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Africa: Facebook Criticises Internet Shutdowns in the Continent
Nation, 14 February 2021
Facebook has condemned the long internet shutdowns and social media blackouts experienced in Tanzania, Chad, Ethiopia and Uganda between January 2020 and February 2021, terming… Read more »
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Uganda: How Internet Shutdown Stalled Businesses
Monitor, 11 February 2021
The Internet shutdown that started on January 13 caused huge losses as businesses, government agencies, organisations and web-based operations such as e-tax payments were… Read more »
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Africa: Covid-19 Triggers Wave of Free Speech Abuse
HRW, 11 February 2021
At least 83 governments worldwide have used the Covid-19 pandemic to justify violating the exercise of free speech and peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities… Read more »
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Africa: Why Covid-19 Makes Internet Access More Urgent Than Ever
Thomson Reuters Foundation, 24 September 2020
Progress on making the internet accessible has been far too slow, with just over half the world connected today Read more »
African Countries Face Criticism for Internet Shutdowns
Tanzania, Chad, Ethiopia and Uganda's long internet shutdowns and social media blackouts between January 2020 and February 2021 have been termed "counterintuitive and a violation of human rights" in the digital age, according to social media giant Facebook's East Africa spokesperson, Janet Kemboi. The UN recognises access to the internet as an enabler of a broad range of human rights - from freedom of expression, to freedom of information, the right to assembly and association, the right to access healthcare and the right to an adequate standard of living through economic activity. Incumbent governments in Tanzania and Uganda have used internet switch-offs as a weapon against a rising opposition, to ensure they restrict the flow of information thereby getting re-elected against the will of voters.
InFocus
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Internet and social media services have been fully reinstated, Uganda's ICT Minister Ogwang Ogwang has said. Services were switched off on the eve of the presidential elections ... Read more »
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The next online class, e-book, music download, movie streaming or air ticket that Kenyans buy over the internet could cost them more, as Kenya Revenue Authority moves to implement ... Read more »
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Since January 3, 2020, Ethiopian authorities have disconnected mobile phone networks, landlines, and internet services in the Oromia region. The shutdown has prevented ... Read more »
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Increasing access to e-commerce would create jobs, and with COVID-19 impacting the world, people who are in lockdown or under self-quaratine, could access shopping through the ... Read more »
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Telecom providers have begun restoring mobile access to the Internet weeks after service was cut following a deadly crackdown on protesters. Read more »
