The African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms is a set of principles and norms for internet policy making. It is also a tool for human rights defenders, activists, lawyers, service providers and all internet users who want to analyse and participate in internet-related policy and regulation.

The Declaration sets out 13 key principles which are necessary to uphold human and peoples' rights on the internet and to cultivate an internet environment that can best meet Africa’s social and economic development needs and goals.

It consists of three sections:

- The key principles
- The application of these principles
- A call to action for all relevant stakeholders.

By promoting these principles among African policy makers, we are seeking to promote human and peoples’ rights online and establish a policy environment that is underpinned by these values.

A positive, rights-based and democratically governed internet policy environment in Africa.

The objective of the initiative is for the Declaration to be adopted and used by African states and international bodies as a guide for formulating and establishing a rights-based and enabling internet policy environment in Africa, both at the national and regional level. By laying out a set of comprehensive principles and incorporating an explanatory part within the text, the Declaration is designed to help decision makers develop harmonised, rights-based policies that complement existing human rights standards.

The coalition behind the African Declaration is a pan-African initiative, led by civil society groups and supporters from across the region. Together, we jointly drafted the African Declaration in an open and consultative process to formulate Africa-focused solutions that were developed within the continent.

The organisations in the coalition behind the African Declaration are:

African Centre for Media Excellence
ARTICLE 19
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
CIPESA
CIVICUS
Global Partners Digital
Kenya Human Rights Commission
KICTANet
Media Foundation for West Africa
Media Institute of Southern Africa
Media Rights Agenda
Paradigm Initiative Nigeria
PROTEGE QV
Support for Information Technology Center
Web We Want

The Declaration builds on well-established African human rights documents and is a continuation of a rich heritage of civil society leadership in standard setting and advocacy in Africa.

This interactive platform is a subdomain of africaninternetrights.org, where you will find the history and background of the Declaration and its principles. Both websites are tools to promote the Declaration to be widely endorsed by all those with a stake in the internet in Africa and to help shape approaches to internet policy making and governance across the continent.

The AD is a tool for human rights defenders, activists, lawyers, service providers and all internet users who want to analyse and participate in internet-related policy and regulation Share your experiences, stories, research, materials here: http://engage.africaninternetrights.org/en/node/add/resources.

Endorse: Show your support for the Declaration on africaninternetrights.org
Share: Make your voice heard and share the Declaration on Twitter via #AfricanInternetRights
Discuss: Join the discussion on our mailing list and learn more about the Declaration at info@africaninternetrights.org

Absolutely. This is a platform for anyone wanting to contribute to a better knowledge of internet rights in Africa, with a special focus on the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms as a key tool. You are welcome to participate, regardless of where you are from or where you live.