Along with other digital rights organisations, our team attended the Internet Freedom Forum in Abuja in April. We took this opportunity to speak to our peers about the biggest issues we all face online today. Here’s what they said:
1. Holding regimes to account
Boye Adegoke of Paradigm Initiative spoke about the power dynamics that come with regimes being able to shut down the internet or to censor access.
2. The cost of access
Wikimedia’s Blossom Ozurumba spoke about the wide range of prices to access the web, and how basic access is unaffordable in many places in the world.
3. The role of ISPs in a safe and secure internet
Tayo Fagbohun from Mozilla talks about the importance of ISPs preventing the censorship of content in order for innovation to prosper.
4. The politics of fear
Nnenna Nwakanma of the Web Foundation says there is a web of fear, because many people do not understand the web or the issues that surround it.
5. Privacy
Amira Dhalla of Mozilla thinks security is the web’s biggest threat, often leaving marginalised groups vulnerable to privacy and security risks.
6. Lack of transparency
Dr. Robert Muthuri from the Centre for IP and IT (CIPIT) Strathmore Law School, believes that we all need assurance that our data is protected and secure to eliminate some of the challenges we face today.
7. Government policy
Chioma Ezedi-Chukwu, also from Mozilla, mentions the growth of government censorship and the role it plays in threatening citizens.
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