Name: Strategically Litigating Internet Shutdowns and Cybercrime Laws in Africa: Reflecting on steps taken and the road ahead
Start: 2019-06-12T14:15:00+0100
End: 2019-06-12T15:30:00+0100

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Strategically Litigating Internet Shutdowns and Cybercrime Laws in Africa: Reflecting on steps taken and the road ahead

This panel will address the severe increase in measures taken by states to restrict internet access and curtail online expression, and how civil society are counteracting these trends. The session will focus on the litigation of internet shutdowns and cybercrime laws. It aim is to foster collaborations for strategic litigation against these digital rights violations.

Instances where states have shut down or partially restricted internet access have continued to proliferate. Cybercrime laws have also come into force in numerous jurisdictions, many of which contain broad provisions that stifle protected expression and journalistic practice. The dual challenge these pose for internet access and online expression are at the forefront digital rights struggles on the continent.

Moderators

Michael Jaffee Moss

Media Legal Defence Initiative

Michael joined the Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI) in 2017 as Project Coordinator of the Digital Rights Advocates Project. He previously worked at the Open Society Foundation for South Africa as Programme Officer in the Information, Expression, and Accountability Programme... Read More →

Speakers

Alinda Vermeer

CEO, Media Defence

Alinda Vermeer is MLDI's Senior Legal Officer and joined the organisation in 2014. Alinda helps journalists, bloggers and media outlets defend cases against them, including in cases before international and regional mechanisms such as the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human... Read More →

Eleanor Marchant

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Oxford, Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy

I'm a researcher specializing in communication, technology innovation, and startup culture, internet policymaking, internet shutdowns, internet connectivity as a human right, and connectivity in conflict and crisis, particularly for refugees, with a focus on the African context.Will... Read More →