October 1, 2026 In Newsroom By WACSI
West Africa’s Digital Rights Gaps Leave Civic Actors Vulnerable, New Study Reveals
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[West Africa, 1 October 2026 ] – Nearly three out of every four civil society workers, journalists, advocates and technology professionals surveyed in Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia said they had experienced data leaks or misuse, highlighting growing concerns about the safety of digital spaces across West Africa.
The finding is among the key results of a new study by the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), which also found that respondents’ trust in existing digital rules was less than two points on a five-point scale, while the need for stronger laws to protect against online abuse and surveillance scored more than four points out of five.
The findings are contained in two country-group reports covering five countries. The English report, “Digital Frontlines: Connected Voices, Collective Power: A Mapping Study on Digital Rights, Advocacy, and Activism in Nigeria, Ghana, and Liberia”, and the French report, “Les avant-gardes du numériques : des voix connectées, un pouvoir collectif : Étude cartographique des droits numériques, du plaidoyer et de l’activisme en Côte d’Ivoire et en Guinée” were launched by WACSI on 25 September 2026 with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
The wider mapping examined digital rights, advocacy and activism across Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea.
The survey, conducted in September 2025, involved 151 respondents, including 57 from Nigeria, 54 from Ghana, and 40 from Liberia. In Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea, an additional 90 respondents participated in the survey, including 56 from Cote d’Ivoire and 34 from Guinea. The respondents were drawn from civil society, journalism, advocacy, and technology. They were asked about artificial intelligence, online violence, data protection, digital access, and barriers to civic engagement.
The study found that respondents rated the potential harm associated with artificial intelligence at 3.9 out of five, while poor rural internet access and inadequate funding for civic groups emerged among the leading barriers to digital advocacy.
The findings also reveal important differences between countries. Liberia recorded substantially greater perceived policy gaps than Nigeria and Ghana, while respondents in Nigeria reported higher levels of online harassment.
Moderating the launch discussion, Omolara Balogun, Head, Policy Influencing and Advocacy at WACSI, noted that the challenge extends beyond digital rights to unequal access. She noted that only about four in every ten Africans used the internet in 2024, compared with more than two in every three people globally, according to International Telecommunication Union figures.
“The digital divides need to be closed,” Balogun said. “Protecting digital space is another duty that we all have to attend to.”
Presenting findings from the Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea component, Lead Researcher, Dr Alain Babatoundé, Associate Professor and researcher at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin, said the digital rights environment differs significantly across African countries.
“The digital rights landscape in Africa is a contrasted one, varying from country to country,” he said.
Franck Sombo, Head, Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Technology at WACSI, highlighted a new regulatory development in Cote d’Ivoire that classifies influencers with more than 25,000 followers as mass media outlets and makes them legally responsible for comments posted by their followers.
The discussion also highlighted practical policy gaps. Claudius Thompson, Security Researcher at the Liberia Cyber Crime Prevention and Mitigation Agency, welcomed Liberia’s data protection law but stressed the need for an institution to enforce it.
“We are glad about the data protection law that has been signed,” Thompson said. “But what we need now is a data protection authority.”
The launch ended with calls for stronger data protection institutions, greater investment in rural connectivity and mechanisms to support cross-border digital rights advocacy and litigation.
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