South Sudan has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders. However, South Sudan has been a member of the East African Community EAC since 2016 and is an observer of COMESA.

South Sudan does not have a comprehensive regime of data protection in place.

Section 6 of the Cybercrimes and Computer Misuse Provisional Order imposes an obligation on service providers to store for 180 days information relating to communications, including personal data and traffic data of subscribers. A service provider is defined as a public or private entity that provides to users of its services the means to communicate by use of a computer system and any other entity that processes or stores computer data on behalf of that entity or its users (Section 5).

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringement is absent in South Sudan's law and jurisprudence.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in South Sudan's law and jurisprudence.

It is reported that South Sudan imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card or a passport in case of foreigners to activate a new prepaid SIM card.

In recent years, there have been several reported cases of web content blocking, illustrating the challenge of restricted access to online platforms. In late June 2020, Sudan's Post publicly announced that government authorities had blocked access to its content. In August 2021, it was noted that Facebook and WhatsApp faced restrictions ahead of planned protests, underscoring the ongoing issue of online content limitations. Moreover, it is reported the government’s South Sudan National Communication Authority at times blocked access to certain websites in 2023, such as two popular news websites, Radio Tamazuj and Sudans Post, as well as social media personalities and other online news generators.

South Sudan has no rules applicable to the protection of trade secrets. However, there has been a bill in this regard that has been pending approval since 2013.

There is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in the country to deliver telecom services to end users. According to Art. 53 of the National Communication Act, licensed operators shall share their infrastructure on the basis of commercial agreements entered into with each other. However, the Authority shall direct operators to share their infrastructure where it is in the public interest to do so.

Section 323.4 of the Companies Act stipulates that small companies shall be exclusively owned by South Sudanese nationals. According to Section 323.3, a company qualifies as a small-sized private company if its turnover for the preceding accounting period is below a threshold specified by the government, it employs no more than seven individuals, and its share capital does not exceed an amount prescribed by the government. Furthermore, Section 323.5 mandates that financially capable South Sudanese nationals must hold a minimum of 31% of the shares in medium and large private companies. Section 323.6 defines a medium or large private company as one with share capital not less than an amount prescribed by the government. These regulatory restrictions reportedly extend to sectors pertinent to digital trade, including telecommunications, internet services, and computer-related services.

It is reported that Digitel Telecommunications, a state-owned company, was established in 2021. However, information regarding the government's shareholding in the company is not publicly available.

It is reported that South Sudan does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation.

It is reported that bidding and tender information is not publicly available.

It is reported that certain restrictions apply to obtaining a telecommunications licence, including differentiated conditions for foreign-controlled operators, a legal limit on the number of licences, a minimum capital requirement, and other licensing criteria. However, these restrictions are not explicitly outlined in the regulatory texts. The overall framework for licensing in the telecommunications sector is set forth in Chapter V of the National Telecommunication Act.

South Sudan is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), nor does it have observer status.