On September 28-30, 2021 the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) will host the eighth edition of the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (#FIFAfrica21). Now in its second year as a hybrid pan-African and global event, the Forum has grown to inform best practice on digital rights protection in Africa. Further, it serves as a platform for deliberation on gaps, concerns and opportunities for advancing privacy, free expression, non-discrimination and the free flow of information online.
This year, FIFAfrica will feature three main tracks – Access to Information, Digital Inclusion, and Key Trends shaping digital rights in Africa – will interrogate the deeper facets of internet freedom in the Sub-Saharan Africa context. The sub-themes will include Covid-19 responses, data governance, data privacy, media literacy, misinformation and disinformation, content regulation, internet shutdowns, online violence against women, digital identity, technology and persons with disabilities. The tracks will also feature emerging trends such as shifts in the weaponisation of the internet, new digital rights tools, as well as recent changes in technology laws and regulations.
Keeping in stride with last year’s Forum, the hybrid FIFAfrica21 will incorporate physical engagements in select African countries with strict adherence to Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
A key pillar of FIFAfrica is the opportunity it provides for a diverse audience including veterans in the digital rights arena through to fledgling digital rights enthusiasts to engage with each other in a shared space on a diversity of interests and concerns. Participants at the Forum include African policymakers, regulators, human rights defenders, academia, technologists, law enforcement representatives, and the media, who are all committed towards advancing digital rights in Africa and promoting the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.
Over the years, highlights at FIFAfrica have come to include launches of platforms and reports, showcasing of new tools and advocacy ideas as well as a dedicated digital security advisory and support team.
Register here to gain access to the online venue as well as to the broader community who will be participating at the Forum. The online venue will also allow #FIFAfrica21 attendees to book their seats for sessions of interest and engage with other attendees.
