Internet censorship is the control or suppression of the publishing of, and access to the information going on the internet. Censorship may be carried out by the government or private sectors or organizations and other controlling bodies at the behest of the government or on their initiative. Censorship may be done on the basis that such materials are considered harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient.
Globally, Africa is the most censorship-intensive continent. According to a report by Surf Shark, Africa is the most internet-censorship region in the world in 2021, with about 10 countries shutting down social media. While Africa's future depends on embracing technology, most especially in the provision of the feast, affordable internet, and reliable connectivity, many African governments are way too quick to shut down the internet when it serves them well. In just a few years, citizens in close to half of African countries have experienced an internet blackout.
Top African countries that have experienced an internet/social media shutdown
Ethiopia
In July 2022, Ethiopia shut down the Internet for about a month after a deadly protest, which was followed by the assassination of an activist. Shutting down the internet has been a common tactic of the Ethiopian government to prevent the spread of violence nationwide.
The Ethiopian government had also claimed to use internet restrictions to curb cheating during school exams.
According to reports, whenever the internet remains shut down in Ethiopia, the country runs up a bill of over USD 4.5 million in terms of economic impact on GDP. Various social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook and Facebook messenger were blocked after 12th-grade national exam papers reportedly leaked out.
Uganda
Uganda is generally up for its presidential and parliamentary elections, but the government is restricting people from using social media platforms until further notice. The election is close by, how will the Citizens feel when they are unable to access the popular social media internet? While some Ugandans anticipated these restrictions and came up with hostage to create ways for people to bypass the imminent social.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has an extensive censoring infrastructure that operates formally.
Zimbabwe has been ranked among the countries with the most restrictive social media policies, especially during elections.
The government of Zimbabwe cut access to the internet for 24 hours in a bid to quell violent protests over government orders doubling both the diesel and petrol fuel prices. The government ordered the postal and telecommunications regulatory authority of Zimbabwe to block the internet access provided by Zimbabwe's two largest ISPS, Econet and Te1one. The intention was to prevent the citizens of the country from using the internet to prevent protests.
Tanzania
Tanzania's government has been truncating media freedom since 2015 and had an internet blackout that lasted for 1584 hours in 2020 at about $600 million. In 2019, a report indicated that a total of 12 African governments switched off their internet services, which led to a combined loss of $2 billion.
African leaders are usually known to abuse their power when it comes to criticism. They do not want citizens to call them out for their wrongful actions, and to curb this, they mostly use internet censorship as a means to stop the dissemination of information.
Other notable African countries known for internet or social media censorship are Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and the Republic of Congo.
Algerian authorities restricted social media access and cut the internet connection nationwide to prevent exam papers from leaking. Nigeria banned Twitter, this happened on June 5, 2021, when the social media site removed a post of President Muhammadu Buhari threatening secessionists.
On March 5, 2021, the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko in Senegal led a demonstration in Dakar. Restrictions of online services were reported after the clash between police and the protesters spurred. The Republic of Congo shut down the internet on the day of the presidential election on Sunday, March 21, 2021. Alongside other censorship occurrences.
Do you think the continuous ban of the internet or social media in Africa will lead to anything positive? If not more unwelcoming actions. For instance, during the ban of Twitter in Nigeria, many Nigerians were still able to use the social media app through VPNs. It didn't stop anything. Why can't the government yield to the demands of the citizens and make the country a peaceful one?
Remember, Democracy is "government of, by and for the people". Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.