By Edrine Wanyama |

The Digital Rights Alliance Africa (DRAA) has launched its first baseline monitoring report. The report, which captures the state of digital rights in 9 countries in the year 2025, was a result of collective efforts of members of the alliance drawn from the study countries.

The countries reported include Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. Across the study countries, internet shutdowns, connectivity and affordability policies, cybercrime laws, digital identification frameworks, and data protection laws and enforcement and how they adversely impact on digital rights are underscored. The key online civil liberties scoped by the study include freedom of expression, access to information, privacy, peaceful assembly, and association

The goal of the report was to assess the evolving legal and policy environment governing digital rights. The snapshot provided in this report will not only be used to promote evidence-based advocacy but also to guide the efforts of DRAA members in the coming years to ensure advocacy actions continue to address identified gaps, needs and challenges. It will be the basis for tracking the current perceptions of the digital rights environment and how it could change over time, and to determine whether governments are making progress towards improving online civic space.

Rather than providing an in-depth examination of all digital rights topics, the report focuses on issues related to legal frameworks and policies that impact meaningful internet access and privacy rights. For holistic relevance, the report covers the national, regional and international norms on digital rights-highlighting key standards, challenges and need for reform.

The report fronts several areas for focus and reflection on the online civic space on the continent.  Firstly, despite constitutional protections, digital laws impermissibly restrict the rights to freedom of expression and privacy. Secondly, gaps in oversight and accountability by state actors and the private sector remain a key challenge. Thirdly, Digital Public Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence are increasingly shaping the digital environment and inclusion in public decision making but with limited oversight and regulation. And fourthly, civil society organizations are critical players in the digital civic space governance.

The report fronts several recommendations for adoption by governments to ensure meaningful protection and promotion of online civil liberties including:

• Increased and wide investment of both financial and human resources into connectivity infrastructure including the nationwide fibre-optic coverage.
• Creating a favourable environment for private sector investment into the tech space including through providing tax incentives and deductions and subsidies.
• Desisting from giving blanket orders to internet service providers to shut down the internet and disrupt internet access.
• Proactively raising public awareness, promoting digital literacy and promoting digital inclusion of online rights and freedoms. 
• Extending the internet to schools to facilitate free access and inclusion.

The full report can be found here