Change Makers What motivated you to become an advocate for Internet freedom in Africa, and how did you get started? In 2008, while training some young people on how to use computers, some hinted that they had been exposed to cybercrime but were happy to learn how to do it right. Out of excitement, I shared this at a public event. After my presentation, an officer from Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) walked up to me and asked for the venue of our training. I laughed and asked why, and his response was, “To come and arrest the cybercriminals you talked about.” I was surprised and asked why he would arrest them instead of being proud of them. He said, “Well, they confessed to a crime and should be punished. If you don’t like that, change the law…” I still believe he was joking, but that chat got me thinking about policymaking in general and ICT policy in particular. Five years later, as Internet access grew across the continent, I realised that many laws were focused on clamping down digital activities and were being used to arrest, intimidate, and prosecute citizens. Acting on the advice from the EFCC officer, I started challenging the respective laws. I was motivated by the officer’s challenge and the fear that if Africa continued to focus more on clampdowns instead of innovation, we could miss out on the much-needed opportunities that ICTs provide. . What progress have you seen in the expansion of Internet freedom in Africa over the past ten years? What are some of the most promising innovations, best practices, and initiatives that are contributing to the expansion of Internet freedom and digital rights in Africa? We are gradually moving from reacting to violations towards proactively engaging policy processes and demonstrating win-win scenarios for political actors who assumed that hurting rights was not harmful to them. It is great to see the democratisation of training opportunities for various stakeholders — including policymakers and lawmakers — as I believe this will enlighten everyone on the need for rights-respecting policies and practices while also building staying power for digital rights work and advocacy on the continent. What are some of the emerging threats or pressing challenges to Internet freedom in Africa, and how can we stay ahead of them? Some of the threats include ignorance and apathy. Ignorance of new tools can lock out advocates from promoting rights. I worry that while we are busy fighting fires in the various corners of our region, new tools and processes are emerging that we cannot engage with because of resource constraints. Apathy sets in when you either work hard on something without seeing progress or when other overwhelming factors set in. Unfortunately, many advocates and organisations are so overwhelmed or bloodied from battles involving tyrants that they are allowing apathy to set it. We must fight ignorance with knowledge, and for apathy, we need to celebrate small wins and connect with other advocates who can inspire us to do more. 4 A CIPESA Series