Internet back in anglophone Cameroon, but more surveillance? - Internet Sans Frontières
On 20 April 2016, the Government of Cameroon ordered telecommunications operators to restore access to the Internet in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon.
These two regions, where the English-speaking minority of the country lives, witness demonstrations since November 2016 against alleged marginalization felt by citizens, and expressed in particular by lawyers and teachers. On January 16, 2017, the government banned two citizen movements, before imposing an Internet shutdown that ended, after 94 days of serious human rights violations, and more than 4 million euros in economic losses, According to the latest estimates by Internet Without Borders and Access now.
In the release welcoming the return of connectivity, Internet Without Borders expresses strong fears of a new Internet shutdown in the near future, and more globally fears for online freedoms of Cameroonian citizens, as the 2018 presidential election approaches.
In an interview with German international radio station Deutsche Welle, Cameroon Post and Telecommunications Minister, Minette Libom Likeng, announced that the Cameroonian government is equipped to monitor the activities of Internet users in the country:
“I will not disclose the methods here, but I will say that the government is organized because there is a whole agency that is equipped for that. Moreover, all our police forces have tracking and Control as in all countries. “
An announcement, which doesn’t surprise Internet Sans Frontières: in November 2016, Cameroonian institutions announced their war against the “misuse of the Internet”, and in particular the “spreading of false information via the social network”. The first act of this “war” was the massive sending of SMS, sponsored by the government of Cameroon, in the first days of January 2017, reminding Internet users of the provisions of the 2010 law against cybercrime and then the Terrorist law, both of which punish the spreading of false information on the Internet, respectively by 2 years and 20 years of imprisonment. This act was immediately followed by the Internet shutdown which ended on 20 April 2017.
Internet Sans Frontières calls on the Cameroonian government to respect its international commitments: respect for individual rights and freedoms must always be the principle. Terrorism, breach of public order, can only exceptionally limit these freedoms, provided that the necessity and proportionality of the measures implemented are demonstrated and that a judicial authority intervenes to authorize the implementation of such measures.
A reminder of some advice provided by Internet Sans Frontières in November 2016: In the event that the Cameroonian government decides to censor access to social networks, there are ways to circumvent this type of censorship. Here’s our advice: users can download TOR, and its mobile application called ORBOT. Psiphon is also an interesting bypass tool. Finally, for any help relating to the installation of online privacy protection tools, our friends of Access Now have a multi-language digital security helpline.