Overview

The first comprehensive study of how digital media is regulated across Africa's diverse political and legal landscapes. As one of the few books focused exclusively on the governance of new media across the African continent, Regulating Digital Media in Africa offers a timely and critical engagement with the legal and policy frameworks shaping broadcasting, social media, and the broader digital ecosystem. Drawing on in-depth case studies from African scholars who cover a wide range of African countries and political systems and interviews with professionals involved in shaping or contesting regulatory outcomes, the book reveals key trends, contradictions, and policy dilemmas in new media regulation. It highlights how governments are responding to challenges such as internet shutdowns, online harms, data governance, and digital legislation. This book provides a strong conceptual and empirical foundation for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in digital governance in Africa. With its Global South perspective, it offers valuable contributions to broader debates on media regulation, sovereignty, and internet governance.

Full Product Details

Author:   Vincent Obia ,  Sulayman Bah ,  Yemisi Akinbobola ,  Dr. Oliver Carter
Publisher:   Intellect
Imprint:   Intellect Books
ISBN:  

9781835952443

ISBN 10:   1835952445
Pages:   242
Publication Date:   03 April 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Awaiting stock  

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction Vincent Obia and Sulayman Bah   Part 1: Regulatory Trends and the Research Landscape   1. Regulating Digital Technologies in Africa: Navigating a Shifting Tech Landscape Hayes Mawindi Mabwezara   2. Human Rights, Freedom of Expression, and Multi-Stakeholderism in the Regulation of New Media Technologies in Africa – Interview with Guilherme Canela Vincent Obia   3. Mapping A Research Agenda for Digital Media Regulation in Africa: A Systematic Analysis Vincent Obia     Part 2: State Policy Approaches and Regulatory Challenges   4. Cyber Security Laws, Digital Media Spaces and Media Freedoms in Zambia Youngson Ndawana, Joanne Knowles, and Elastus Mambwe   5. Morocco’s Approach to Digital Media Regulation: State Policy, Power Asymmetry, Platform Dialogue – Interview with Latifa Akharbach  Yemisi Akinbobola   6. Regime Change?: Digitalisation, Media Convergence and the Constraints to Reforming Ghana’s Analogue Era Regulatory System Kobina Bedu-Addo   7. Broadcast Media Regulation and Democratic Transitions in Africa: A Nigerian and South African Case Study Yemisi Akinbobola, Vincent Obia, and Trust Matsilele     Part 3: Digital Media Censorship: Frictions, Tensions, Reactions   8. Balancing Freedom with Responsibility or Simply Pandering to Political Whims: An Analysis of Kenya’s Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018 Esther King’ori and Maureen Syallow   9. Interrogating Online Journalism Regulation and Censorship in Africa – Interview with Churchill Otieno Sulayman Bah   10. Senegal’s Approach to Digital Media Regulation: Limited Civil Society Consultation, State Control, and the Need for a Continental Approach to Governance – Interview with David Diaz-Jogeix Sulayman Bah   11. Evasive Journalism: Circumventing the Regulation of Online Journalism in The Gambia Sulayman Bah   Conclusion Winston Mano   Index

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Author Information

Dr Sulayman Bah is an academic and journalist specialising in media law and journalism. He has extensive university teaching experience, holds multiple degrees in journalism and law, and possesses practical, international journalism experience across various media platforms. Dr Vincent Obia is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow researching AI governance in Africa at the University of Sheffield. Dr Yemisi Akinbobola is a Senior Lecturer and Research Degrees Coordinator at Birmingham City University. Her research interests include African Feminisms, Media Development and Journalism Practice. Oliver Carter is Professor of Creative Economies at Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research.

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