Legalizing control: the rise of restrictive internet regulation in sub-Saharan Africa

Today, internet freedom is increasingly contingent upon government discretion. Previous research has uncovered how governments use digital strategies to establish control over online communication. However, beyond digital strategies for internet control, conventional tactics also expand the digital repressive toolkit. Governments are gradually creating legal capacities, often under the guise of preventing cybercrime or protecting user privacy, which enable them to punish online expressions of anti-government sentiments or to legalize state surveillance. But when do governments enshrine infringements of digital political and civil rights into law? Using original data on internet legislation across sub-Saharan African countries, I test whether governments’ reactive or preemptive decision-making, influenced by domestic and regional factors, drives restrictive internet regulation. The results indicate that governments restrict digital rights through national laws as a preventive measure, outside the spotlight of political events. Specifically, illiberal governments in regional environments where legal internet controls are widespread are more likely to enact restrictive internet regulation. Anecdotal evidence from cybersecurity laws enacted in Eastern Africa further highlights that governments learn from each other about acceptable levels of rights restrictions and the legal provisions needed to implement these restrictions.