As a result of the continued global spread of COVID-19, civil society organisations, human rights activists and digital rights activists have identified a range of potential and actual human rights violations as the continent responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include limitations to the exercise and/or facilitation of rights through the internet or other digital mediums.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the dissemination of vast amounts of information, both verified and unverified. Against this backdrop, Global Partners Digital (GPD), ARTICLE 19, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), PROTEGE QV and the Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria recently launched the Disinformation Tracker, an interactive map to track disinformation laws and policies across Sub-Saharan Africa.
E-learning has become a central talking point in African settings. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Zimbabwe is a typical example where debate is raging over the need for government to set up human and financial resources to address affordability, access and availability of infrastructure, devices, internet and content to aid e-learning.
This article seeks to examine the extent to which national and regional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted on the regime of human rights online. The article also examines the widening digital divide and the role that telecommunication policy and regulatory frameworks play in closing this gap.
Upon the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in Kenya, the government swung into action by enacting various pieces of legislation and measures. While the measures were well intended, the manner in which existing laws have been interpreted during this COVID-19 period has proved the adage that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
This article by Amuku Isaac provides a reflection.on COVID-19 policy responses in Uganda and the relevance of the African Declaration in promoting women’s rights online, with reference to 10 of the 13 principles contained in the Declaration.
Drawing on the Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Framework, the key objectives of this report are to document the form(s) of gender-based cyber violence behaviours that women and girls experience during COVID-19, and identify responses/strategies available to tackle this type of violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like much of the rest of the world, Namibia too came under a total economic and social shutdown, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Cracks within the education system would soon be exposed by COVID-19, and the detrimental effects they pose to the right to development and access to knowledge, as set out in Principle 7 of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms, would become apparent.
For decades, the internet has not reached all areas in Sudan; this year, out of a total population of 43 million, only 13.38 million are internet users. This is evidence that neither the previous nor current rulers made real efforts to implement the principles of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms, such as citizens’ rights to access information on the internet, and that internet access should be available and affordable to all
This article highlights that certain conditions have aligned to present a unique opportunity to recalibrate existing efforts, shift narratives and develop new standards that can enable and reflect genuine equality and inclusion on the internet. This article suggests that now, more than ever, is the time to ensure that we have a feminist internet. The article concludes with recommendations on suggested requirements for feminist ICT regulations.
