Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

In early years of post-independent Africa, most autocratic regime were able to control access and circulation of information within their countries, the media was heavily monitored and controlled by autocratic regimes. Their ability to monitor and control the various news outlets made it impossible for the public to air their voices in the affairs of their states. The internet has however broken this barriers and has empowered citizens to easily participate in daily political discuss. This paper considers how this development has become a threat to modern day dictatorial regimes on the African continent. Contemporary dictators have now become more concern about the access and the usage of internet in the continent. Such governments have constantly cut off or shutdown internet access to areas which are considered to be a threat to their regime. The study reveals that there is absence of clarity of legal justifications in the countries enumerated. The act of internet shutdown is usually carried out base on sentimental and trivial issues. Often, circumstances such as elections, mass demonstration, and constitutional irregularities form the basis of internet shutdown, while the trivial justifications are usually hidden under the veil of public order or national security. The menaces of Internet shutdowns are on the rise and every week, news is saturated with bulletins of government-authorized disruptions of Internet access. Such menaces are motivated largely by political and security concerns, state-directed Internet shutdowns are increasingly becoming the “new normal”.