Safeguarding Civil Society: Assessing Internet Freedom and the Digital Resilience of Civil Society in East Africa

By Small Media |

Over the past decade, East Africa has seen a tremendous boom in connectivity and online participation that is beginning to transform the way that citizens across the region communicate, express themselves, and establish communities. In a similar manner, the growth of internet access in the region is beginning to empower civil society organisations (CSOs) to engage with…

The Right To information in Uganda: Unclogging The Bottlenecks

By Loyce Kyogabirwe |

The right to information (RTI) is essential for the functioning of any democracy and is a prerequisite for transparency, accountability, gender equality and citizens’ participation in governance processes. However, Uganda faces numerous challenges to realising the right to access information despite having an access to information law. In the course of 2016, the Collaboration on International ICT…

The Internet Shutdown In Ethiopia Costs The Country Approximately $500,000 A Day In Lost GDP

By Tefo Mohapi|

In October 2016, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency which saw it impose certain measures that included telecommunications, media and Internet shutdowns along with travel restrictions on diplomats and a dusk-to-dawn curfew, to name a few of the measures implemented. The state of emergency, effective from 08 October 2016, comes as a result of about five hundred people…

African govts ‘Unlawfully’ Blocking Cyber Space

By Jean-Pierre Afadhali|
IN SUMMARY

Shutting down the Internet, blocking websites and expunging online content are among the tactics governments in Africa are using to stifle citizens’ voices, even as online platforms increasingly become the go-to places to denounce bad governance.
Shutting down the Internet, blocking websites and expunging online content are among the tactics governments in Africa are using to stifle citizens’ voices,…

Forum on Internet Freedoms in Africa 2016. My testimony

By Blaise Ndola|

Through presentations and interventions at the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2016 (FIFAfrica16),I learned about different ways Africans countries are stifling citizens’ digital rights. But the most important at this level is that through these presentations and experiences shared, I realized that the battle for Internet freedoms is as important as ever because internet shutdowns, abuses of…

Africa’s Internet of Things: Challenges and Opportunities

By Dorothy Mudavanhu|

The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2016 served as an opportunity to gather insights from different stakeholders in the information society ecosystem towards promoting a free and safe internet. The platform was used to assemble the different perspectives and thoughts on the path that Internet Freedom should take in Africa. The Forum also gave stakeholders the opportunity to…

Africa At Internet Freedom And Citizen Rights Cross Roads

By Thomas Sithole (@thomysithole)|

The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2016 (FIFAfrica16) was my first time to attend and participate in a continental event on internet freedom. I have previously attended a number of workshops and conferences on internet freedom in my home country Zimbabwe.

Whereas these national level dialogues were useful in terms of making me appreciate the challenges we…

#FIFAfrica16: Final Agenda and Panelist Bios

#FIFAfrica16 | See what we have lined up for theForum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2016. There will be a series of sessions and the launch of the State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2016 report.

Download   Agenda…

Digital Security Clinics @ #FIFAfrica16

Internet freedom is threatened by surveillance, censorship, and hacking and by an underground economy of online fraudsters and phishers. To make it in the digital era, you need digital survival skills. Stop by the DefendDefenders Digital Security Clinic table during the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2016 and bring your questions and concerns to our digital security practitioners.
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Strengthening Africa’s Conversation and Actions on Internet Freedom

By Juliet Nanfuka |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) with the support of Facebook, the Ford Foundation, Google, Hivos, Open Technology Fund (OTF) and Small Media will assemble an audience in Kampala, Uganda for the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2016. Set to take place on September 27–29, the Forum has become a…