Tendai Chari and Ufuoma Akpojivi, eds. Communication Rights in Africa: Emerging Discourses and Perspectives. London: Routledge, 2023. 282 pp. $152.00. Hardcover. ISBN: 9781032482835.

Communication Rights in Africa, is an ambitious and timely exploration of communication rights in the African context, examining how these rights are conceptualized, protected, and contested across the continent.Using a rights-based lens, the collection addresses communication in both offline and digital spheres, shedding light on issues such as digital exclusion, language rights, citizen journalism, media regulation, intellectual property, and social media politicization.The book's innovative approaches make it a valuable resource for scholars, activists, and media practitioners.The volume is organized into four parts with twelve chapters and an introduction.Chari and Akpojivi provide a comprehensive theoretical and historical overview of communication rights in their opening chapter, setting the stage for the subsequent case studies and thematic discussions.Part One focuses on cultural and minority rights.Chike Mgbeadichie examines the Ubang community in Nigeria, where gendered linguistic practices reinforce inequality, while Job Mwaura critiques Kenyan government-led digitization initiatives that deepen exclusion among pastoralist communities.Lorenzo Dalvit highlights the need for decolonial approaches to digital inclusion policies in South Africa, and Olutobi Akingbade analyzes how Nigerian youth utilized social media during the COVID-19 pandemic to express democratic rights.Part Two addresses digital citizenship, with Drcio Tsandzana's chapter exploring youth digital activism in Mozambique, revealing the potential of social media to mobilize civic engagement in challenging contexts.It underscores how social media platforms have been used to mobilize civic engagement, even in a context marked by low internet connectivity and restricted freedom of expression.Ernest Mudzengi and Wellington Gadzikwa critique citizen journalism in Zimbabwe, arguing that its potential to advance communication rights is undermined by corporate and state capture.Drawing on Habermas's concept of the public sphere and Gramsci's theory of hegemony, they argue that citizen journalism's potential for promoting communication rights has been undermined by corporate and state capture.Their call for a more inclusive, socially oriented citizen journalism resonates with broader efforts to reclaim communication rights from vested interests.Part Three shifts to censorship and intellectual property.Ikechukwu Obiaya examines Nigerian filmmakers' reliance on self-censorship to navigate state-