Advancing digital rights in limited aspects while still engaging in rights-violating practices with key rights-protecting legislation and/or key international human rights instruments not signed or ratified

Opportunistic

Advancing the freedom of expression online  in limited aspects while still engaging in rights violating practices such as internet shutdowns. Key constitutional provisions or legislation protection the freedom of expression online missing and/or key international human rights instruments not signed or ratified

Systematically advancing key aspects of privacy  both online and offline through data protection legislation based on some priority areas with rare instances of digital rights being violated but some institutional aspects of a data protection authority or data protection legislation still missing

Systematic

Algeria

Limited: Consistently lower access, ignored differentiation.

Inaccessible: Basic quality, selective coverage.

Digitalized: Machine-readable records, workflows set.

Transformational: Widespread digital payments, local currencies.

Transformational

Integrated IDs, digital wallets, accessible data.

Differentiating

Adverse: Limited tech adoption, unfavorable conditions.

Basic

Limited integration: Traditional finance, low tech business.

Digitalization: Online transactions, some redesign.

Outsourcing: Few skills, external help, partial strategy.

Reactive: No strategy, no senior support, isolated projects.

Initiatives in silos, limited support, no strategy.

Restricted: Tech not for citizen-govt interaction, voice exclusion.

Elective: Basic skills widespread, optional school learning.

Intermediate: Complex actions, info access, tech ownership.

Limited literacy: Digital gap, basic use.

No recognition: No cyber crime law, unprotected infrastructure.

Basic attempt made to recognize digital rights but no attempt made to respect, protect or integrate into national digital transformation strategy

Egypt

Integrated: Govt-business linked IDs, data protection.

Integrated: Widespread skills, central strategy, metrics-driven.

Strategic: Inclusive vision, some shared adoption.

Shared vision, limited funds, strategic planning.

Community: Tech solves local issues, citizen decision influence.

Transactional: Moderate use, gaps in access.

Growing acceptance: Basic literacy, more complex tasks.

Recognition: Enacted law, limited enforcement.

Established: Substantive digital laws, weak enforcement.

Systematically advancing key aspects of freedom of expression both online and offline through legislation based on some priority areas with rare instances of digital rights being violated but some institutional frameworks/legislation missing

Basic attempt made to recognize the right to privacy  but no attempt made to respect, protect or integrate it into national digital transformation strategy. Missing key laws like a data protection legislation and related institutions

Libya

Restricted: Lower tech access, systemic barriers.

Outdated: Limited coverage, unreliable infrastructure.

Paper-based: Birth, marriage, land records on paper.

Traditional: Cash, checks dominate, rare digital payments.

Paper IDs, traditional payments, siloed data.

Paper-based: No online services, in-person only.

Analogue: No skills, outsourcing, no strategy, no budget.

Limited: Paper bureaucracy, no funding, ad-hoc tech.

Clear strength in respecting and protecting privacy online  with all key systemic elements in place. Minimal instances of rights violations.

Morocco

Integrated digitalization: Centralized, redesigned, data-centric.

Formal: Underdeveloped plan, moderate priority.

Promotion: Budget support, growing practice.

Sudan (the)

Blocked: Systemic barriers exclude at-risk groups.

Informal: Scattered support, no national framework.

Private: Basic skills, some schools, company training.

Basic: Tech for leisure, low access and adoption.

Limited exposure: Cultural aversion, minimal tech use.

Tunisia

Differentiating: Decoupled payments, digital wallets.

Engaged: Tech shapes decisions, ethics guide communication.

Burundi

Basic IDs, early digital payments, limited sharing.

Volunteerism: Tech aids activism, accountability via volunteers.

Regulate & forget: Developing law, seeking resources.

Comoros (the)

Digital seeds: Growing skills, some insourcing, developing strategy.

Djibouti

Digitized: Records digital, separate institutions.

Digitization: Basic digital tools, in-person main.

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Digital IDs, mobile banking, online data sharing.

Elite: Educated, skilled minority. Digital divide persists.

Kenya

Growing tech: Digital finance, moderate tech business.

Madagascar

Malawi

Systematic: Prepaid, mobile money, no bank account.

Developing: Moderate tech, sector-specific conditions.

Systematically advancing key aspects of digital rights based on some priority areas with rare instances of digital rights being violated.

Mauritius

Embedded, administrative integration, emerging tech.

Advancing the right to privacy online but key elements such as data protection/restrictions on surveillance or key institutions missing. Rights violations,such as use of spyware may be prevalent.

Mozambique

Rwanda

Seychelles

Somalia

South Sudan

Uganda

Basic attempt made to recognize the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association but no attempt made to respect, protect or integrate it into national digital transformation strategy. Legislative or  institutional provisions relating to the freedom of the press, Right to Information, or freedom of expression online missing.

United Republic of Tanzania (the)

Digital by default: Embedded skills, centralized strategy, quantifiable objectives, long-term budget, full Digital Principles integration.

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Angola

Cameroon

Central African Republic (the)

Chad

Congo (the)

Democratic Republic of the Congo (the)

Equatorial Guinea

Gabon

Clear strength in respecting and protecting digital rights with all key systemic elements in place. Minimal instances of rights violations.

Sao Tome and Principe

Botswana

Eswatini

Lesotho

Namibia

South Africa

Benin

Burkina Faso

Cabo Verde

Côte d'Ivoire

Gambia (the)

Ghana

Resourced: Legal resources, intl. standards.

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Liberia

Mali

Mauritania

Niger (the)

Nigeria

Senegal

Sierra Leone

Togo

Antigua and Barbuda

Changing: Digital access, cards, online banking, cashless.

Advanced: Complex services, reduced divide.

Bahamas (the)

Barbados

Cuba

Respecting, protecting and fulfilling digital rights through an integrated, cohesive national approach. Minimal instances of rights violations.

Dominica

Dominican Republic (the)

Open: Similar access, recognized barriers, free access points.

Grenada

Universal: Equal access, acknowledged barriers, full benefits.

Haiti

Jamaica

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

Belize

Costa Rica

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Argentina

Cultivated: Schools teach, tech equipped curriculum.

Technology embraced: Reduced gap, high literacy.

Bolivia (Plurinational State of)

Brazil

Chile

Rudimentary: Urban-focused high-speed coverage.

Colombia

Ecuador

Guyana

Paraguay

Peru

Suriname

Uruguay

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Canada

Cross-sector collab: Seed financing, wide tech business.

United States of America (the)

Dynamic Legal Framework: Comprehensive law, baselines, compliance, international alignment.

Digital Development Compass

Digital Development Compass