Regulating New Media in Africa: Politics, Law and Governance

A collection of research on digital media regulatory interventions across Africa, an area that has largely been overlooked in the literature. It considers a range of perspectives from scholars within and outside Africa on the subject, providing a compendium on digital media regulation on the continent. The first comprehensive study of how new media is regulated across Africa's diverse political and legal landscapes. This edited collection provides a robust conceptual and empirical foundation for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in digital governance in Africa. Drawing on a Global South perspective, it offers valuable contributions to broader debates on media regulation, sovereignty, and internet governance. As one of the few books focused exclusively on the governance of new media across the African continent, it offers a timely and critical engagement with the legal and policy frameworks shaping digital broadcasting, social media, and the broader digital ecosystem. Drawing on in-depth case studies by African scholars across a wide range of countries and political systems, as well as interviews with professionals involved in shaping or contesting regulatory outcomes, it reveals key trends, contradictions, and policy dilemmas in new media regulation. This study highlights how governments are responding to challenges such as internet shutdowns, online harms, data governance. Sulayman Bah is a postdoctoral researcher and journalist based at Birmingham City University, UK, specialising in media law and journalism. Vincent Obia is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Sheffield, where he researches AI governance in Africa. Yemisi Akinbobola is associate professor of women’s rights and media development at Birmingham City University, UK. Oliver Carter is professor of creative economies at Birmingham City University, UK. The book considers the regulatory interventions that have been introduced for new media forms in Africa. This includes regulation covering digital broadcasting, social media and the wider digital media. Emphasis is placed on the regulation of new media, including digital media legislation, internet bans, regulation of online harms, data infrastructure, and digital policymaking. It presents new ideas on media and digital regulation in the Global South, focusing on the review, analysis, and critique of interventions in Africa. Detailed discussion of country case studies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) regions highlights trends, patterns, contradictions, and dilemmas in policy and regulation of new media.