And where regulation fails, some states resort to internet shutdowns or deliberate disruptions.
The statistics are staggering.
In India alone, there were154 internet shutdownsbetween January 2016 and May 2018.
This is the most of any country in the world.
But similar shutdowns are becoming common on the African continent.
Last year there were 21 such shutdowns on the continent.
This was the case in Togo, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Ethiopia, among others.
The justifications for such shutdowns are usually relatively predictable.
Governments often claim that internet access is blocked in the interest of public security and order.
Whatever their reasons, governments have three general approaches to controlling citzens access to the web.
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How they do it
Internet shutdowns or disruptions usually take three forms.
Its arguably the most punitive, with significantsocial,economic, andpoliticalcosts.
These shutdowns, then, damage businesses, discourage investments, and hinder economic growth.
The second way that governments restrict internet access is by applying content blocking techniques.
Theyrestrict accessto particular sites or applications.
This is the most common strategy and its usually targeted at social media platforms.
The idea is to stop or limit conversations on these platforms.
This was the case in 2016 in Uganda during the countrys presidential elections.
In Zimbabwe, the governmentblocked social mediafollowing demonstrations over an increase in fuel prices.
It argued that the January 2019 ban was because the platforms were being used to coordinate the violence.
This makes the internet too slow to use.
Throttling can also target particular online destinations such as social media sites.
The stranglehold on the production and dissemination ofinformationhas always been an invaluable political tool for many African governments.
Quite often the narratives therein are at variance with the self-preserving and carefully constructed ideologies of the state.
Internet shutdowns dont stop demonstrations.
Nor do they hinder the production and circulation of rumours: they encourage them instead.
Many people are also circumventing the shutdowns through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).
VPNS are nowpar for the coursein countries like Zimbabwe.
The future of unfettered internet access in Africa looks precarious should governments continue on this trajectory.
This makes the development of legislative regimes that recognise and protect access to the internet both urgent and necessary.
