DIGITAL RIGHTS AND INCLUSION IN AFRICA A PARADIGM INITIATIVE PUBLICATION Digital rights violations continue across the African continent Health surveillance in the midst of COVID-, a breach of privacy Reports from across the African continent REPORT DIGITAL RIGHTS AND INCLUSION IN AFRICA A PARADIGM INITIATIVE PUBLICATION Published by Paradigm Initiative Bomo Way, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria Email: [email protected] www.paradigmhq.org Published in April Report produced by Paradigm Initiative Design & Layout by Luce Concepts This publication maybe reproduced for non-commercial use in any form provided due credit is given to the publishers, and the work is presented without any distortion. Copyright © Paradigm Initiative Creative Commons Attribution . International (CC BY .) ISBN: ---- CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i INTRODUCTION ii BENIN DIGITAL RIGHTS AND INCLUSION IN AFRICA A PARADIGM INITIATIVE PUBLICATION BOTSWANA CAMEROON COTE D’IVOIRE DRC EGYPT ETHIOPIA GHANA KENYA Civil society organizations continue to work to advance digital MALAWI rights and inclusion in Africa, ensuring best practices are NAMIBIA adopted into policy and legislation. This report analyses the state of digital rights and inclusion in Africa, examining NIGERIA violations and gaps, investigating the use and application of RWANDA policy and legislation, highlighting milestones and proffering recommendations for the digital landscape in Africa. This SOUTH AFRICA edition captures among other issues, the digital divide TANZANIA worsened by the COVID- pandemic and unearths infractions on different thematic areas such as privacy, access to TOGO information, and freedom of expression with the legislative TUNISIA and policy background well enunciated. UGANDA ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE CONCLUSION @ParadigmHQ LONDA CREDITS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report features country reports authored by digital rights experts from various African countries. Paradigm Initiative is grateful for their contributions which are aimed at documenting and analysing digital rights and inclusion events and policies across Africa. The support received from our funding partners is greatly appreciated and ensures that we continue to advance digital rights and inclusion. We are truly grateful for the support of the editorial team who have ensured we deliver on this project through their review and advice. Contributors: Editorial Team: Abdul Rahman Alfa Shaban - Ethiopia country report ‘Gbenga Sesan Adeboye Adegoke and Judith Takon - Nigeria country report Kathleen Ndongmo Anonymous - Tanzania country report Koliwe Majama Apolo Kakaire - Uganda country report Margaret Nyambura Ndung’u Bulanda Nkhowani - Zambia country report Mawaki Chango Donald Flywell Malanga - Malawi country report Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu Ekai Nabenyo - Kenya country report Thobekile Matimbe Jean-Pierre Afadhali - Rwanda country report Konan Angan Maurice Constant - Cote d'Ivoire country report Michael Gyan Nyarko - Ghana country report Copy Editor: Mohamad Farahat - Egypt country report Sabine Matsheka Nashilongo Gervasius - Namibia country report Oarabile Mudongo - Botswana country report Translators: Providence Baraka - DRC country report Paper Bag Africa (English/French) Rigobert Kenmogne - Cameroon country report Bonface Witaba (English to Swahili) Seyram Adiakpo - Togo country report Sinatou Saka - Benin country report Design & Layout Thobekile Matimbe - Zimbabwe country report Luce Concepts Tina Power - South Africa country report Yosr Jouini - Tunisia country report i A PARADIGM INITIATIVE PUBLICATION LONDA DIGITAL AND INCLUSION IN AFRICA REPORT INTRODUCTION One of the defining events of was the global COVID- lockdowns. Although this was a time in which governments required heightened trust, in order to work with everyone to flatten the curve of the coronavirus, some African governments were criticised for using COVID- as an excuse to pursue various clampdown agendas. In some cases, citizen pushback led to the Egyptian government dealt with the information improvement of policy proposals. For example, that was circulating about the pandemic as fake South Africa published regulations making it an news which led to many citizens, including offence to publish any disinformation, through any journalists, lawyers, and civil society activists, being medium, about COVID- and contact tracing subjected to prosecution for allegedly spreading methods adopted by the government were fake news. debated before the regulations incorporated several important privacy safeguards, including During the year under review, several African user notification and an express provision that the countries made changes to existing laws, interception of the