Under the revised bill, tapping private conversations now becomes an offense.
Botswana’s government removed controversial clauses in the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Bill, presented to parliament last month. The initial bill allowed investigators to…
News Update |
The government signed two key pieces of legislation into law in 2021, which will impact social media posts and sharing messages in South Africa, says social media lawyer Emma Sadleir.
Addressing a recent UCT webinar, Sadleir said that the Film and Publications Amendment Act now criminalises all forms of image-based violence and revenge pornography. In addition, the Cybercrimes Act criminalises threats…
By Edrine Wanyama |
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has made a submission on the proposed amendments to Tanzania’s controversial Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2020 that regulate online content service providers, internet service providers, application services licensees, and online content users.
On August 24, 2021, the government made a public call for comments on proposals…
By Tusi Fokane |
As South Africa prepares to hold local government elections in 2021, parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has rejected two proposals contained in the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill, which could have seen the introduction of electronic voting in the country.
The rejected proposals were contained in clause 14, which suggested that the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) “may…
Guinea News Update |
The Media Foundation for West Africa welcomes the lifting of the one-month suspension imposed on online press, Guineematin, by the Haute Autorité de la Communication (HAC), Guinea’s media regulatory body.
the suspension of guineematin.com followed the refusal of the general administrator of the website to stop a live broadcast on the site’s Facebook page of official polling station results during the…
Joint Statement |
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health emergency that requires a coordinated and large-scale response by governments worldwide. However, States’ efforts to contain the virus must not be used as a cover to usher in a new era of greatly expanded systems of invasive digital surveillance.
We, the undersigned organizations, urge governments to show leadership in tackling the…
By Edrine Wanyama |
Internet access and Short Message Services (SMS) were interrupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) on January 20, 2018 ahead of a peaceful protest march organised by the Catholic Church to compel President Joseph Kabila to step down following the expiry of his final term in office. The country remains caught in a cycle of instability since…