• Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact
Premium Times Opinion
Sunday, March 7, 2021
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
No Result
View All Result
Premium Times Opinion
Home Opinion

Digital Rights in an Era of Repression, By Sodiq Alabi and Boye Adegoke

by Premium Times
April 18, 2018
5 min read
0


All lovers of human rights must turn their attention to the Forum in Abuja as it is where African experts and advocates would have their say on issues confronting digital rights in Africa and evolving and strengthening Africa-led initiatives towards entrenching digital rights on the continent.


As a sort of New Year gift to the online media community, Nigerian security agents arrested Tim and Daniel Elombah, the publisher and editor of elombah.com, for allegedly publishing a content the police hierarchy considered offensive. That would not be the first time a journalist or publisher would be arrested for publishing content online in Nigeria.

In the last few years, several citizens have been illegally detained for online content some powerful individual or
institutions found “offensive”. For instance, a popular blogger Abusidiqu was arrested in 2016 by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a law enforcement agency in Nigeria. According to a source, Abusidiqu’s arrest was connected to his posts on EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu. According to the spokesperson of the Agency, Abusidiqu was arrested for offences bordering on cyberstalking.

The attack on free speech online is unfortunately not limited to Nigeria; too many other African countries are in the same boat of repression as Nigeria. From Egypt to The Gambia, from Cameroon to Kenya, citizens and journalists alike are not safe from the wrath of those in power when critical content is published online. Last February, Gambian police arrested a university lecturer and kept him in overnight detention for questioning the president’s ability to maintain national security in an interview. In April 2017, a Ugandan university teacher and social media critic of the Ugandan government, Stella Nyanzi, was arrested and detained for insulting the President Yoweri Museveni. The list of victims of flagrant abuse of the right to free speech
online is simply endless. While the digital space has democratised access to information and information dissemination means, governments and powerful individuals in Africa continue to put unnecessary hurdles in the way of progress.

In Nigeria and Egypt, the national governments have asserted their power to restrict access to websites they consider subversive without judicial oversight. This power that is unknown to the law, at least in Nigeria, was behind the restriction of access to some twenty websites in Nigeria, including the popular news site, naij.com, last year. Egypt is the clear leader in this department as it has permanently restricted access to over four hundred websites.

Free speech online is not the only digital right that has been under attack in Africa. Access to Internet service has been under severe attack. Cameroon has repeatedly shut down Internet services in the Anglophone regions of the country in a futile bid to scuttle protests against the government.


Across the continent, we find obnoxious laws or policies that not only impact negatively on citizens’ rights but threaten
the health of democracy and exchange of ideas. Tanzania, for example, recently introduced a regulation that would require bloggers to pay $900 every year as some sort of license fee. This regulation, if allowed to be implemented, will effectively shut down the country’s burgeoning online media space. A couple of days ago, Burundi Media Regulator suspended the online commentary column of Iwacu newspaper, for three months. According to the Director of the newspaper, “the column is known to be a platform for criticism over government’s action, the country’s situation by Burundians irrespective of where they live.” Also, the online weekly newspaper Iwacu is said to be one of Burundi’s few remaining independent media outlets since 2015, when the country’s radio stations were shut down on President Pierre Nkurunziza’s orders.

Free speech online is not the only digital right that has been under attack in Africa. Access to Internet service has been under severe attack. Cameroon has repeatedly shut down Internet services in the Anglophone regions of the country in a futile bid to scuttle protests against the government. In fact, in 2017, the Internet was off in parts of Cameroon for almost as many days as it was on. For many people on the continent, activities such as elections, public examinations and protest could mean comprehensive Internet blackout. Ethiopia, Togo, Somaliland and Cameroon are just some of the countries that have shut down the internet in the last two years.

Social media and messaging platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Vibe are currently blocked in Chad amid political tension. This is not the first time this year. Chad ordered an Internet shutdown in response to national protest action backed by trade unions and civil society organisations using social media. According to a report released by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) last year, Internet shutdown has cost Sub-Saharan Africa up to US$237 million since 2015. This is to highlight the economic implications of the trend of digital rights violation in Africa.

The 2018 edition of the forum is scheduled to hold from April 24 to April 26 in Abuja. The Forum could not have come at a better time in 2018 as many African countries including Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Mali are preparing for elections. Election periods constitute a vulnerable period for digital rights as governments leverage the periods to curtail citizens’ rights online.


The persistent attacks on digital rights and the poor policy framework for rights protection have led to civil society efforts geared towards resisting and ultimately correcting the sad situation.

