Africans must stand up for the rights we want in the digital era

The fight for the future of the Web is one that Africans must play an active role in. Internet connectivity is changing the lives of countless African people and providing economic and social benefits, from alleviating poverty and improving health, to enabling Africa’s transition from a resource- to a knowledge-based economy. It is creating new ways to communicate and socialise, new business models and industries, and new ways in which public services, healthcare and education are provided and shared. A recent Deloitte report estimated that if Internet penetration rates in developing countries could be raised to those of developed countries, GDP growth would climb by 72 percent and 140 million new jobs would be created.

A fight to secure Africa’s digital future is a fight for the ability of students to access life-changing, free resources; for Africans struggling with injustice and corruption to make their voices heard around the world; for African musicians, designers and film-makers to reach broader international audiences; and for the potential of a tiny African start up to become a billion dollar business. Africa must secure this innovation and the breakthroughs in science, commerce and culture that a free and open Internet offers us.

The Internet has grown so powerful that many, governments and businesses alike, want to colonise it for their own ends. Just as the Windhoek Declaration resulted in World Press Freedom Day, the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms is an opportunity for Africa to take a leading role in advancing communication rights and securing Africa’s growth in the digital era.

The journey ahead for the African Declaration may be long and exhausting, but its purpose is crystal clear: to help policy-makers meet their responsibility to protect human rights online; to secure an open Internet that has a beneficial economic impact for Africa; and to harmonise Internet policies and laws across Africa in an effort to avoid regulation clashes that may cause foreign policy difficulties.

Alliance For Affordable Internet works with governments, companies and not-for-profits. Photo: A4AI

Africa is not alone in this journey. Less than a year ago I stood on stage at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and watched as President Dilma Rousseff signed the Marco Civil da Internet into law: “ladies and gentlemen, the President of the Republic has approved a law that guarantees the rights and duties for the use of internet in the world.” The Marco Civil da Internet provides every Brazilian with strong and enforceable guarantees of free expression, net neutrality, due process, the right to privacy and the right to connect. It is a product of consultation with a wide-range of stakeholders spanning nearly a decade and it carries with it the spirit, hope and belief of scores of campaigners across Brazil and the rest of the world.

It is that same sense of spirit, hope and belief that has spurred the development of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms. In September 2013, a group of Africans huddled together at the Multimedia University of Nairobi in Kenya. Their discussion did not focus on the recent Westgate bomb attacks; instead they discussed rights and freedoms online. Their collective desire was to ensure Internet rights and freedoms and they began developing the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms. Larger meetings followed and the expertise of more than twenty civil society groups working in Africa were drawn upon. The group developed a rough outline for the African Declaration and nominated a drafting committee, led by Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda. The draft was developed by the committee through an interactive feedback and consultation process, with around 40 submissions from a range of stakeholder groups.

The Declaration builds on well-established African human rights documents, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981, the Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press of 1991, the African Charter on Broadcasting of 2001, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa of 2002, and the African Platform on Access to Information Declaration of 2011. The principles outlined in the Declaration are openness, access and affordability, freedom of expression, right to information, freedom of assembly and association, cultural and linguistic diversity, right to development, privacy, security, rights for marginalised groups, right to due process, and the right to a democratic Internet governance framework.

The goal for the next year is to secure political support for the African Declaration. We will be collecting endorsements and further comments on the text. We want to include as many African people as possible with us on on this journey and we have already started to see a growing movement around the Declaration.

UNESCO celebrates World Press Freedom Day annually.

The World Wide Web Foundation, through our Web We Want campaign, is committed to the Declaration. The Declaration has journeyed to the third Africa Internet Governance Forum in Abuja, Nigeria; to the Alliance for Affordable Internet national coalition workshops in Nigeria; and to the office of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. It has also been a part of the global Internet Governance Forum in Istanbul, Turkey; to Highway Africa in Grahamstown, South Africa; to the Web We Want Festival at the Southbank Centre in London, England; and to the African Union ICT Ministerial meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. Where it journeys next is down to the will of Africans.

The biggest threat to the Web today is not actually from companies or governments. Instead, the biggest threat is us simply taking it all for granted. That is why I am asking people across Africa to endorse the Declaration, for African Union Member states to support the Declaration when it is presented, and for the ACHP to pass a resolution endorsing the Declaration. It will require the efforts of millions of Africans — people like you and me — to see this journey through to the end. I am here and ready. Where are you?