Open data
On 30 August, Lebanese internet users reported an internet disruption that made it almost impossible to access platforms like Twitter. This outage affected many websites and services globally, but not all internet service providers nor all internet services in Lebanon were affected the same.
The fifth session of the African Internet Resilience webinar series took place on 30 July. The focus of the session was to foster a deeper understanding of complementary networks and address the need for internet services in rural and underserved areas across the continent.
On 17 July, the Tanzania government issued new Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations. These new regulations repress online speech, privacy and access to information.
At the 2020 Allied Media Conference, over 50 activists came together online to build a collective timeline documenting the relationship between the movement and technology, from the perspective of the past, present and the future.
APC joined with other civil society organisations to congratulate and welcome Irene Khan to her new role as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and to highlight some broad priority themes that require particular attention.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown why the protection of human rights online is more important now than ever before. The internet has been a gateway for access to critical information, services and opportunities available to many people for the first time, as noted by the GSMA mobile gender gap report.
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.
The analysis of the sphere of movement building and internet governance in North Africa leads inevitably to assess the shrinking of digital space and online mobilisation during the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.
Data protection in Africa can still be described to be in its nascent stage. Most African states do not have a data protection law. This paper by Tomiwa Ilori considers the status of data protection in Africa and the impact of public emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic on data protection in Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Mauritius.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a need for solutions to “flatten the curve”. This essay by Rumbidzai Matamba and Chenai Chair employs the use of the South African government’s contact tracing initiatives to assess whether the social contract theory can be employed as a tool to justify privacy violations for public health.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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