It is now firmly entrenched by both the African Commission on Human and people's rights (ACHPR) and the United Nations; that same rights people enjoy offline must be protected online , in particular the right to freedom of expression as stipulated in Article 19 (2) of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the right to freedom of expression applies regardless of frontiers and through any media on one's choice eg ; access to internet, interference to access to internet, freedom of choice amongst information sources , the right to privacy.
In summary Digital Rights are basically human rights in the internet era . These rights are the extensions of the equal and inalienable rights laid out in the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
According to the UN, disconnecting people from the internet violates these rights and contrary to international law .