par Ngangum, Peter Tiako 
Référence Communication Rights in Africa: Emerging Discourses and Perspectives, Taylor and Francis, page (165-182)
Publication Publié, 2023-01
Référence Communication Rights in Africa: Emerging Discourses and Perspectives, Taylor and Francis, page (165-182)
Publication Publié, 2023-01
Partie d'ouvrage collectif
| Résumé : | Internet shutdowns are on the rise. Between January 2017 and March 2018, this overt and blunt censoring practice affected Internet access and use in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon. Despite the increasing scale and scope of shutdowns, there is limited research that looks at the socio-economic, political, and legal contexts in which shutdowns are rooted and the differing modes of shutdowns that occur. Drawing on document analysis, interviews, and complemented by a background contextualization of the media system in Cameroon as a “pluralist authoritarian media system,” this chapter examines the Internet shutdown in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon as a spectrum and variant of an extreme form of online censorship and information suppression. This is significant because it helps us to better understand the nuanced characteristics of Internet shutdowns and their correlation to other forms of censorship and the information restriction strategies instituted by semi-authoritarian regimes. The chapter argues that when it comes to evaluating Internet shutdowns on the basis that they affect citizens’ rights and civil liberties, states’ justifications must be assessed through the prism of legality, legitimacy, and proportionality. |
