Apply To The Latest Round of the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF)

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…

Africa Law Tech Festival 2021: CIPESA Demystifies the Role Of Lawyers And Courts In Ensuring Digital Access To Justice Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic

By the Lawyers hub |
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for Eastern and Southern Africa (CIPESA) administered a masterclass at the Africa Law Tech Festival 2021, which is hosted yearly by the Lawyers Hub. The CIPESA team was represented by Edrine Wanyama and Prof. Anthony Kakooza, who discoursed the effects of COVID-19 on the Justice sector. The session interrogated the various…

Government Shelves Telecoms Sector Bill

By Bekezela Phakathi |

Business, mobile operators and the DA welcome the news, citing the bill’s impingement on privacy and deleterious effect on the economy.

The government has shelved a controversial proposed law aimed at regulating infrastructure sharing in the telecommunications sector.

One of the contentious proposals in the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill was the establishment of a wireless open-access network (WOAN), which…

Social Media Tax Cuts Ugandan Internet Users by Five Million, Penetration Down From 47% to 35%

By Juliet Nanfuka |

The tax which the Uganda government introduced on use of social media last July has slashed the number of internet users in the country by five million in three months, according to figures from the industry regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC). The numbers also show that revenue from the tax is far from the windfall which government had predicted…

Lessons on Flying from the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa

By Jason Pielemeier |
“Since men have learned to shoot without missing, we have to learn to fly without perching” — African Proverb
By citing these words in his opening message, Dr. Wairagala Wakabi, the Executive Director of the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), captured both the daunting reality and the irrepressible optimism surrounding the state of Internet…

Measuring the Digital Divide: Why We Should be Using a Women-centered Analysis

Targeting ‘the gap’ between women and men in access to the internet is fundamental in reaching the goal of access for all. In an article for the Alliance for Affordable internet, the Web Foundation argues that the indicator of this gap should be calculated relative to a women-centred reference when the intention is to focus on the disparity and disadvantages faced…

Uganda Blocks Access to Social Media, VPNs and Dating Sites as New Tax Takes Effect

By Juliet Nanfuka |

As of midnight on July 1, 2018, telecom companies in Uganda blocked access to social media platforms for all users and required them to pay a newly introduced Over-The-Top” (OTT) tax before regaining access. The tax resulted from a March 2018 presidential directive for social media to be taxed to raise resources “to cope with the consequences” of…

African Bloggers want Tanzania to Repeal the Online Content Regulations

Tanzania News |

Dar es Salam. African Bloggers have asked Tanzanian Government to revoke the provision of Electronic and Postal Communication Act ( EPOCA) Online Content Regulations, 2018.

They also called upon the regional integrations including the African Union (AU), the East African Community EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Economic Community of West African (ECOWAS) to strongly urge…

Media Watchdog Calls on Tanzania to Scrap Online Content Law

Tanzania News Update |

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Tuesday called on Tanzania to scrap a new law regulating Internet content, saying it targeted critics who had sought a “safe haven” online. The new law requires the operators of online platforms to divulge the names of their sources and contributors if the authorities require it.

News websites and blogs that are in breach…

Tanzania Orders All Unregistered Bloggers To Take Down Their Sites

Tanzania News |

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania ordered all unregistered bloggers and online forums on Monday to suspend their websites immediately or face criminal prosecution, as critics accuse the government of tightening control of internet content.

Several sites, including popular online discussion platform Jamiiforums, said on Monday they had temporarily shut down after the state-run Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA)…