That the House of Representatives—
strongly condemns the restriction or disruption of the internet through methods including network shutdowns, disruptions, use of “kill switches”, bandwidth throttling, high taxes, and the blocking of applications and services across Africa, and any efforts by foreign governments to facilitate such activity;
urges African governments to—
promote inclusive and meaningful participation by all stakeholders in the development of policies on telecommunications, internet governance, information and communications technologies, and infrastructure;
prevent the use of broad and invasive surveillance technologies that violate privacy and discourage the freedom of expression of all users, particularly journalists, bloggers, and their sources, and to ensure accountability for crimes against them;
actively pursue laws and policies that protect and promote human rights online and offline and review laws that criminalize free speech that are used to harass and prosecute those who offer dissenting views and information;
resist new contracts with authoritarian states, like China, and avoid digital governance models that enable technoauthoritarianism and invasive surveillance capabilities that undermine human rights and restrict fundamental freedoms; and
work closely with technology companies and social media services to prevent or take down disinformation, including disinformation disseminated by Russia and other actors;
urges telecommunications providers and internet platforms to employ legal, operational, and technical measures to promote and facilitate the exercise of human rights online, and disclose requests from governments or other parties to hand over user data and to disrupt networks, and their responses thereto;
urges businesses operating in Africa to facilitate open and secure access to the internet, and work with stakeholders to prevent, mitigate, and remedy harms from internet shutdowns and other disruptions to the free flow of information online; and
urges businesses operating in Africa to affirm the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and adhere to best practices, scrutinizing government or other third-party requests to interfere with networks, applications, services, and personal data for any potential human rights impacts.