Even as stakeholders across the world continue to condemn actions by some African governments aimed at restricting internet freedom, an expert has observed that the governments rolling out such policies are not aware of the impacts of the actions they are taking.
Speaking to TechCity in Lagos Nigeria, Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative said it is in the light of this observation that advocacy efforts may not be enough to stem the trend which is why he said they actively engaging the stakeholders and meeting people involved in such policies in order to make them to be aware of the effects of the policies they are pushing forward.
“They don’t know what it means for people not to have internet access. In areas where there is internet access but not internet freedom, we need those behind such policies to be aware of what the effects of their actions could be on individuals and their families,” he said.
Furthermore, he said engaging alone may not be enough which is why the Paradigm Initiative regularly take cases to court. He added that they are challenging some aspects of Nigeria’s anti-cybercrime law in court since the law is being used not to try cybercriminals but journalists.
“We are tired of staying ‘stop’, we want to predict the future and lay the template for digital rights in Nigeria which is why we have the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill so that if anyone’s rights are violated they can go to court and seek redress. When the bill becomes law, you will have the right to seek redress even if your privacy is violated.”
He revealed that the initiative is in court with Nigerian government agencies that are collecting citizens’ data. He specifically mentioned the case of a bank that published health data of a major Nigerian hospital including patient’s HIV status.
