We are in troubling times over the misuse of the internet by state and non-state actors. The Nigerian government on June 4th this year suspended Twitter’s operation in the country indefinitely after the micro blogging platform deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which it deemed as inciting violence. A study conducted by the privacy protection company, Surfshark, revealed that Nigeria became the 66th country in the world to restrict social media access in the last six years with the ban on Twitter.
The study also revealed that at least 30 out of 54 countries in Africa have blocked or restricted social media access due to protest or election –related cases since the Egyptian government enforced an internet blackout back in 2011 , triggering a rising trend in social media restrictions.
There have been at least eight political cases of internet disruption so far this year across some countries including in Nigeria, Chad, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The governments always go after communication apps like WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Viber and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Nigeria and other African countries have been grappling with the challenges of our current period of rapid technological growth which is fundamentally changing the way we live. It is in fact the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) characterized by the fusion of the digital, biological and physical worlds, as well as the growing utilization of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, 3D printing, the Internet of things (IOT), and advanced wireless technologies. The Fourth Industrial Revolution fundamentally describes the blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds which has ushered in a new era of economic disruption with uncertain socio-economic consequences for Africa.
The continent’s ICT sector have been mainly driven by expanding mobile digital financial services. Mobile technologies and services have reportedly generated 1.7 million direct jobs (both formal and informal), contributed to $144 billion of economic value (8.5 percent of the GDP of Sub-Saharam Africa), and contributed $15.6 billion to the public sector through taxation.
Digitization is impacting economic growth in Africa through inclusive finance , making the unbanked to enter formality through retail electronic payments platform , virtual savings and credit supply technological platforms. Other 4IR technologies are equally having impact. For example, in West Africa and Kenya, block-chain has enabled efficient verification of property records and transactions and widened access to credit in some previously informal sectors of the economy.
It is now crystal clear that many countries and their citizens are increasingly depending on the cyberspace. This is why the United State tries to impose its own models of control of ICTs and the global web in order to monopolise the gathering, storing and using personal information and favourable U.S. legal interpretation of actions made by others in the internet.
Hostile cyber operations by one state against another are becoming globally common. This calls for cyber sovereignty in order for governments to exercise control over all aspects of the internet within their own borders , including their political, economic, cultural and technological activities. Sovereignty over national cyberspaces would enable African countries to guarantee their own independence and not give room for technologically advanced countries to interfere in their internal affairs.
There is the need now for Nigeria to create its own unique and independent approach to legal registration of the “world wide web”, But the Nigerian approach should be based on the principles of respect for cyber sovereignty of states, non-interference in internal affairs and refrain from threats and use of force. Infact it would be preferable for Nigeria to work out joint universal standards for countries’ behaviour in cyberspace, taking into account the specificities of cyber environments while adopting existing and new rules of international law.
Through resolution 73/27, the General Assembly of the United Nations established an Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG), in which all UN Member States are invited to participate. The OEWG process provides the opportunity of holding intercessional consultative meetings with industry, non-governmental organisations and academia. Nigeria should participate in all activities of the OEWG on the formation of effective global information security system. Discussing such an important topic with our African partners would be very useful in building a common position.
Cyberspace affects every aspect of our lives with enormous benefits that do not come without risk. The world ICT environment is currently facing the malicious use of ICTs by State and non- State actors. That is why the UN has raised the alarm that the misuse of ICTs poses a risk for all states and may harm international peace and security if not checked.
Oladipo writes from Ilorin, Kwara state.
