IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 768 
Calling on African governments to protect and promote human rights through 
internet freedom and digital integration for all citizens across the con-
tinent of Africa. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 17, 2019 
Ms. BASS (for herself and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Calling on African governments to protect and promote 
human rights through internet freedom and digital inte-
gration for all citizens across the continent of Africa. 
Whereas access to information and freedom of expression are 
pillars of an open, free, and democratic society; 
Whereas open and secure access to the internet enables the 
exercise of human rights and freedom of expression, al-
lowing people to connect, access information, and partici-
pate in a global society; 
Whereas according to Access Now, there were 21 instances 
of partial or total internet shutdowns in Africa in 2018, 
compared with only 4 in 2016; 
Whereas governments, including those of Chad, Cameroon, 
Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, have restricted 
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•HRES 768 IH 
access to the internet and disrupted networks, online ap-
plications, and services to censor and interfere with the 
flow of information during politically sensitive moments, 
including elections, political protests, and mass dem-
onstrations, when unfettered journalism, public oversight, 
and political participation are crucial to bolster demo-
cratic processes and the rule of law; 
Whereas governments often attempt to justify partial or total 
internet shutdowns for purposes of security or to stop the 
spread of false information; 
Whereas the frequency of internet shutdowns has increased 
across Africa, levying broad economic costs and directly 
violating citizens rights to freedom of expression and ac-
cess to information; 
Whereas African whistleblowers, journalists, bloggers, and 
other media workers often lack legal protection and suf-
fer harassment and detention at the hands of government 
authorities, often facilitated by invasive and unauthorized 
surveillance, with the encouragement, technical expertise, 
and financial support of foreign entities and govern-
ments; 
Whereas some African governments have introduced taxes to 
discourage citizens from sharing and accessing informa-
tion in the digital space, and have imposed laws and reg-
ulations that often target journalists, bloggers, activists, 
and others, banning speech and discouraging expression 
in the digital space; 
Whereas those operating independent news websites and 
blogs are obstructed through blocking and censorship, 
burdensome licensing requirements, and regulatory meas-
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ures that effectively limit their audience and their liveli-
hoods; 
Whereas many African governments lack robust data protec-
tion and privacy laws, and the systems to implement such 
laws, leaving the privacy of citizens exposed and suscep-
tible to infringement; 
Whereas the Communist government in China, through the 
desire to build a ‘‘digital Silk Road’’, has increased cyber 
activity in Africa through telecommunications contracts 
and fiber optic networks which can expose individuals to 
greater monitoring and surveillance, and has exported 
technology and training to authoritarian officials that 
have made it easier to restrict internet access in many 
African countries; 
Whereas Huawei Technologies has reportedly sold products 
and services to African governments that have been used 
to support spying on political opponents; and 
Whereas Russia has been testing new disinformation tech-
niques and tactics through a series of online networks 
linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch indicted 
by the United States for meddling in the United States 
Presidential election in 2016, in African countries that 
include Sudan, Cameroon, Libya, and Mozambique: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) strongly condemns the restriction or disrup-
tion of the internet through methods including net-
work shutdowns, disruptions, use of ‘‘kill switches’’, 
bandwidth throttling, high taxes, and the blocking of 
applications and services across Africa, and any ef-
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forts by foreign governments to facilitate such activ-
ity; 
(2) urges African governments to— 
(A) promote inclusive and meaningful par-
ticipation by all stakeholders in the development 
of policies on telecommunications, internet gov-
ernance, information and communications tech-
nologies, and infrastructure; 
(B) 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; 
(C) 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 informa-
tion; 
(D) resist new contracts with authoritarian 
states, like China, and avoid digital governance 
models that enable technoauthoritarianism and 
invasive surveillance capabilities that undermine 
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human rights and restrict fundamental free-
doms; and 
(E) work closely with technology compa-
nies and social media services to prevent or 
take 
down 
disinformation, 
including 
disinformation disseminated by Russia and 
other actors; 
(3) urges telecommunications providers and 
internet platforms to employ legal, operational, and 
technical measures to promote and facilitate the ex-
ercise 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; 
(4) urges businesses operating in Africa to fa-
cilitate 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 
(5) urges businesses operating in Africa to af-
firm the United Nations Guiding Principles on Busi-
ness and Human Rights, and adhere to best prac-
tices, scrutinizing government or other third-party 
requests to interfere with networks, applications, 
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services, and personal data for any potential human 
rights impacts. 
Æ 
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