[1] The telecommunications sector was liberalized in 2001, and the number of companies providing telephone and Internet services increased from one, the state-run Rwandatel, to 10 in 2012.
With completion of the government-sponsored fiber-optic cable expansion project in 2011, telecommunication services throughout the country have improved and the amount of mobile cellular Internet access and use has increased.
Between 70% and 90% of the population speaks only Kinyarwanda, making Internet content in English unavailable to the majority of Rwandans.
[13] The 2021 UNDP report highlights Rwanda's advancements in incorporating technology in education, specifically aiding students with disabilities.
[4] The websites of international human rights organizations such as Freedom House, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, as well as the online versions of media outlets such as the BBC, Le Monde, Radio France Internationale, The New York Times, and many others are freely accessible.
Laws prohibit promoting divisionism, genocide ideology, and genocide denial, "spreading rumors aimed at inciting the population to rise against the regime", expressing contempt for the Head of State, other high-level public officials, administrative authorities or other public servants, and slander of foreign and international officials and dignitaries.
[4] In June 2011 a court convicted journalist Jean Bosco Gasasira in absentia of displaying contempt for the head of state and incitement to civil disobedience for his writings in the online publication Umuvugizi and sentenced him to two and a half years in prison.
[4] The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence; however, there are numerous reports the government monitors homes, telephone calls, e-mail, Internet chat rooms, other private communications, movements, and personal and institutional data.