african declaration on internet rights and freedoms

Upon the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in Kenya, the government enacted various legislation to deal with the pandemic. While the measures were well intended, the manner in which existing laws have been implemented has caused some concern among civil society organisations.

Gender-based violence against women and girls remains a global threat to the public health of women and girls during emergencies. As the COVID-19 pandemic deepens the economic and social stress, coupled with restricted movement and social isolation measures, gender-based violence against women and girls is increasing exponentially.

Cracks within the Namibian education system have been 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, have increasingly become apparent.

For decades, the internet has not reached all areas in Sudan proving the lack of real governmental effort to implement the principles of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms. 

This article analyses the challenge of internet access faced by women and other marginalised groups such as persons with disabilities in Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms and the Feminist Principles of the Internet advocate for an internet that is accessible, available, useable and affordable to all persons, without discrimination. Realising these principles has become increasingly urgent in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

COVID-19 has led to a surge of efforts by both state and private actors to manage the pandemic itself, and the consequences of it, with the aid of technology. Yet privacy has immediately been cast as a required trade-off in the efforts to combat the disease.

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