E-Business
HRW Wants End to Internet Shutdown to Manage COVID-19
HRW has urged governments such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, and Myanmar, that are currently imposing an internet shutdown, to lift them immediately to save lives.
During a health crisis, access to timely and accurate information is crucial. People use the internet for updates on health measures, movement restrictions, and relevant news to protect themselves and others.
“Internet shutdowns block people from getting essential information and services,” said Deborah Brown, senior digital rights researcher and advocate. “During this global health crisis, shutdowns directly harm people’s health and lives, and undermine efforts to bring the pandemic under control.”
For people around the world staying at home, either willingly or because of government restrictions, the internet is critical to communicate with doctors, family, and friends. For many children and others seeking an education, it is needed to continue learning as schools shutter around the world.
Internet shutdowns can have a greater impact on women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, people with disabilities, and older people who may rely on the internet for online support services.
These groups are most likely to rely on the internet to protect their physical safety, access sexual and reproductive health information and care, and participate in social, professional, and economic life, particularly when women are disproportionately taking on more child care and education responsibilities, and when isolation can lead to or exacerbate psychological distress.
The economic cost of internet disruptions is significant. As restrictions on movement expand, many individuals and businesses are relying on the internet more than usual for their work.
Internet shutdowns have become increasingly common in recent years, usually during tense periods, such as elections, anti-government protests, or armed conflicts. Thirty-three countries enforced 213 internet shutdowns in 2019, according to Access Now. Government justifications ranged from a need to combat fake news to public safety and national security.
India had the most internet shutdowns with at least 385 ordered since 2012. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government imposed a complete communications blackout in August 2019, which stopped families from communicating and disrupted the local economy.
Phone services were gradually restored, but it was only after the Supreme Court found the internet shutdown illegal in January 2020 that service was partially restored, and only at 2G speed.
Since COVID-19 spread to India, people have reported not being able to access websites that provide information about the pandemic due to highly restricted speeds that make accessing anything beyond text messages nearly impossible. The New Delhi-based Internet Freedom Foundation has called on the government to “make all tools including high speed internet available to doctors and patients to save lives.”
In Ethiopia, millions of people in western Oromia may be missing key information about COVID-19 because of a months-long government-imposed shutdown of internet and phone services.
The shutdown has prevented families from communicating, disrupted lifesaving services, and contributed to an information blackout during government counterinsurgency operations in the area.
In Myanmar, the government is blocking the internet for more than one million people in Rakhine and Chin States.
It first restricted access in eight townships in Rakhine State and one in Chin State last June, with an impact on civilians in conflict areas, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the work of human rights monitors.
The government lifted restrictions in five townships in Rakhine and Chin States in September but reinstated them on February 3, 2020.
In Bangladesh, an internet blackout and phone restrictions at Rohingya refugee camps are hindering humanitarian groups from addressing the COVID-19 threat. The shutdown jeopardizes the health and lives of nearly 900,000 refugees in Cox’s Bazar and the Bangladeshi host community.
Nearly four years ago, the United Nations Human Rights Council first condemned measures to prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online and called on countries to refrain from such measures. Last week, leading international free speech experts said that internet shutdowns “cannot be justified” during the COVID-19 outbreak.
On March 27, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged all governments to end any and all internet and telecommunication shutdowns. “Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, fact-based and relevant information on the disease and its spread and response must reach all people, without exception,” a statement said.
Under international law, governments have an obligation to ensure that any restrictions to information online are provided by law, are a necessary and proportionate response to a specific threat, and are in the public interest.
Officials should never use broad, indiscriminate shutdowns to stop the flow of information or to harm people’s ability to express political views, and doing so during a health crisis can cost lives, Human Rights Watch said.
Governments order internet shutdowns but internet service providers are responsible for carrying them out. Internet service providers should do everything in their power to push back against unjustified internet shutdowns, including by demanding a legal basis for any shutdown order and interpreting requests to cause the least intrusive restrictions. They should prioritize their responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and avoid complicity in human rights abuses, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Providers should give customers advance notice of shutdowns and disclose the government’s role and legal basis for restricting networks and services.
Human rights organizations can join and participate in the #KeepItOn campaign coordinated by Access Now to fight internet shutdowns with documentation, advocacy, policy maker engagement, technical support, and legal interventions.
“During a global pandemic, when people around the world are isolated and access to information can mean life or death, it’s time to impose a moratorium on internet shutdowns,” Brown said. “Governments should ensure immediate access to the fastest and broadest possible service for all.”
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said thet more than 136 million Nigerians and legal residents have been enrolled in the National Identity Database (NIDB).
In a statement on Tuesday, Kayode Adegoke, head of corporate communications, NIMC, said Abisoye Coker-Odusote, chief executive officer (CEO) of the commission, announced the milestone during a courtesy visit to the ministry of budget and economic planning.
In April 2025, NIMC said over 117.36 million Nigerians had been enrolled as of February 28, 2025.
The visit was part of the commission’s ongoing stakeholder engagements with ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on the implementation of the NIMC Act 2026.
