Content policy wave continues to hit the continent

Africa is currently witnessing an upsurge of national content regulation laws, igniting debate on the balance between online security and personal freedoms. This month, the government of Zambia defended the Cyber Security, Cyber Crime and E-commerce bills which activists fear will stifle social media. In Kenya, a public interest petition has been filed against parts of the newly enacted Computer Misuse and Cyber-Crimes Act, that criminalises the publication of fake news. Other such recent laws include Uganda’s social media tax as well as Kenya and Tanzania’s new licensing of blogs and vlogs.​