Lexota
Lexota is an interactive map of laws and government actions tackling disinformation in Africa. Lexota employs a methodology for assessing each law or action based on the three-part test for permissible restrictions to freedom of expression. Consequently, the tool enables comparisons of laws across different countries and offers insights into their potential infringement of basic human rights.
Given the prevalence of copy-and-paste laws against disinformation in many African countries, Lexota serves as a first of its kind project addressing a crucial gap: The platform aims to promote transparency by preventing the misuse of disinformation threats as a pretext for governmental oppression or restrictions on free speech.
Founded in 2018, Lexota is supported by the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and managed by a consortium of different civil society organisations, amongst which are CIPESA (Uganda), Global Partners Digital (UK), Protege QV (Cameroon) and Article 19 (Global).
The interactive map is updated on a regular basis to keep serving as an important tool for human rights activists and civil society actors all over the world to hold governments accountable.
Organisation website: Lexota
