Five African countries that backed the UN resolution on human rights on the internet in 2021, which aims to safeguard and promote human rights online, have “broken their word.”
Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker has revealed in an analysis.
Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Somalia, and Nigeria are among the African countries caught violating the resolution they promised to maintain.
According to the data, Sudan has “broken its word” the most in Africa, with 9 internet disruptions occurring after the country endorsed the 2021 resolution, the first occurring during the 2021 military takeover.
Burkina Faso ranks second, with four restrictions imposed since the resolution’s passage in 2021. The country’s 2022 Facebook embargo is still in effect today. The analysis revealed.
Since supporting the resolution, Mauritania and Somalia have both had one internet restriction. In the midst of a jail riot, Mauritania blocked mobile internet access, and Somalia experienced an internet blackout after the parliament voted to remove the prime minister.
Nigeria had one ongoing restriction at the time the resolution was adopted, but no additional restrictions have been imposed since then. Nigeria had banned Twitter a month before the adoption, and the ban lasted until January 2022.
Surfshark, a cybersecurity firm, undertook a study that examined UN countries’ positions in the 2021 UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution on the promotion, protection, and enjoyment of human rights on the internet.
Surfshark was able to identify these African countries that claimed to support the resolution but “broke their word” by imposing internet restrictions by comparing their stances with data from Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker.
Surfshark spokeswoman Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske says in a statement that internet shutdowns have become a major concern and authoritarian governments frequently use them to manipulate the public and stifle free speech, adding that the UN resolution on human rights on the internet aims to force countries to openly condemn these shutdowns and other methods of restricting online speech.
“However, it’s concerning that even though 5 African countries publicly supported the resolution, they still imposed internet restrictions. It’s important to promote an open and accessible internet and pressure countries to uphold their commitments regarding human rights online”, she said.
According to the data analysis, nine countries from other continents “broke their word” as well: India, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil, Armenia, Indonesia, and Ukraine.
As reported by Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker, there were 58 internet disruptions in these 14 countries during or after the resolution’s adoption.
With 19 internet outages since the resolution’s adoption in 2021, India stands out as the country that has “broken its word” the most. According to the tracker, if the Jammu and Kashmir region is included, this figure would be significantly higher.
Every year, the Human Rights Council holds at least three regular sessions. The next session, the 53rd, is set for the summer of 2023. While the precise resolution’s objective is presently unknown, Surfshark says it will monitor the internet for any updates on impending UN resolutions on human rights.
Surfshark is a privacy protection toolkit designed to enable users smoothly regulate their online appearance. Surfshark One is one of the few VPNs that has been audited by independent security experts, as well as an officially certified antivirus, a private search tool, and a data breach warning system. Surfshark has been named the Editor’s Choice for Best Value VPN 2023 by the Independent.
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