Liberia: Ten Liberian Civil Society Groups Launch Digital Advocacy and Rights Alliance

MONROVIA -Ten Liberian civil society organizations have formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing the Digital Advocacy and Rights Alliance (DARA), a new coalition designed to strengthen the protection and promotion of digital rights, privacy, online safety and digital freedoms in Liberia.

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By Julius Konton

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The agreement brings together organizations working across human rights, transparency, youth development, gender equality, technology, accountability and civic participation.

The founding members are Women Empowerment for Self Employment (WE4SELF), InfoQuest, Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), Liberia Equality Network (LEN), BASA Development Initiatives, ySTEM Liberia, White Rose Alliance (WRA), Campaign for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Youth Action Lead Liberia (YALL), and Center for Public Private Development (CEPDEV).

The formation of DARA follows a Digital Rights, Advocacy, Activism and Security Capacity-Building Programme conducted in Liberia earlier in 2026 by the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI).

The programme brought together representatives of 10 civil society organizations and 20 participants, with training focused on digital rights, online security, advocacy and the evolving digital environment.

WACSI’s wider regional initiative is being implemented across several West African countries, including Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.

The creation of DARA comes as Liberia’s digital environment continues to expand, while a large proportion of the population remains without regular internet access.

Data Reportal’s Digital 2026: Liberia report, based on the latest available data from late 2025, estimates that Liberia had 1.73 million internet users, representing approximately 30 percent of the population.

At the same time, the country recorded about 5.54 million cellular mobile connections, equivalent to 96.2 percent of the population, although mobile connections do not necessarily represent unique users or internet access.

About 1.10 million social-media user identities were recorded in October 2025.

The figures highlight both the opportunities and challenges facing Liberia’s digital transformation. While connectivity provides citizens with greater

access to information, education, commerce, public services and political participation, millions of Liberians remain offline.

Data Reportal estimates that approximately 4.03 million people were not using the internet at the end of 2025, underscoring the continuing digital divide. The global context is equally significant.

The International Telecommunication Union estimates that about 6 billion people, or 74 percent of the world’s population, were using the internet in 2025, compared with 60 percent in 2020.

The ITU estimates that about 2.2 billion people worldwide remained offline, demonstrating that digital inclusion and digital rights have become increasingly interconnected policy issues.

Under the MOU, DARA’s founding organizations describe themselves as civil society actors committed to protecting and promoting digital rights in Liberia and the wider region.

The alliance is intended to provide a collective platform through which civil society organizations can conduct advocacy, undertake research, strengthen institutional capacity and respond collectively to emerging threats to digital rights.

Among its central objectives is advocacy and legal reform. The coalition intends to engage policymakers and stakeholders on data protection, accountability for internet disruptions and stronger protections against gender-based online abuse and harassment.

The alliance’s agenda comes at an important moment in Liberia’s evolving digital regulatory framework. Liberia’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications currently lists both the Cybercrime Act of 2025 and legislation concerning the collection, processing, transmission, storage, protection and use of personal information among the country’s approved Acts.

The ministry also lists Liberia’s National Cyber Security Strategy 2025–2029 as an approved strategic document.

Against that backdrop, DARA’s stated advocacy agenda is expected to include strengthening implementation, accountability and institutional safeguards surrounding data protection and cybersecurity, as well as promoting mechanisms for protecting citizens’ rights in the digital environment.

DARA also plans to promote an Internet Shutdown Accountability Framework, calling for greater transparency and accountability whenever access to online communications is restricted.

The coalition further identifies gender-specific online safety legislation as an area for advocacy, reflecting concerns about online harassment, abuse and other digital threats that can disproportionately affect women and other vulnerable groups.

Its capacity-building agenda will focus on improving the digital security practices, advocacy skills and policy knowledge of member organizations and the wider civil society community.

This includes strengthening practical knowledge around issues such as secure communications, phishing, social engineering, secure browsers, cookies, virtual private networks and two-factor authentication areas covered during the WACSI training programme in Liberia.

Another pillar of the alliance is research and documentation.

DARA intends to monitor and document developments affecting digital rights in Liberia, including legislation, surveillance practices, online harassment, platform accountability and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The coalition also plans to produce and disseminate research aimed at informing policymakers, civil society organizations, journalists, technology practitioners and the public about developments in Liberia’s digital environment.

The emphasis on research comes as governments and societies worldwide confront new questions surrounding artificial intelligence, data privacy, digital surveillance, misinformation, cybersecurity and the responsibilities of technology platforms.

DARA also intends to give Liberian civil society a stronger collective voice in regional and international digital-rights discussions.

The coalition’s stated areas of engagement include the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and global internet-governance processes.

Such engagement could provide opportunities for Liberian civil society organizations to share experiences, contribute to regional policy discussions and draw on international standards concerning privacy, freedom of expression, access to information, cybersecurity and digital inclusion.

The alliance has also identified emergency response as a core component of its mandate.

Under the framework outlined in the MOU, DARA will seek to coordinate collective civil society responses to digital-rights emergencies, including internet shutdowns, targeted attacks against civil society organizations and large-scale online harassment campaigns.

The approach reflects a broader shift in civil society advocacy, where digital security is increasingly viewed not simply as a technical issue but as an essential component of protecting civic participation and human rights.

The establishment of DARA represents the next step following the 2026 WACSI training programme in Liberia.

According to the organizations involved, participants made commitments at the conclusion of the programme to move beyond individual institutional efforts and develop a coordinated platform for digital-rights advocacy.

The signing of the MOU therefore formalizes that commitment and establishes a framework for collective action among the ten founding organizations.

As Liberia continues its digital transformation, the emergence of DARA places digital rights more firmly within the country’s broader civil society, governance and development conversation.

With internet access still reaching only about three in every ten Liberians according to the latest available DataReportal estimates, the coalition’s agenda encompasses two interconnected challenges: expanding meaningful and affordable access to digital services while ensuring that people who use those services can exercise their rights and enjoy appropriate protections online.