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Digital and Social Media in Africa

Henri-Count Evans, Tinashe Mawere, Ruth Teer-Tomaselli (eds.)

London: University of Westminster Press (2025), xi, 194 pp.

"This book provides case studies on the strategies used by African governments in monitoring and controlling digital and social media, as well as the implications of such actions for claims about media freedom and freedom of expression. Further, the book examines the human rights challenges posed by ... more

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Venezuela: A Playbook for Digital Repression

Iria Puyosa, Andrés Azpúrua, Daniel Suárez Pérez

Washington, DC: Atlantic Council (2024), 60 pp.

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#Hashtag Palestine 2023

Mohammad Qadaan

7amleh – Arab Center for Social Media Advancement (2024), 47 pp.

"Throughout 2023, a wide range of social and political developments both locally and globally, had a profound impact on the digital spHere In 2023, Israel’s constant assaults on Palestinian communities in the West Bank, coupled with unprecedented levels of aggression inflicted on Gaza have led to ... an alarming escalation in human rights violations against Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory and Palestinian citizens of Israel. This rapid deterioration has coincided with a simultaneous targeting of digital rights, not just for Palestinians but also those who advocate for Palestinian human rights. During the same period, Israeli authorities cracked down on digital rights by persecuting Palestinians for simply expressing their views or opinions on various online platforms, through a variety of measures including censorship, surveillance and arrests. Furthermore, Israel persistently and intentionally disrupted communications and internet infrastructure in Gaza. In addition to introducing draconian legislation to restrict freedom of expression and criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza. This included vague and discriminatory legislation such as the ninth amendment to the anti-terrorism law, which refers to the alleged consumption of what Israel deems as terrorist publications. These violations occurred within the broader framework of government policies to expand surveillance and digital repression of Palestinians, including the deployment of mass surveillance tools and mobilization of a vast voluntary movement to report individuals expressing criticism of Israeli policies. Social media platforms played a key role in facilitating Israel’s oppressive measures. While social media companies, especially Meta’s online platforms, have long been accused of restricting Palestinian content, the evidence shows that these policies intensified in 2023, despite prior commitments to address these discriminatory policies. The most notable measures included mass content removals and extensive “shadowbanning” of users criticizing Israel or posting in support of Palestinians. During Israel’s war on Gaza, these content restrictions and removals soared to unprecedented levels. Users of Meta’s platforms, including journalists, activists, media pages and those simply documenting reality on the ground or posting in support of Palestinian rights were subject to account banning, content removal and other restrictive measures. Such policies appeared to explicitly target those in support of Palestinian rights, with the purpose of restricting freedom of information, and censoring the Palestinian narrative." (Executive summary) more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Hungary Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 32 pp.

"Incidents that illustrate how digital authoritarianism works in Hungary can be grouped into three categories: gaining control over critical digital infrastructure, silencing and intimidation of dissenting voices, and the use of law to undermine people’s rights. The report demonstrates how these d ... more

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Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook

Deborah Brown, Rasha Younes

Human Rights Watch (2023), 68 pp.

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How the Internet is Being Tamed in Russia: Chronicle of State Securitization Measures

Yulia Belinskaya

Journalism Research, volume 6, issue 1 (2023), pp. 71-92

"As a communicative space, the Russian public sphere is dramatically prosecuted, and it suffers from pathologic efforts to have it systematically shut down. This article looks back into the history of the new restrictive media laws and their framing in the state media. The analysis is disclosing how ... more

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Assessing the Level of Respect of the Internet Rights and Freedoms in Africa: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Chad Study Cases

Protege QV (2023), 6 pp.

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Internet Censorship in Kazakhstan: Extensive But Unnecessary

ConnexUs (2023), 5 pp.

"An increasing number of states resort to various tools to control the dissemination of information on the internet. The government of Kazakhstan has also become adept at employing censorship methods to silence alternative voices and prevent the public from seeing undesirable critical content. Yet s ... more

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Rapport sur les libertés numériques dans les pays francophones d’Afrique

Olivier Alais, Erik Da Silva, Gabriel Fonlladosa et al.

Paris: Agence Française de Développement (AFD) (2023), 91 pp.

