Angola FREEDOM OF INFORMATION In 2014, Angola faced renewed pressure from the international community to address its access to information. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR), through a draft report from its Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, called on the government of the Republic of Angola to amend and strengthen the national access to information law to guarantee citizens’ right to access information freely. Angola’s current access to information provisions are inadequate, especially when compared to the African regional standards outlined in the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI), the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, and the Draft Model Law for AU Member States on Access to Information. Angola must work with civil society and the wider public to amend the Freedom of Information Act to comply with regional and international standards and to develop and implement a comprehensive Freedom of Information Action Implementation Programme with clear actions, time frames and resources to advance the right to information in the country. The current law provides for a Freedom of Information Monitoring Commission, and this should be established immediately. FREE EXPRESSION ONLINE With heavy investment in information and communication technologies (ICTs) since 2005, internet and mobile technologies are highly accessible in Angola. The country is now one of the largest mobile telecommunications markets in 22 So This is Democracy? 2014 sub-Saharan Africa. This investment has continued, with the government funding the 2013 – 2017 Strategic Plan for E-Governance and in 2014, providing more than US$267.3 million in the national budget towards the country’s technological infrastructure. When it comes to traditional forms of media, the environment can be oppressive and dangerous for journalists and this leads to self-censorship, particularly in state media and private media controlled by the ruling party. As a result, journalists, activists and citizens are increasingly turning to online and social media to express themselves. However, President José Eduardo dos Santos - who has been in power for more than 34 years - frequently and unjustly uses laws, to restrict freedom of expression online. The Electronic Communications and Information Society Services’ Law, for example, gives the president broad legal powers to control and punish internet service providers over content.