Summary Module 4: Data Privacy and Data Protection (sub-Saharan Africa)
The right to privacy is gaining prominence with increasing data flows and the concomitant need for the protection of personal information.
Each theme contains useful resources for lawyers on freedom of expression, click below to get started.
An overview of the multi-faceted right to freedom of expression and how it is protected under international law.
Understanding digital rights is crucial to protecting human rights, as little of our lives today is immune from the forces of technology and the internet.
An overview of the ways in which access to the internet and online content are restricted around the world.
An overview of freedom of expression issues in the law, including how defamation is treated in domestic and international law.
An overview of the right to privacy, data protection, and protecting freedom of expression in a digital world.
Describes the different types of cybercrimes, tracks the trends, and evaluates how cybercrimes are dealt with in international law.
An overview of hate speech and how it is dealt with both under domestic and international law.
An overview of the ways in which access to content and freedom of expression online are restricted by private actors.
An overview of false news, misinformation and propaganda, including causes and potential solutions..
An overview of the various rights and concepts which encompass digital rights.
The right to privacy is gaining prominence with increasing data flows and the concomitant need for the protection of personal information.
The High Court of South Africa found that a mining company had been abusing judicial processes to intimidate, distract and silence public criticism, and dismissed a defamation case as a SLAPP suit.
This report maps the current landscape in respect of digital rights and online freedom of expression in
East, West and Southern Africa. It looks at the trends regarding law and policy developments, as well
as recent litigation, within these regions. The report focuses on 18 countries – 6 per region – and tracks
the recent developments that have taken place in these countries.
Provides an overview of the current ways in which non-state actors are facilitating online censorship.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights indicated that the court will adopt a flexible approach that allows anyone to file a communication for the court’s consideration, including non-victim individuals, CSOs and pressure groups.
An internet shutdown is an intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information. A shutdown arises when someone, be it the government or a private sector actor, intentionally disrupts the internet, a telecommunications network or an internet service, arguably to control or curb what people say or do.
The High Court of Zambia found that a provision of Zambia’s Penal Code that prohibited the publication of false information likely to cause public fear, violated the Constitution as it did not amount to a reasonable justification for limiting the freedom of expression.
Following a challenge brought by Burundi Journalists Union, the East African Court of Justice confirmed that parts of Burundi’s Press Law placed an impermissible restriction on journalists by prohibiting them from distributing certain types of information.
Protests can be newsworthy events, and in some cases can determine the political or social course of a country for years to come. Covering protests is therefore a crucial part of a journalist’s responsibilities, but can often be one of the most dangerous. According to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, nearly half of all press freedom…