糖心传媒

As 2026 began, Ugandans and Iranians were plunged into digital darkness with authorities seeking to crack down on dissent by blocking internet communication.

This kind of cyber control is a growing trend. In 2025, 28 internet blackouts cost economies about $19.7 billion, a from 2024, a new report from monitoring firm Top10VPN found. 

The Myanmar military’s digital oppression is no longer a local or isolated crisis. It is reaching an unprecedented level of tyranny that may now rank among the world’s .

The military has announced plans to hold a general election on December 28, which has been widely regarded as a .

From internet shutdowns to the rise of AI, hyper-surveillance to protest via social media, digital technology is shaping lives and upending business as usual – for better and for worse.

Experts say that striking a balance between regulation and innovation will become harder in coming years, as governments and firms invest in artificial intelligence (AI), with consequences for jobs, mental health and the climate.

Biometric IDs are being used to grant access to government services from medical treatment to voting registration across Africa, and those without digital identities are being left behind, a new report said.

The study by the African Digital Rights Network (ADRN), in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), analysed the across 10 countries.

A quiet shift is happening in Brussels. The European Commission has launched what it calls the , a sweeping rewrite of the EU’s core digital protections.

Officials present it as routine housekeeping. Streamlining. Cutting ‘red tape’ to boost Europe’s competitiveness. In reality, the Omnibus marks the most ambitious deregulation of the digital sphere the EU has ever attempted.

India has put new privacy rules into force, cutting back what personal data Big Tech can collect and giving ordinary people more control over their own information.

The government passed the stringent Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) act in 2023 but the new regime only went live last week when it finalised new rules curtailing the reach of Meta, Google, OpenAI and other tech firms.

A five-day internet shutdown during Tanzania’s disputed election and the protests that followed was meant to silence dissent and control the narrative, digital activists said, warning the blackout may have fuelled abuses by security forces.

The main opposition party CHADEMA, barred from taking part in the Oct. 29 vote, said were killed in protests, while the United Nations’ human rights office said were killed by security forces in three cities.

Britain says all workers will need digital identity cards by 2029 in an attempted crackdown on illegal migration that rights groups fear will endanger the marginalised and invade people’s privacy.

would live on people’s mobile phones and become a mandatory part of checks that employers make on hiring staff. 

Internet shutdowns across Africa have doubled in less than a decade, plunging millions into digital darkness and limiting access to jobs, education and health services, according a new book launched on Thursday.

The number of digital blackouts across the continent surged to 28 in 2024 compared to 14 in 2016, according to “Internet Shutdowns in Africa: Technology, Rights and Power”, co-authored by researchers from the African Digital Rights Network and supported by the Institute of Development Studies.

India’s recent ban of online money-based games could drive addicts to unregulated apps and offshore platforms that pose new financial and social risks, fantasy-sports gaming experts warn.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government online games late last month, citing financial losses and addiction, leading to a shutdown of many apps offering paid fantasy cricket, rummy and poker games.