The internet has become an indispensable tool for communication, information, education, commerce, health, culture, and many other areas of life. It is also a space for public expression, citizen participation and democratic accountability.

The authorities in many French-speaking African countries, however, often disrupt or shut down access to the internet, particularly during elections and political crises. This was the case, for example, during the August 2023 elections in Gabon, where the government justified cutting off internet access for several hours as a means of preventing “calls for disorder and violence”. Senegal has also experienced several episodes of restricted access to social networks in recent years during times of political tension in the country.

Interfering with internet access can range from completely blocking telecoms services, to bandwidth throttling, to restrictions on access to specific applications, usually social networking or messaging applications. Depending on the circumstances, network disruptions can be applied locally or nationwide.

With just a few days left before the 20 December general elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the concerns of both telecom users as well as Congolese and international citizens’ organisations are once again mounting. First elected in 2018, President Félix Tshisekedi is running for a second five-year term. The economic and security stakes are very high in Africa’s largest country, where a deadly regional conflict has already claimed millions of lives.

A means of censorship and repression

DR Congo has seen a number of internet shutdowns in recent years, notably during the presidential elections of 2011 and 2018, as well as during the 2016 protests against President Joseph Kabila for staying in power beyond his constitutional term. The government ordered the shutdowns, citing reasons of national security, preventing public disorder and combating the spread of false information. However, many observers saw in these shutdowns a strategy to prevent the opposition from mobilising, contest election results and denounce irregularities in the electoral process.

“Internet shutdowns have a negative impact on democracy in French-speaking Africa, especially during election periods. They constitute a form of censorship that limits freedom of expression and access to information. They prevent citizens from finding out about candidates and election issues, expressing themselves freely on social networks and taking part in peaceful demonstrations,” says Benjamin Lovua, internet governance researcher and digital expert at Media Libriste.

According to the report on internet shutdowns by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, published in June 2022, these practices are contrary to international law, which guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly, the right to participation in public affairs and the right to access of information.

The report urges governments to refrain from resorting to internet shutdowns except in exceptional, proportionate and necessary circumstances, and to respect the key principles of legality, necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination. However, as the report states, “many governments refuse to acknowledge having ordered any interference in communications and sometimes put pressure on [telecommunications] companies to prevent them from sharing information on communication being blocked or slowed down”.

A curb on economic and social development

Internet shutdowns also carry negative economic and social costs for African countries. These weigh particularly heavily on small and medium-sized enterprises, which are increasingly dependent on digital technology for their activities.

According to a study by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), internet shutdowns cost Africa more than US$2.16 billion between 2015 and 2017. According to the same source, the 20-day internet shutdown that took place during the 2018 elections in DR Congo resulted in a loss of US$61.4 million.

“The economic impacts are colossal. Today, the internet is a pillar of entrepreneurship that contributes enormously to the production, distribution and consumption of goods. If the internet is cut off without any alternative being offered, this will certainly mean a huge loss of earnings, especially for new businesses, which are often started by young people,” says Jacinthe Maarifa, development officer for the AGIR-RDC organisation. A large proportion of everyday payments and purchases are now made via mobile payments, while millions of Africans have neither a bank account nor a bank card.

Internet shutdowns also affect other vital sectors such as health, education, culture, justice, security and humanitarian aid. They deprive people of essential services such as remote medical care, online education, cultural dissemination, access to law services, risk prevention and emergency coordination. They also exacerbate inequalities and vulnerabilities, particularly for women, young people, people with disabilities, minorities and rural populations.

Initiatives for guaranteeing free and open access to the internet

Despite political threats, various actors are taking initiatives to combat internet shutdowns and guarantee free and open internet access. Many are urging governments to pass laws protecting freedom of expression and access to information, including on the internet.

The DRC’s Digital Code, adopted in 2019, recognises the right to internet access and prohibits arbitrary shutdowns. However, the code has yet to be fully applied and respected.

“Independent mechanisms are required to monitor and report internet shutdowns. These mechanisms can be put into place by civil society organisations, international institutions or governments themselves,” says Congolese journalists Nadine Kampire.

One such example is Netblocks, an NGO that measures and documentsinternet shutdowns around the world. It provides reliable data and analyses of the causes, duration, impact and responsibilities for internet shutdowns.

Another way to fight shutdowns is to raise public awareness of the risks they entail and of ways to combat them. This can be done through awareness campaigns, training and education. For example, the #KeepItOn coalition, which brings together more than 240 digital rights organisations, carries out advocacy, mobilisation and communication actions to denounce and prevent internet shutdowns.

Finally, certain applications offer communication alternatives that do not entail the use of mobile data, or which use decentralised networks as a means of getting around internet shutdowns. One such application is FireChat, used during the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2014, which allows people to communicate without an internet connection, using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

A crucial role for the media, journalists and activists

The media, journalists and activists all play a crucial role in the fight to maintain access to information, despite internet shutdowns. They can inform the public about shutdowns, denounce human rights violations and support efforts to guarantee free and open internet access.

In the specific case of DR Congo, the media, journalists and activists have played an important role in raising public awareness of internet shutdowns during past elections. They have also denounced violations of human rights and freedom of the media, specifically as concerns digital media, committed by authorities during shutdowns.

“The media are the mirror of society, because they convey its image, what it has been, what it is and what it seeks to become in line with the ideals of its people. I’m talking about both traditional and social media. That’s why it’s the fourth estate. Journalists must therefore be properly equipped to ensure that this fundamental right of access to information and, above all, freedom of expression is respected in order to meet the requirements of democracy. Working alongside activists means putting pressure on the powers that be to ensure that this fundamental right, which is guaranteed in many democratic societies, is respected,” explains Jessé Busomoke, a researcher at the Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences at the Sapientia Catholic University in Goma.

For human rights defenders, legal action can sometimes also bear fruit. In 2020, the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Community Court of Justice ruled that Togo had violated freedom of expression by cutting off the internet, without any basis in law, during opposition demonstrations in September 2017. Amnesty International was one of the organisations that filed the lawsuit. “The ruling can also be seen as a message to other countries in the region that use internet shutdowns to silence dissenting voices during elections or demonstrations,” says Marceau Sivieude, deputy regional director for West and Central Africa at Amnesty International.