Need for the adoption of laws to protect users of Digital in the DRC

Kinshasa, May 22^nd, 2021 (CPA).– The day of reflection organized on Thursday at the French Institute in Kinshasa (IFK), under the theme « Influence of GAFAM, individual freedoms and sovereignty of States », ended with recommending to the Congolese State the adoption at the level of Parliament of laws aimed at protecting Congolese citizens against fraudulent maneuvers by foreign digital companies. Lawyer Me Medel Diawa, lawyer at the Kinshasa / Matete bar and expert in digital issues, one of the speakers of the day, mentioned the need, in the legal aspect, for the adoption of these laws and on the technical level, the creation of infrastructures that can act as a counterweight to these digital multinationals, namely « Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft » (GAFAM). He also proposes that the State, while drawing inspiration from the European model, start regional cooperation to fight together against « GAFAM », claiming that the latter often violate the individual freedoms of their users on the pretext of protecting them. He has shown through a few examples that these companies use ways that often infringe the individual rights of Internet users, who are not very vigilant, in particular by imposing on them « conditions of use in the form of very long membership contracts », « the data collected used for commercial and advertising purposes”, as well as the“geolocation system which to a certain extent infringes the freedom of movement of users”. Computer and digital IR, Dondup Bobanga, one of the organizers of this activity, said this group of companies currently exert clear dominance in the global and Western digital market. This makes it very difficult for new companies to enter this market, he said, adding that the DRC needs to protect its citizens from these digital companies that have become economic superpowers. The purpose of this conference was to show the influence and the place of these large Internet companies around the world in the use of their tools, in order to make the Internet community aware of the difficulties of access to this digital market which seems blocked by these GAFAMs, he concluded. ACP/