As digital technologies become increasingly pervasive, the authoritarian governments of the region face the danger of descending into totalitarianism as they pursue absolute security. This situation is exacerbated by political structures that prioritize regime security over individual privacy.
The past ten years or so have seen increased presence and acceptability of right ideologies within Western countries. This can greatly be attributed to media coverage and how journalists have portrayed right-wing politicians and their ideals. Consequently, we have seen far-right politicians becoming even more powerful than ever, leading their respective countries.
African governments are good students of history as they still recall and do not underplay the role of online media in empowering the masses. They still remember how online conversations mobilised large parts of the population in Tunisia. Today, African governments have resorted to digital suppression to silence their nationals in times of protests and civil resistance.
