Digital rights violations in Africa have become commonplace in the past decade, with Internet shutdowns, social media app disruptions, illegal surveillance, arrest of citizens for comments made online and data privacy violations amongst others becoming regular occurrences. At Paradigm Initiative, our constant monitoring of the digital rights scene on the continent feeds into our advocacy…

In light of recent legislative proposals in Nigeria’s National Assembly on regulating Social Media to address the subject of hate speech and fake news, many technology experts and other users of the digital platforms are worried but don’t have a clue about how to make their opinion count in the law-making process. The best way…

It is no longer news that Nigeria has an unemployment crisis. As at Q3 2018, the number of unemployed people (completely unproductive or did absolutely nothing) in Nigeria was 9.7 million. That is more than the entire population of Togo (8m). A detailed look at the unemployment numbers is even more sobering. Out of those 9.7 million people, 3.1 million or 32% have been unproductive for more than 3 years.

Having listened to a plethora of presentations and read a host of articles and academic writings on how to bridge the existing digital divide on the continent, one marginalised group seems to come to mind.

When Paradigm Initiative opened the DakataLIFE centre in Kano State in 2016, the timing couldn’t have been better for young girls in the State. Research carried out by the Centre for Information technology and Development (CITAD) in 2016 showed....

From April 23 – 25, 2019, Lagos played host to the 7th edition of its Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (formerly Internet Freedom Forum) with over 200 delegates from across Africa and the world participating. Organised by Paradigm Initiative, the Forum featured 21 sessions over 2 days hosted by organizations including Article 19, Alliance for Affordable Internet…

It was a cold evening in Johannesburg. A few colleagues decided to go for dinner at a restaurant hosting a live band and a short talk. A short talk, before great food and amazing music, could hurt no one, we assumed. By the time we got to the restaurant, the short talk was on, so…

The significance of the media at both societal and political level has become increasingly undeniable. The media has played a critical role in holding agencies accountable to their action and demanding accountability. While these roles are crucial to the development and the survival of democracy, they are also shunned by authorities and perceived to turn masses against regimes.

On December 10, 2018, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ruled against the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology in a Freedom of Information (FOI) suit brought before it by Pan African Digital Rights organization, Paradigm Initiative.

A despondent wave of social media tax is blowing through Africa. It is a wave that has to be stopped in its track. On July 1, 2018, in Uganda, a tax imposed on social media use because of The Excise Duty Amendment Act 2018 in the East African...

The dust may have settled, the hashtags may have stopped trending, and Samuel Ogundipe may have been granted bail but important issues around his arrest remain. Samuel Ogundipe, Premium Times Journalist, was arrested and detained by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad ...