Slashdot Mirror
Why Has Cameroon Blocked the Internet? (bbc.com)
It has been over three weeks since English-speaking parts of Cameroon, a country on the west coast of Africa between Nigeria and Gabon, has had no internet connectivity. Residents believe, according to a BBC report, that the government is behind it. From the report: The two regions affected, South-West and North-West, have seen anti-government protests in recent months. Just a day before services disappeared, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a statement in which it warned social media users of criminal penalties if they were to "issue or spread information, including by way of electronic communications or information technology systems, without any evidence." There has been no official comment about the internet since then (or any credible reports of technical faults) leading many Cameroonians to conclude that the severing of services is part of government attempts to stifle dissent. In criticising their government, some Cameroonians have also taken aim at the mobile phone companies who provide the services through which many access the internet. These firms may not have been able to prevent the outage, since they all rely on fibre-optic infrastructure provided by a state-owned company, but nor have they been objecting publicly about the interruption to their services.
And you really believe it can only happen in backwater Africa? Think again.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
But this is the world we live in today with regards to discussion and debate.
Indeed. Yesterday the United States Senate voted to censor Elizabeth Warren and force her to shut up and sit down. So the idea that you can deal with opponents by silencing them certainly is not unique to Africa.
Disclaimer: I agree with Elizabeth on very few issues.