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2 June 2017 Nairobi, Kenya - The Af* organizations, comprised of AFRINIC, AFTLD, AFNOG, AFREN, Africa CERT, and ISOC Africa, gathered at the 5th African Internet Summit, in Nairobi, Kenya, 21 May – 2 June 2017, issue the following statement: 

We are CONCERNED by the increasing number of Internet shutdowns ordered by Governments in Africa. Internet shutdowns are intentional disruptions of Internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location for specified or unspecified periods of time. African territories accounted for many of the 56 Internet shutdowns recorded globally in 2016. 

We are OPPOSED to any form of Internet shutdowns, including those that impact social media sites, entire networks, intentional disruption of Internet or mobile application services access, in any context such as elections, demonstrations or social tensions. Shutdowns offer poor solutions to complex problems and have shown to generate collateral damages on society and the economy. Intentional disruptions of access to information were unequivocally condemned by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016.

We would like to DRAW ATTENTION TO the negative effects of Internet shutdowns Not only do they impact the rights of citizens (e.g. expression, association, access to knowledge and education) recognized both in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, they also impact businesses and entrepreneurs. Various studies have highlighted the high costs of Internet shutdowns on country’s GDPs. In a context where economic growth relies increasingly on Internet access, as reaffirmed in the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, shutdowns can generate long-lasting and costly effects on society and on user trust. 

We DO NOT THINK that the Anti-shutdown policy proposal put forward by some members of the AFRINIC community will offer a sustainable solution to this issue. While we share the same concerns as theproposals authors and welcome the community dialogue this has generated, we think this proposed policy will likely be ineffective and could create unintended damages. 

We are CONCERNED that such a proposal would be difficult to implement, and would take AFRINIC beyond its technical mandate and expertise, as highlighted by AFRINIC staff’s assessment of the proposal. We are also concerned that this proposal might antagonize governments in a way that will worsen the situation as a whole. Finally, the proposal might also impact citizen’s ability to access the Internet beyond the government entities targeted by the proposal. 

Instead, we are CALLING on African governments to renounce the use of Internet shutdowns as a policy tool, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with stakeholders. We UNDERSTAND that governments have legitimate concerns related to Internet use and that they have obligations related to national security and public order.

In the spirit of the WSIS Tunis Agenda, the Af* are available to WORK with African governments and other stakeholders to find better solutions that do not hurt the fundamental rights of citizens and that protect the Internet’s stability, resilience and openness. 

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On 1st June 2017, the Board took the following decision with regards to LIR Membership fees and penalties.

  1. Invoice all members in the first week of November of the preceding Year
  2. The invoice will be dated 1st January of the New Year, but will be due for payment by 31st January of the new year. That is 30 days to process and pay the invoice.
  3. The company will give another 28 days moratorium, past the due date, where no penalty will be applied, i.e 28th Feb, giving 60 days to process the invoice and pay it without incurring any penalty.
  4. If the invoice is paid on or before 31st March, a penalty of 5% is noted.
  5. If the invoice is then paid on or before 30th April, a penalty of 10% is noted
  6. If the invoice is then paid on or before 31st May, a penalty of 15% if noted
  7. Up to this point, no penalty invoice will be invoiced to the members, so they remain in good standing if they have paid the invoice for the year, even if they have not paid the penalty, so they can vote at the AGMM without any restraint.
  8. All penalty invoices are invoiced by 30th June, giving members up to 5 months to pay the penalties.
  9. Unpaid penalties by the next billing cycle in November, will be added to the invoice of the next year. However, note that this will count towards any resource requests that expects members to be in good standing.

The billing timeline can be read at https://preview.afrinic.net/membership-cost

 

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