Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
African nations of Kenya, Senegal, Niger and Cabo verde on Thursday joined the United States and more than 50 other countries to launch the declaration for the future of the Internet, a tool that has become so indispensable to life and democracy that it is often compared to electricity and other basic amenities.
The countries acknowledged that while the Internet has been revolutionary and provides unprecedented opportunities for people around the world to connect and to express themselves, and continues to transform the global economy, enabling economic opportunities for billions of people, it has also created serious policy challenges.
“We are united by a belief in the potential of digital technologies to promote connectivity, democracy, peace, the rule of law, sustainable development, and the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. As we increasingly work, communicate, connect, engage, learn, and enjoy leisure time using digital technologies, our reliance on an open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet will continue to grow. Yet we are also aware of the risks inherent in that reliance and the challenges we face,” the countries wrote in their declaration.
