Reclaiming Digital Dignity: Reflections from the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2025

Africa’s digital revolution is rewriting how citizens connect, express, and organise. But also, how they are surveilled, silenced, and profiled. At the 12th Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica 2025), held in Windhoek, Namibia, we joined voices from across the continent: technologists, journalists, policymakers, activists, and artists in calling for one shared goal.

Goal: Africa’s digital transformation must be grounded in dignity, equity, and human rights.

Hosted annually by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), FIFAfrica has become the continent’s most influential convening on internet freedom and digital rights. Since its inception, the forum has championed an inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach to internet governance: connecting research to policy, showcasing advocacy, and promoting collaboration between governments, civil society, and the private sector.

A Continent in Digital Transition

Africa stands at a defining moment in its digital history. Internet access is expanding, governments are digitising services, and technology is transforming economies. Yet, these opportunities come with new vulnerabilities: cyberattacks, surveillance, disinformation, and widening digital divides.

The State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2025 report, launched during the forum, underscored these challenges. It revealed how restrictive laws, arbitrary shutdowns, and invasive data practices continue to threaten privacy and expression across several countries. While digital connectivity has grown, digital accountability has not kept pace, calling for stronger safeguards to ensure that technology upholds, rather than undermines, human rights.

In his opening remarks, a Namibian government representative drew a powerful parallel between the 1991 Windhoek Declaration on Media Freedom and today’s need for a “Digital Windhoek Moment”. A renewed continental commitment to protecting freedom online with the same conviction once shown for freedom of the press.

Shaping the Future of Digital Rights

Throughout the discussions, one theme echoed across panels: Africa must define its own digital destiny.

Speakers unpacked new African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) resolutions that recognize access to data, information integrity, and public service content as cornerstones of democracy and development. These resolutions challenge governments and corporations to make data accessible, platforms accountable, and digital ecosystems inclusive, particularly for marginalised groups.

As one participant put it:

“Access to data is not just a technical issue, it is a question of justice. Without it, millions remain invisible in policymaking and invisible in progress.”

Information Integrity and the Battle for Truth

In an era of manipulated content and election-season misinformation, information integrity emerged as one of the forum’s most urgent topics. Civil society leaders from across the continent shared how disinformation erodes trust, polarises societies, and disproportionately targets women and minorities.

Speakers emphasised community-driven responses combining digital literacy, local-language fact-checking, and grassroots media innovation. From pre-bunking misinformation to developing culturally relevant moderation tools, participants agreed that truth and trust cannot be outsourced to algorithms. They must be rebuilt by communities themselves.

The State of Internet Freedom report reinforced this urgency, documenting how state-linked disinformation networks and weak platform accountability continue to distort democratic discourse.

Protecting the Vulnerable: Gender, Children and Culture

The digital age has deepened both opportunity and inequality. Nowhere is this more visible than in the experiences of women and children online.

A moving session on gendered disinformation revealed how female journalists, activists, and politicians face orchestrated digital harassment aimed at silencing their voices. Participants cited examples of online smear campaigns using deepfakes and sexualised images, calling for feminist research, platform accountability, and stronger content moderation practices.

Experts on children’s rights in the digital age urged governments to build cross-sector partnerships for safer online spaces, stressing that protection must go hand in hand with empowerment. They called for programs that equip young users with critical digital literacy and ensure their meaningful participation online.

One of the most powerful moments came from Namibia itself, the Ovahimba cultural moderation case, where Facebook’s automated systems removed traditional images of the indigenous community for alleged nudity. The Oversight Board’s reversal of that decision was hailed as a victory for cultural dignity and a reminder that African identities must not be filtered through Western moral lenses.

Data Protection, Privacy, and the Question of Power

As Africa’s data economy expands, conversations on data protection and cybersecurity took centre stage. Delegates examined how uneven implementation of data laws and weak enforcement mechanisms leave citizens vulnerable to surveillance and exploitation.

The WorldCoin data collection scandal in Kenya illustrated how inequality can make consent meaningless when personal data becomes currency. The need for stronger regional collaboration was clear: while countries like South Africa and Ghana were praised for advanced frameworks, others were urged to harmonise standards and establish independent oversight institutions.

The consensus was firm: privacy must be a lived right, not a legal abstraction.

Protecting Human Rights Defenders in a Shrinking Civic Space

As online repression grows, human rights defenders and journalists face increasing risks. The Digital Defenders Partnership (DDP) presented four key support mechanisms, from rapid incident response to psychosocial and financial resilience, to help activists sustain their work in restrictive environments.

This holistic approach reflects a maturing understanding of protection in the digital era: that defending defenders means defending the future of civic space itself.

The Road Ahead: From Windhoek to Juba and Beyond

The conversations at FIFAfrica 2025 go beyond theory, they set a shared agenda for action across the continent.

For Digital Rights Frontlines (DRF), participation in this year’s forum reaffirmed our commitment to regional collaboration and human-centred digital transformation. We are especially focused on advancing digital literacy, information integrity, and youth participation in South Sudan, ensuring that technology becomes a bridge for inclusion, rather than a tool for exclusion.

Building on lessons from Windhoek, DRF aims to strengthen partnerships with national regulators, universities, and civil society networks to promote policies that safeguard privacy, combat disinformation, and expand digital opportunities responsibly.

As CIPESA rightly emphasizes, FIFAfrica’s purpose is not only to discuss internet freedom but to connect research, advocacy, and action. And as Africa writes its next digital chapter, one truth remains clear:

“A free and open internet is not a privilege; it is the pulse of our democracy, the mirror of our culture, and the foundation of our dignity.”