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Online Repression and Tactical Evasion: Evidence from the 2020 Day of Anger Protests in Egypt

Ketchley Neil Philipp M. Lutscher

Democratization, volume 30, issue 2 (2023), pp. 325-345

"Following the 2011 Arab Spring, autocrats have sought to limit citizens’ ability to publicize offline protests over social media. In this article, we explore how users adjust to these restrictions. To do so, we analyse 33 million tweets sent from Egypt during the “Day of Anger” protests in Se ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Hong Kong Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 22 pp.

"In the global context of digital authoritarianism, Hong Kong may become an important reference for a region in which currently the legal groundwork is laid for what may be more stringent tools of oppression. We can witness a rationalisation and legalisation of this process, where any form of critic ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Myanmar Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 18 pp.

"By learning about both the repression and resistance sides of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution, it is evident that digital technology is playing a critical role in this revolution. The military is using every possible technology to repress people, inject fear into society and manipulate it. The revolu ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Kazakhstan Country Report

Sofya du Boulay

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 21 pp.

"This report focuses on the main trends in digital authoritarian technologies used in Kazakhstan from 2017 to 2022. It contextualises the repressive online mechanisms within the changing political landscape. The January 2022 protests tested the grounds of social and political liberties — the seemi ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: The Philippines Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 28 pp.

"Like any authoritarian regime, the Philippine government uses various forms of digital authoritarianism to its advantage. The aim is to win the propaganda war against its perceived enemies so that it can continue implementing policies that are often detrimental to the ordinary folk. While the two i ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Kyrgyzstan Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 24 pp.

"[...] The research has revealed that the incumbent Kyrgyz government is actively suppressing dissent by engaging in information manipulation, passing restrictive laws and attacking free media and investigative journalism. The Kyrgyz government has introduced new laws to regulate online activity, an ... d is proposing additional legislation on foreign agents to control and to limit the activity of NGOs and foreign media, and on mass media to gain greater control over bloggers and social media accounts with more than 5,000 followers. The government has been using the “Law on Protection from False Information,” also known as the fake news law, to silence its critics. This has included shutting down the website of Azattyk, a foreign-funded media outlet critical of the state, and detaining and censoring individuals who share or repost information critical of the government on social media. Similarly, investigative reporters in Kyrgyzstan have had to deal with multiple accusations, various attacks, or legal action taken against them. One of them, Temirov Bolot, was forced to leave Kyrgyzstan and move to Russia in November 2022. Furthermore, the research has examined how the Kyrgyz leadership is exploiting social media platforms to launch influence campaigns and boost the president’s popularity. Pages and groups supportive of Zhaparov on various social media platforms, including Instagram, Telegram, Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp, have emerged with the aim of garnering backing for the president during critical moments, and are run by individuals associated with his informal network, while receiving funding from unknown pro-president groups or individuals. The support pages promote the current regime’s decisions and policies by creating pro-regime content (usually videos) that is disseminated through multiple social media platforms, while also commenting on contentious news items published by critical media channels. These videos are directed towards under-educated Kyrgyz-speaking people who tend to trust unverified sources, conveying unconfirmed and intentionally exaggerated information. Overall, the situation with media freedom and freedom of opinion in Kyrgyzstan is worsening and these developments are worrying because the country has been a champion of democratic reforms in the region since 1991." (Analysis and conclusion, page 21) more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Kenya Country Report

Chepkoech Rotich

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 21 pp.

"This report provides an overview of the most prolific instances of digital authoritarianism in Kenya. The report will debrief the most relevant actions and decisions taken by the Kenyan government in recent years that leverage the internet and technology in order to achieve certain political goals. ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Ecuador Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 22 pp.

"Under the government of Rafael Correa, punitive measures were used systematically against the privately-owned press, and there were even emblematic prosecution cases that were later dealt with by international courts such as the El Universo case. However, Fundamedios and Fundación Periodistas Sin ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: El Salvador Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 24 pp.

"This report analyses two major incidents: the disclosure that Pegasus spyware has been used against journalists from independent media outlets and representa tives of civil society, and Bukele’s legal advisor’s threats against two women journalists for not revealing anonymous sources included i ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Venezuela Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 23 pp.

"With the crackdown on radio, TV, and newspapers since 2007, the Venezuelan population is largely dependent on digital spaces: social media is generally the main source of information across the country, and digital media has taken over other types of press and completely changed the media ecosystem ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Cameroon Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 22 pp.

"This research indicates that the government criminalises free speech by using a vague and broad definition of fake news, and clamps down on dissent and criticism, and that journalists who criticise the government are seen as enemies of the state — as in the case of the jailing of Kingsley Fomunyu ... more