An Exploratory Study of Internet Control and Surveillance

Series of events in recent years have forcefully brought global public attention to the situation around internet freedom. In Nigeria, there has been a trend of increasing budgetary allocation for surveillance equipment including internet communications monitoring. In order to ensure this study achieves its aims and objectives, qualitative methodology was used to collect data through in-depth interview. The non-probabilistic sampling technique that was used for this study is purposive sampling and the unit of analysis is organisation. Five information-rich subset of stakeholders in internet censorship and surveillance in Nigeria were interviewed namely; Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) and Cybersecurity Expert Association of Nigeria (CSEAN). The study established that, there is no specific law defining internet control and surveillance in Nigeria, thus, what constitutes internet control and surveillance is not defined in any written law in Nigeria. However, there are existing legislations that violates internet users’ privacy in Nigeria. The study recommended that, Nigerian government should adhere to the United Nations Human Rights Commission resolution that effectively makes internet access a basic human right.