Media Defence Launches eReader and Advanced Modules on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online

Media Defence is excited to announce its new eReader which is now the home to the new Advanced Modules on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online!

The eReader has been developed as part of our Digital Rights Advocates Project (DRAP) which is funded by the US Department of Democracy, Rights and Labor and supports lawyers in East, West and Southern Africa working on digital rights cases. As part of this project, we have developed training materials on digital rights which form the basis of our introductory and advanced litigation surgeries. In conjunction with the eReader, we are launching the Advanced Modules on Freedom of Expression Online; a series of six modules focused on trends in digital rights as well as advice and tools for litigating cases in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The Advanced Modules are informative, comprehensive and provides a broad overview of current developments and jurisprudence in the field of digital rights. This is an awesome resource that should be available to every person interested in digital rights”

As access to the Internet has increased and become vital in the exercise of people’s fundamental rights and freedoms across the world, so have impediments to Internet freedom, such as internet shutdowns, surveillance and social media taxes. The Advanced Modules explore developments in digital rights: from the ways in which access to content has been restricted, the criminalisation of online speech, the intersection between the right to privacy and freedom of expression and how non-state actors facilitate online censorship as well as practical tips for litigating these issues at the national and regional levels in sub-Saharan Africa.

“I love the modules! They condense everything I need in an effective manner. Thank you for providing them for us.”

As Media Defence expands its training materials and resources on digital rights, we wanted to create a dedicated space on our website where the modules are fully searchable, easily copied and pasted, and downloadable as PDFs. The modules are under a creative commons license and are therefore free to share and adapt with appropriate credit.
We hope the modules and eReader will be useful for lawyers, law students and universities interested in digital rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the next year, the eReader will be updated with introductory modules on digital rights and freedom of expression building on our series of training manuals.

“As a human rights activist cum lawyer, I usually have problems finding material to best inform my court room work, i.e. with regards asserting specific human rights issues. However, with the aid of Media Defence, where digital rights issues are concerned, I find myself better equipped, well before the issues have even arisen. Keep it up Media Defence!”

For further information, please contact Hannah Stoate, the Digital Rights Advocates Project Coordinator, hannah.stoate@mediadefence.org