One of such efforts is the Internet Freedom Forum. For the last six years, Nigeria has hosted the pan-African forum, dedicated to conversations on Internet freedom on the continent. The Forum is convened by Paradigm Initiative and supported by organisations including Microsoft, Google, Ford Foundation, Premium Times and The Guardian. The Forum brings together experts from various African countries to discuss the state of digital rights and Internet freedom on the continent, and evolve effective solutions to problems confronting rights online. For instance, the 2014 edition of the Forum gave birth to a Digital Rights and Freedom Bill that was recently passed by the Nigerian legislature and is currently being studied in other countries for possible replication. The Internet Freedom Forum provides a veritable platform for Internet stakeholders in Africa and those whose work focuses on Africa to discuss and proffer solutions to the challenges. It is a meeting point for government, civil society, journalists, open web advocates and other Internet stakeholders.

The 2018 edition of the forum is scheduled to hold from April 24 to April 26 in Abuja. The Forum could not have come at a better time in 2018 as many African countries including Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Mali are preparing for elections. Election periods constitute a vulnerable period for digital rights as governments leverage the periods to curtail citizens’ rights online. The forum also comes at a time when the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal is at the centre of conversations globally and most importantly the revelations of the data analytics company’s attempt at shaping previous elections in Kenya and Nigeria. Clearly, delegates will have their hands full discussing better methods of protecting digital rights, not only from the antics of government but also from businesses with less-than-ideal data privacy culture. All lovers of human rights must turn their attention to the Forum in Abuja as it is where African experts and advocates would have their say on issues confronting digital rights in Africa and evolving and strengthening Africa-led initiatives towards entrenching digital rights on the continent.

Sodiq Alabi and Boye Adegoke are digital rights advocates with Paradigm Initiative.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Print
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Share on Tumblr

Related

Previous Post

Sex-For-Mark As Metaphor, By Louis Odion

Next Post

Buhari and the 2019 Challenge, By Festus Keyamo

Related Posts

Zamfara Gold As Commonwealth, By Zailani Bappa
Opinion

Sheikh Gumi, Governor Matawalle and the Sands of Time, By Zailani Bappa

February 2, 2021
June 12 As Democracy Day Needs To Be Reconsidered, By Bashir Tofa
Opinion

The Need To Act Now To Stop the Ethnic Conflagration!, By Bashir Othman Tofa

February 2, 2021
Kofi Annan: In Service of the World, By Ejeviome Eloho Otobo & Oseloka H. Obaze
Opinion

Biden’s Likely Policy Orientation Toward Africa, By Ejeviome E. Otobo and Oseloka H. Obaze

February 2, 2021
Agenda for ‘Born Again’ JAMB and TETFUND, By Tunde Musibau Akanni
Opinion

Oyeweso, A Celebrated Historian, Ascends the Sixth Floor, By Tunde Akanni

February 2, 2021
Before Nigeria Burns, By Akin Fadeyi
Opinion

Is President Buhari Presiding Over the Last United Nigeria?, By Akin Fadeyi

February 2, 2021
On A Soyinka Prize In ‘Illiteracy’, By Biko Agozino
Opinion

Obasanjo: Only Those Who Did Not Do Well Went Into the Military, By Biko Agozino

February 1, 2021
Next Post
Buhari and the 2019 Challenge, By Festus Keyamo

Buhari and the 2019 Challenge, By Festus Keyamo

Eric Teniola

Many Happy Returns "Ma Fred": Akinrinade On T.Y. Danjuma at 80, By Eric Teniola

Editorial

  • EDITORIAL: The Urgency of Tackling Nigeria’s Second Wave of COVID-19

    EDITORIAL: The Urgency of Tackling Nigeria’s Second Wave of COVID-19

  • EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

    EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

  • EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

    EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

  • EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

    EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

  • EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

    EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

Subscribe to our Opinion articles via email

Enter your email address to get notifications of new opinion articles as they are published.

Join 526,525 other subscribers

Most Popular

  • Nnamdi Kanu and Buhari’s Purported Death: The Facts and Fiction (2), By Nonso Robert Attoh
    Nnamdi Kanu and Buhari’s Purported Death: The Facts and Fiction (2), By Nonso Robert Attoh
  • What is the Nigerian Dream?, By Taiwo Odukoya
    What is the Nigerian Dream?, By Taiwo Odukoya
  • The Bad Consequences and Dangers of Adultery and Fornication (Zina) In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Bad Consequences and Dangers of Adultery and Fornication (Zina) In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • Islam Doesn't Allow A Husband To Beat Or Slap His Wife, By Murtadha Gusau
    Islam Doesn't Allow A Husband To Beat Or Slap His Wife, By Murtadha Gusau
  • The Qualities of a Good Leader In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Qualities of a Good Leader In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • Gov. Abiodun’s Largess Amidst Miserable Rewards For Best Students, By Olabisi Deji-Folutile
    Gov. Abiodun’s Largess Amidst Miserable Rewards For Best Students, By Olabisi Deji-Folutile
  • Belu Belu and Bone-Setting: Traditional Medicine to the Rescue, By Bunmi Fatoye-Matory
    Belu Belu and Bone-Setting: Traditional Medicine to the Rescue, By Bunmi Fatoye-Matory

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Podcasts

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

  • Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact

© 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight

© 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.