content of communications is introduced new laws or concluded ongoing law not permitted. In Botswana, there were concerns making processes. In April 2020, the Parliament of that the government’s use of COVID- contact Botswana passed emergency laws that gave the tracing technology lacked consistent, accountable President full authority to govern for six months by and open oversight structures. decree, while in November , a new telecommunications law replaced the law on A letter from the Office of the President of Post and Telecommunications in the Democratic Cameroon, in April , instructed the Director of Republic of Congo. The parliament of Ghana the National Agency for Information and passed the Right to Information Act in March , Communication Technologies to monitor social which was assented by the President in May , media accounts in order to identify users meanwhile Kenya appointed a Data Protection disseminating fake news but this led to new Commissioner in November . Even though a mechanisms of intimidation, violations and proposal to regulate social media was said to have restriction of freedoms. Zimbabwe enacted a divided members of the Namibian parliament in statutory instrument that punishes any person , the country’s Ministry of ICT confirmed plans who communicates falsehoods with up to years’ to regulate social media in February 2020. Nigeria’s imprisonment, and there were concerns that the National Assembly hosted a public hearing, in law had criminal defamation provisions that March 2020, on the “Protection from Internet restrict freedom of expression. Alarmingly, the Falsehood and Manipulation Bill,” which proposed A PARADIGM INITIATIVE PUBLICATION ii to give the Nigerian government the power to the most. When schools and offices closed across restrict access to internet services and determine most countries, many African citizens paid a huge the falsity or otherwise of information shared by price for the lack of reliable and affordable internet citizens on digital platforms. In July , South access. Africa’s Draft Films and Publications Amendment Regulations caused an uproar, with concerns that Students were expected to learn online in places the regulations were draconian and an attempt to without adequate infrastructure or the economic censor the internet. The Parliament of Togo also means for such access. The need for remote work passed a new digital identification law that defines and schooling also revealed other worrying divides the legal framework for biometric identification such as a growing gender divide across many data collection, and in May 2020, Zimbabwe’s African countries. For example, despite the number Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill was of women in Botswana’s ICT industry, the sector gazetted, which was followed by the Freedom of remains male-dominated. However, countries, Information Bill that was gazetted in July . such as Ghana, made significant strides in closing the gender-digital gap, with one study suggesting Digital rights violations continue across the that the gender-digital gap sits at ., far below countries covered by this report, including Benin, the global average of . Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Similar to other countries across Africa, in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia. Apart from three main bottlenecks to closing the gender- the indiscriminate arrest of journalists and other digital divide include affordability, relevance and citizens, this report documents data privacy lack of digital skills amongst women and girls. The violations, internet shutdowns, lack of oversight for country’s digital infrastructure is less robust and security agencies, mass surveillance, online there is a rural-urban divide and gender digital gender-based violence, clampdown on peaceful exclusion in some parts of the country. Only of protesters, invoking defamation laws to punish Namibian public schools have access to the dissent and the use of ambiguous COVID- internet but the country has launched a National regulations as an opportunity to punish dissenting Broadband Policy with a five year implementation voices. action plan that seeks to achieve broadband coverage by and also operationalise the Since the COVID- pandemic began, digital Universal Access and Service Fund. In Egypt, one of technologies have become increasingly essential to the most vulnerable groups, the refugee everyday life across Africa. With day-to-day community, faced further exclusion due to the activities moving online, connectivity has become pandemic, as many could not access the new imperative to keep the world moving. This distance learning system due to lack of internet transition and for some, lack thereof, has further access, absence of devices, cost of access and exposed the widening digital divide