Title: Internet shutdowns in Africa: a growing threat to online freedom
Introduction :
Internet shutdowns have become commonplace in Africa in recent years, with a significant impact on online freedom of expression and access to information. Governments, including some considered democratic, often use the fight against disinformation or national security as a pretext to justify these restrictions. In this article, we will explore the different methods used to interrupt or degrade internet connection, as well as the impact of these outages on African society.
1. The different forms of internet shutdowns in Africa:
a) Total outage: in this situation, users have no access to the internet, whether on a national, regional or local scale. This can affect all types of connections, including mobile networks.
b) Blocking specific services: users can browse the internet, but certain sites or applications are blocked, in particular social networks and instant messaging services.
c) Degraded connection: Internet service providers deliberately deteriorate the quality of service to give users the impression that their connection is slow or unusable.
2. Methods used to restrict access to the internet:
a) Damage or saturate infrastructure: Some governments deliberately disable or destroy internet infrastructure, while other acts of vandalism can also result in outages.
b) Throttling: Internet service providers voluntarily reduce the quality of service to make the connection slower.
c) Blocking protocols: governments block certain protocols or specific services to prevent users from accessing them.
d) Surveillance and censorship: Authorities actively monitor online activities and censor content deemed undesirable or dangerous.
e) Restrictive laws: Some countries have adopted strict laws on cybersecurity and disinformation, giving governments more power to restrict access to the internet.
3. The impact on African society:
Restrictions on internet access have a significant impact on freedom of expression online, limiting citizens’ ability to express their opinions and freely access information. It also affects economic development and access to essential services such as online education and healthcare. Additionally, these outages impact businesses, including start-ups and technology industries, which rely on stable connectivity to operate and innovate..
Conclusion :
Internet shutdowns in Africa pose a growing threat to online freedom and access to information. It is important to raise awareness of the consequences of these restrictions and promote policies to ensure open and equitable access to the internet for all African citizens.