The growing threat of state surveillance
African governments are using new technology and laws to increase surveillance of opposition figures, researchers warned on Thursday, calling for restrictions on the sale of tracking tools and tougher privacy protections.
Existing laws have largely failed to stop state surveillance across the continent, from monitoring academics in Egypt to tracking journalists in South Africa, the African Digital Rights Network (ADRN) think-tank said in a report.
“This report is a wake-up call for everyone on the continent to start paying attention to these issues, to take a stand against them,” said Ridwan Oloyede, an independent privacy researcher in Nigeria who contributed to the report.
Government impunity, weak civil society, laws that protect state spying and a lack of solid privacy safeguards are the main reasons surveillance is increasing on the continent, ADRN said.
The risk of “digital authoritarianism” — Internet control, surveillance and censorship — is on the rise in Africa, where an earlier ADRN report found the number of Internet shutdowns rose to 25 in 2020 from 21 a year earlier.
In the first such comparative analysis of African legal surveillance frameworks, the report compared laws in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Sudan to represent a variety of geographical regions and language groups.
In Senegal, government officials have justified new laws that allow them to monitor citizen communication by saying they exist to fight “terrorism, maritime piracy and transnational organised crime”, according to Human Rights Watch.
This report is a wake-up call for everyone on the continent to start paying attention to these issues, to take a stand against them RIDWAN OLOYEDE Privacy researcher
‘DIGITAL AUTHORITARIANISM’
But even strong buffers against excessive surveillance are not enough on their own, according to ADRN.
Robust privacy laws in South Africa did not prevent the state from abusing its surveillance powers — but an active civil society, independent media and reputable courts helped rein in the state’s surveillance over-reach early this year, it said.