Introduction

Over the last decade, the number of internet users worldwide has more than doubled. As of January 2024, the digital population consists of over 5.3 billion people.(1) In Africa, the number of recorded internet users increased almost four-fold between 2012 and 2022, going from just over 167 million people to over 650 million in only ten years.(2) The internet has revolutionised the free flow of information by offering anyone with an internet connection the ability to gather and share information and ideas.(3) This had a profound effect on the exercise and the protection of the triad of information rights, namely the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and access to information.

The UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) 2016 Resolution on the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the internet confirmed that these rights enable a full array of other fundamental rights and deserve the same protection when exercised online as offline.

Unfortunately, despite the internet’s potential as a tool for democratic empowerment, the rights of internet users globally are subject to a wide range of challenges, threats, restrictions, and violations, at the hands of both state and non-state actors. There is no shortage of obstacles to achieving the full capacity of the internet and digital spaces where human rights can be protected, respected, promoted, and progressively realised.

Fortunately, in many instances, digital rights advocates, activists, and litigators have developed effective responses to oppressive regulations and restrictions on online rights, and there is a notable rise in innovative solutions challenging these problems. For example, in 2023 the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court ruled that Guinea had unjustifiably infringed on the applicants’ rights to freedom of expression and rights to information, in terms of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, after it disrupted internet access and blocked access to social media sites in the midst of elections protests. The Court ordered Guinea to take all necessary measures to ensure that this violation does not occur again, as well as to adopt and implement laws and other safeguards to fulfil its obligations regarding the right to freedom of expression under international human rights instruments.(4)

This module touches on other recent developments relating to the triad of information rights as they relate to the digital realm, and highlights expected developments moving forward.