Internet shutdowns at record high in Africa as access ‘weaponised’

Digital blackouts reached a record high in 2024 in Africa as more governments sought to keep millions of citizens off the internet than in any other period over the last decade. A report released by the internet rights group Access Now and #KeepItOn, a coalition of hundreds of civil society organisations worldwide, found there were 21 shutdowns in 15 African countries, surpassing the existing record of 19 shutdowns in 2020 and 2021. Authorities in Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritius joined repeat offenders such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, and Kenya. Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania were also on the list. But perpetrators also included militias and other non-state actors. Telecommunication and internet service providers who shut services based on government orders are also complicit in violating people’s rights, said Felicia Anthonio, the #KeepItOn campaign manager at Access Now, citing the UN guiding principles on business and human rights. The details showed that most of the shutdowns were imposed as a response to conflicts, protests and political instability. There were also restrictions during elections. The trend was replicated across the world with more internet shutdowns and in more countries: 296 shutdowns across 54 countries, compared with 283 shutdowns in 39 countries the previous year.