Burdened by a history of slavery and colonialism, and now grappling with new forms of neo-imperialism, Africa finds itself in a critical struggle to define and defend its future.
By the day, many African leaders are doing just about anything to clamp down on dissent, betraying the very tenets of democracy which many of them claim to uphold.
Some of these governments are spending scarce resources just to monitor digital platforms to ensure that it can easily remove content that does not favour them.
In July 2021, the Nigerian government earmarked N4.8 billion for the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to monitor WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging application, and Thuraya, a satellite telephone.
About a month prior, Nigeria shut down Twitter (now known as X) after a post by former late President Muhammadu Buhari was removed. The ban lasted for about seven months.
The post was taken down after it sparked outrage for referencing the Nigerian civil war, during which millions, mostly Igbo were killed. In it, the president had threatened to deal with protesters “in the language they understand.”
In Nigeria, it is common for a powerful person to petition law enforcement over a comment on the internet that does not favour them. Hundreds of people in the country have been arrested on a vague cybercrime law over the years.
Zooming out to look at Africa as a whole, at least 19 internet shutdowns were recorded across 12 African countries in 2022, according to Access Now, a digital rights group.
As military juntas continue to take over some countries in Africa, there has been more repression shrinking the continent’s digital space.
DIGITAL REPRESSION ALMOST NORMAL
Analysts say Africa’s digital space is at a tipping point. As internet access grows, with over 570 million users expected by 2025, the risks of unchecked digital repression would likely see an uptick.
FIGHT AGAINST DIGITAL TYRANNY
However, some groups in Africa are already campaigning about repressive cybercrime laws on the continent.
In April 2025, Take-It-Back Movement, a civil society organization (CSO), led hundreds of people across Africa’s most populous country to kick against the “misuse of the cybercrime act”.
Omoyele Sowore, an activist and one of the leaders of the movement, has been very critical of Nigeria’s cybercrime law. In January 2025, he was arraigned by the police for calling Kayode Egbetokun, inspector-general of police (IGP), “illegal”.
WAY FORWARD
To mitigate against “digital dictatorship”, there has to be reforms in laws in African countries that will check censorship and unchecked surveillance.
There are calls to ensure that access to the internet should be a fundamental human right embedded in the laws of African countries.
Analysts say CSOs should demand accountability from tech companies operating in Africa, pushing for transparency around content takedowns, algorithmic bias, and cooperation with authoritarian regimes.
