The World of Digital Rights: Africa Not Doing Enough According To Report.

According to a digital rights report which was released in March 2020, advocates of digital rights must team up to consolidate gains if Africa needs to progress in the field of digital rights. The report stated that the advocates when teamed up, their objectives can be carried out across Africa.

According to a Paradigm Initiative’s Report, the impact of groups giving the chance to run the issue of digital rights by the government and private sector are likely to make their efforts to be suppressed if care is not taking.“An important admission in Internet Governance is that although these three important stakeholders have similar opportunities for engagement in these multi-stakeholder processes, they do not have equal powers or resources.

The report further added that the nation-states and private sector organizations have more power hence, influence decision making in the internet governance space. “Nation-states and private sector organizations wield more power and influence on decisions and actions in the Internet Governance space,” the report stressed.

The report highlighted the issue of digital rights in 13 African countries across the five regions. Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo; Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The report also made it clear that the information space should be perceived as a legitimate conflict theater as same as land, air, and sea: “that control of the information space is synonymous with control of the political space. The information space is therefore perceived as a legitimate theatre of conflict much the same way as land, air and the sea are established theatres of conflict.”

“This new doctrine of control of cyberspace is reflected on the state of digital rights on the continent. This new approach to cyberspace influenced by China and Russia is also facilitated by the export of technology and training from these countries, as noted by the influential report by the University of Oxford.”

“The influence of China and Russia on Africa, in this regard, is immense, as demonstrated by the strong-armed information control tactics deployed on the continent to stifle dissent and hunt opposition voices.”

“There is no doubt that the impact of civil society’s work in the defense of digital rights can be vastly improved if there is more collaboration and coordination.

Reference/africanews.com