; Whereas those operating independent news websites and blogs are obstructed through blocking and censorship, burdensome licensing requirements, and regulatory measures that effectively limit their audience and their livelihoods; Whereas many African governments lack robust data protection and privacy laws, and the systems to implement such laws, leaving the privacy of citizens exposed and susceptible to infringement; Whereas the Communist government in China, through the desire to build a digital Silk Road , has increased cyber activity in Africa through telecommunications contracts and fiber optic networks which can expose individuals to greater monitoring and surveillance, and has exported technology and training to authoritarian officials that have made it easier to restrict internet access in many African countries; Whereas Huawei Technologies has reportedly sold products and services to African governments that have been used to support spying on political opponents; and Whereas Russia has been testing new disinformation techniques and tactics through a series of online networks linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch indicted by the United States for meddling in the United States Presidential election in 2016, in African countries that include Sudan, Cameroon, Libya, and Mozambique: Now, therefore, be it