Home / News / African digital rights networks to collaborate on a regional strategy
By Koliwe Majama Published on 27 May 2021
27 May 2021
Four African digital rights-centred networks have committed to increasing collaboration for the consolidation of their work and avoidance of duplication of activities while ensuring the full attainment and protection of digital rights at national, regional and global levels.
Representatives from the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms Coalition, (AfDec), #KeepItOn Coalition, Access Now, NetRights Coalition and African Internet Rights Alliance (AIRA) shared their experiences working for the promotion and protection of digital rights on the continent.
They made the commitment during a pre-session titled “Defining a collective digital rights strategy for Africa”, hosted collaboratively by the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) and the Association for Progressi
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FROM TOI PRINT EDITION
Can govt shut down the internet when faced with dissent? Here’s what West Africa’s Community Court of Justice decreed last year March 1, 2021, 7:56 PM IST
Part 4 of the ‘Free to Air’ series
Internet shutdowns are one of the stock responses used by governments to curb anticipated law and order violations. But apart from making communication between dissidents onerous, every shutdown extracts a heavy toll on day-to-day life – important government announcements are not disseminated, medical appointments are missed, access to online educational resources stultified. Are such blanket shutdowns legal?
In 2020, the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was faced with precisely this question. Three years earlier, in the wake of protests against the amendments to the Togolese Constitution altering the presidential term limit, the government imposed a shutdown of internet se