Presenting the new Act, Coker-Odusote said the legislation repeals and replaces the 2007 NIMC Act, modernising Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem by positioning the national identification number (NIN) as the country’s foundational identity under the “one person, one identity” policy.
She said the law also establishes NIMC as the root certificate authority for the national digital infrastructure and introduces stronger data protection and cybersecurity measures, as well as digital credentials.
“The Federal Government remains committed to enrolling and issuing NINs to all Nigerians and legal residents within the shortest possible time,” Coker-Odusote said.
She added that NIMC is ready to collaborate with the ministry of budget and economic planning to leverage the NIN for economic planning and national development initiatives.
Speaking during the visit, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the minister of budget and economic planning, reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to the implementation of the NIMC Act 2026.
Bagudu described the legislation as “a transformative milestone” that would strengthen Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem and accelerate national planning and development.
He commended the NIMC director-general and the commission’s leadership for their efforts in securing the passage of the legislation, noting that it provides “a solid legal foundation for a trusted, secure, and inclusive national identity management system”.
The minister, however, said the true measure of the Act’s success would lie in its implementation and the benefits it delivers to Nigerians.
“The true measure of the Act’s success will lie in its effective implementation and the tangible benefits delivered to citizens,” he said.
Bagudu also called for stronger collaboration across the federal, state and local governments to build public confidence in the national identity system and eliminate the duplication of identity databases across government institutions.
He said the NIN should serve as Nigeria’s single, universally accepted identity standard, supporting efficient service delivery and good governance.
On June 26, President Bola Tinubu signed the NIMC Act 2026 into law, repealing the commission’s 2007 establishing Act.
At the time, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, said the legislation would strengthen Nigeria’s legal framework for digital identity management, cybersecurity and secure digital authentication, while reinforcing the NIN as the country’s foundational identity credential under the “one person, one identity” principle.
Plateau State Public Complaints Commission (PCC), an agency of the state established to investigate complaints of abuse of office, administrative injustice and other forms of official misconduct is allegedly collecting personal information from members of the public through its website with no privacy policy.
According to investigation by Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), PCC is falling short of a key transparency requirement under Nigeria’s data protection laws.
FIJ found on Tuesday that PCC collects personal information from members of the public through its website despite providing no privacy policy explaining how that information is collected, processed, stored or protected.
The commission serves as the state’s ombudsman, receiving complaints free of charge against public institutions and private organisations on issues including wrongful dismissal, victimisation and administrative negligence.
Yet, while its online complaint portal requests personal information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, subject lines and complaint details, visitors are given no privacy notice explaining what becomes of that information after it is submitted.
The omission means visitors are not told why their information is being collected, how long it will be retained, the legal basis for processing it or the rights available to them as data subjects.
WHAT IS THE POSITION OF THE LAW?
The guidelines issued by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) are explicit: every government website is required to have a privacy policy.
Section 10.4 (i, ii) of the NITDA guidelines mandates all government websites to exercise diligence when collecting personal details or information about visitors on their websites.
The requirement is intended to ensure transparency and accountability in the handling of personal information, allowing visitors to understand why their data is collected, how it will be used and the safeguards in place to protect it.
Similarly, the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 requires data controllers to provide privacy notices to individuals before, or at the point of, collecting their personal information.
Such notices are expected to disclose, among other things, the purpose for collecting the data, the legal basis for processing it, the period for which it will be retained and the rights available to data subjects.
Section 27 of the NDPA states:
(1) Before a data controller collects personal data directly from a data subject, the data controller shall inform the data subject of the – (a) identity, residence or place of business of, and means of communication with the data controller and its representatives, where necessary;
(b) specific lawful basis of processing under section 25(1) or 30(1) of this Act, and the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended;
(c) recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data, if any;
(d) existence of the rights of the data subject under Part VI;
(e) retention period for the personal data;
(f) right to lodge a complaint with the Commission in accordance with section 46 (1) of this Act; and
(g) existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, the significance and envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject, and the right to object to and challenge such processing.
Without a privacy policy, visitors have no way of knowing the commission’s data-handling practices or the safeguards, if any, in place to protect the personal information they submit through the website.
At press time, the Plateau State Public Complaints Commission’s website had no privacy policy.
Federal government has directed key digital regulators to suspend the implementation of new rules affecting internet platforms and online intermediaries while it develops a unified national regulatory framework.
Dr Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy
The directive was issued on Tuesday by Dr Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, after chairing a strategic meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
The minister in a statement, said that the rapid growth of the digital economy has created areas where the responsibilities of the three regulators increasingly overlap, particularly in artificial intelligence, online safety, and data protection.
He said that a coordinated approach is needed to provide regulatory clarity, protect investor confidence, and support innovation.
Dr Tijani noted that as part of the directive, the agencies will temporarily halt the implementation of recently introduced guidelines in these overlapping areas.
However, the Minister said that they will continue to carry out their statutory responsibilities within their respective legal mandates.
Dr Tijani said that a Joint Technical Coordination Committee will now be established to work with industry players, academics, and civil society on a single, coherent regulatory framework.
The minister added that the move is designed to improve coordination across government, create a more predictable business environment, and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a leading destination for digital investment in Africa.
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