The Right to Freedom of Expression on the Internet as it applies to Social Media in Africa

SUMMARY

The African Affairs Committee (Elizabeth Barad and Jason Spears, co-chairs) issued a report, “The Right to Freedom of Expression on the Internet as it applies to Social Media in Africa,” which explores the international legal and regional regimes governing freedom of expression and the use of social media in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the wake of the “Arab Spring” and the perceived role that social media played in fomenting political dissent, governments of the Sub-Saharan African countries have been suppressing social media through legislation, administrative methods and suppression of advocacy on social media websites. However, as the Committee notes, “social media did not cause the upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East; it merely altered the capacity of citizens to affect domestic politics, by creating a virtual ecology of civil society debate around issues that could not be discussed publicly.” The Committee urges local communities as well as the international community to support an independent media that is free from government control by monitoring the changing laws in this region and advocating for reform.