Zimbabwe slips four places to 14th out of 29 in Africa’s Digital Rights and Inclusion ranking

WION

Zimbabwe has dropped four places to 14th in the latest assessment of Digital Rights and Inclusion in Africa. The ranking comes from the 2025 Digital Rights and Inclusion in Africa Report, known as Londa, the most comprehensive continental assessment to date, covering 29 African countries across Central, East, North, South and West Africa.

Compiled by Paradigm Initiative, a leading pan-African organisation advocating for digital rights and inclusion, the report evaluates each country using the score index, a 12-point indicator that measures access to information, freedom of expression, privacy protections and digital inclusion, among other factors. The index points to areas for improvement and to persistent structural challenges across the continent. According to the report, Zimbabwe recorded no internet shutdown in 2025. However, journalists and human rights defenders continued to face arbitrary arrests, and freedom of expression remained curtailed by sedition legislation and the criminalisation of false news.

The report also covers Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV), which limits opportunities for free expression online and runs counter to Resolution 522 of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). It notes that Zimbabwe faces policy and implementation gaps: it has not adopted legislation on emerging technologies and digital Identity Cards (IDs), nor has it revised its traditional gender-based violence policies to address online gender-based violence.

In addition, the report examines internet accessibility in Zimbabwe and assesses the regulatory landscape, outlining existing legislation on internet access, data protection, freedom of expression, access to information, privacy and digital inclusion. Londa offers a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of internet freedoms, policy environments and emerging digital rights risks across the continent. It serves as an annual benchmark of progress and setbacks in digital rights protection, drawing on extensive country-level research and stakeholder engagement.

The Zimbabwe country report also sets out recommendations to safeguard human rights by aligning policies and practices with the ACHPR’s declaration on freedom of expression and access to information. It urges the government to amend Gender-Based Violence-related laws, such as the Domestic Violence Act, to recognise, prevent and combat Tech-Facilitated GBV in line with Resolution 522. The resolution calls on states to review or adopt legislation aimed at combating all forms of digital violence and to expand the definition of gender-based violence to include digital violence against women, including cyber-harassment and cyberstalking, among other ICT-related violations.

The report further calls on the government to hold public consultations and conduct human rights impact assessments before implementing surveillance initiatives, and encourages civil society to pursue litigation over violations arising from surveillance and arbitrary arrests. It also recommends updating the Children’s Amendment Act 8 of 2023 to provide child-friendly reporting channels and provisions for the removal of harmful content. For the private sector, the report recommends publishing transparent reports on the use of surveillance technologies, in line with global transparency standards, to ensure accountability.

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