The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) joined other organisations working on internet governance in Africa and around the world in celebrating the launch of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms at the global Internet Governance Forum in Istanbul, Turkey on 4 September 2014.
Launched the right
The Declaration is a Pan-African initiative lead by African civil society and developed to define and strengthen internet principles, standards and responsibilities in Africa. The intention of the Declaration is to elaborate on the principles necessary to ensure respect for human rights on the internet and cultivate an internet environment that can best meet Africa’s social and economic development needs and goals. MISA is one of the organizations involved in drafting the Declarationand we believe it will be a useful tool in advocating for an internet that is accessible, locally relevant and a tool for successful development.
The process for drafting the Declaration involved consultation and input at the individual and organizational level and it builds on well-established African human rights documents including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981, the Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press of 1991, the African Charter on Broadcasting of 2001, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa of 2002, and the African Platform on Access to Information Declaration of 2011.
The idea for an African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms was agreed at the 2013 African Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi, Kenya and drafting commenced in Johannesburg in February this year. The drafters included participants from the following organisations: Africa Centre for Open Governance, Article 19, Association for Progressive Communications, CIVICUS, Collaboration on Internet ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa, Commission on Human Rights and Good Governance, DotAfrica, Eduardo Mondlane University, Global Partners Digital, The Institute for Social Accountability, Internet Society Ghana, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Kictanet, Media Foundation for West Africa, Media Institute of Southern Africa, Media Rights Agenda, Paradigm Initiative, Protégé QV, South African Human Rights Commission, Support for Information Technology and Web We Want.
MISA calls for the Declaration to be endorsed everyone with a stake in the Internet in Africa. We call on governments, individuals and organisations to endorse the Declaration and in doing so help shape Internet policy-making and governance across the continent.