Democratic Alliance (DA), the South African opposition party, is demanding to know why the government voted against a UN resolution that expanded freedom of speech online last week.

"The DA will not allow this injustice to go unanswered," the party said in a press release, adding: "The vote against this resolution speaks volumes about the ANC-government's 'zero cares' attitude about the public outcry against its ongoing programme of censorship."

The shadow minister of international relations will also be writing a letter to his counterpart asking that the government make a public statement laying out why it voted against the proposals.

Last week, at the Human Rights Council, a resolution extended human rights held offline to the internet. It also condemned any efforts by nation states to shut down internet access or target individuals who make their views known online.

South Africa was itself condemned by observers for joining an effort led by China and Russia to pull several clauses out of the resolution. ®