The authoritarian playbook is clear: shut down the internet, silence dissent, surveil citizens, manipulate elections. As a result, authorities cut internet access to 111 million Africans in 2024. This censorship inflicted $1.56 billion in economic losses and silencing citizens during elections, protests, and conflicts.
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Digital authoritarianism is accelerating across the continent.
- In Equatorial Guinea, residents of Annobón island have been without internet and mobile services since August 2024.
- In Uganda, Meta’s platforms remain restricted as authorities intensify pressure on critics ahead of the 2026 elections.
- In Tanzania, the government ordered a nationwide digital blackout in October 2025 around the national elections.
Yet amid this escalating assault on fundamental freedoms, a critical funding lifeline specifically dedicated to digital rights work on the continent remains available for organizations ready to fight back.
$25,000 to Combat Africa’s Digital Rights Crisis
Africa Digital Rights Fund is offering grants up $25,000 to African civil society organizations, human rights defenders, tech hubs, and advocacy networks working to advance digital rights and digital democracy.
ARDF funding focuses on critical thematic areas reflecting the current digital rights landscape:
- Data governance—including data localization, cross-border data flows, biometric databases, and digital ID systems. As governments rush to implement surveillance infrastructure without adequate safeguards, this work is essential.
- Digital resilience for human rights defenders—the people on the frontlines facing harassment, threats, and digital attacks for documenting abuses and advocating for rights.
- Censorship and network disruptions—documenting, challenging, and building resilience against the internet shutdowns and platform blockings that have reached record levels.
- Artificial Intelligence implications—as AI deployment accelerates across Africa with minimal regulation, understanding and advocating for rights-respecting frameworks is urgent.
- Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence—platform accountability in areas where African civil society has made progress but needs sustained support to consolidate gains and push further.
Applicants are encouraged to have formal registration in an African country, but ARDF recognizes that some effective organizations operate without formal registration, particularly in restrictive environments where registration itself can be a tool of state control. What matters most is demonstrable operational presence and track record in advancing digital rights work.
Apply Now: Deadline is November 17
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