In Africa, internet shutdowns are typically justified by safeguarding residents from false information and fake news, putting an end to riots and rallies, or using the flimsiest pretext possible. How true is this, though?
Surfshark research claims that despite five African nations’ commitment to an unfettered internet in the 2021 UN resolution, they have since implemented 16 restrictions. Although some of the sponsoring nations have disregarded their commitments, the UN resolution on human rights on the Internet seeks to defend and advance these rights.
Surfshark was able to identify five African nations that professed to support the resolution but “broke their word” by enforcing internet restrictions by matching the countries’ positions with information from its Internet Shutdown Tracker.
Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Somalia, and Nigeria were the African nations that backed the 2021 UN resolution but “broke their word”:
With nine internet outages that occurred after Sudan backed the 2021 resolution, the first one occurring during the 2021 military takeover, Sudan has “broken its word” the most in Africa.
With four restrictions since the resolution’s implementation in 2021, Burkina Faso is in second place. Facebook is still prohibited in Burkina Faso as of today.
Since approving the resolution, Mauritania and Somalia have both experienced internet restrictions. In response to a jail riot, Mauritania limited mobile internet access, and Somalia experienced an internet blackout when the parliament decided to dismiss the prime minister..
Nigeria had one ongoing restriction at the time of the resolution’s adoption but has had no new restrictions since then. Nigeria had banned Twitter a month before the adoption, and the restriction lasted until January 2022.
Rest of the Word
The following nine nations have likewise “broken their word”: India, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil, Armenia, Indonesia, and Ukraine. There were 58 internet outages overall in these 14 nations during or after the resolution’s adoption, according to Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker.
With 19 internet outages since the resolution’s passage in 2021, India stands out as the nation that has “broken its word” the most (if we add the Jammu and Kashmir regions, this number would be considerably higher).
Every year, the Human Rights Council holds at least three regular sessions. The following 53rd session is planned to take place in the summer of 2023. Although the precise resolution’s agenda is not yet known, Surfshark will monitor any updates about impending UN resolutions on online human rights.
African Governments and Internet Shutdown
Despite all the excuses offered by African regimes, the actual causes of a shutdown typically have to do with stifling dissent, frustrating opponents, or hiding actions that may qualify as war crimes.
These strategies were adopted as a result of the Arab Spring’s success in containing civil unrest and anti-government demonstrations when the internet was shut down. This paradigm has become the go-to tactic for aggravating citizens and stifling opposition among African governments.
Organizers of the 2020 EndSARS protest in Nigeria used social media to disseminate information, crowdfund, and encourage young people to turn out in large numbers to demonstrate against police brutality and overall governance failure. The speed of communication and interconnectedness of users on social media heavily influenced this campaign’s effectiveness.
Following this large-scale demonstration, the Nigerian government, alarmed by the online discussions, attempted to resubmit a previously rejected measure that would have allowed for the regulation of social media and given the government the authority to shut down the internet at will.
The internet was shut off by the government when Sudanese protesters gathered in Khartoum, the country’s capital, in 2022 over the October military coup that forced Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to resign.
The Ugandan government instructed telecom service providers to suspend internet connectivity during the general elections in January 2021. This action was taken a day after all social media platforms were banned.
As was the case in Uganda, shutdowns during elections not only crush opposition or quiet critics; they also prohibit journalists and observers from sharing their findings and confirming information throughout the elections.
The Cost of Internet ShutDowns
Only four out of ten individuals on the continent have access to the internet as of December 2021, making Africa the continent with the lowest internet penetration internationally. Additionally, the continent’s online penetration rate, which was estimated at about 66%, was lower than the global average.
However, with the slightest provocation, governments all over the continent have routinely turned internet access into a weapon in their various nations. Limiting the free flow of information online and news coverage of situations on the ground is clearly a breach of the rights to freedom of expression and access to information.
In today’s world, internet shutdowns have become a major concern. Authoritarian governments frequently employ them as a means to manipulate the public and stifle free speech. The UN resolution on human rights on the internet aims to make countries openly condemn these shutdowns and other ways of restricting online speech.
Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske, Surfshark spokeswoman
Governments in Africa should be better informed about the very real problems they create for themselves when they shut down the internet in their country, as opposed to restricting or shutting down internet use.
