African Declaration

The draft bill would have enabled surveillance abuse and privacy violations. The pressure that was brought to bear by various human and media rights organisations, and the international spotlight that it attracted, paid off and the bill was withdrawn and amended.

Since early 2021, the Kingdom of Eswatini has been gripped by waves of civil unrest, with reports of internet shutdowns implemented by the government in response to protests. It is in this climate of suspicion and unrest that cybercrime and data protection laws were gazetted in early 2022.

This invisibility in the South African national narrative can also be seen by the language’s absence on the internet.

This position paper is informed by monitoring conducted by the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms (AfDec) Coalition of developments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms (AfDec) Coalition has set 2020 as the year for robust advocacy for an open and free internet as well as strategic promotion of online human rights in Africa.

Southern African members of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms Coalition took part in a strategy-networking meeting held in Windhoek, Namibia, where they stressed the need for advocacy for the respect, recognition and promotion of freedom of expression online.

The African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms Secretariat and several members of the African Declaration Coalition met in Entebbe, Uganda to brainstorm on the building blocks of a 36-month strategic plan for cultivating an environment that respects human rights online in the region.

APC will be joining the organisations, tech companies, universities, startups and governments from 95 countries attending the 2017 RightsCon taking place in Brussels, Belgium, on 29-31 March. Check out session highlights here!