3 SOUTHERN AFRICA PRESS FREEDOM REPORT 2019-2020 SECTION 1: OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT introduction A VIBRANT and critical media is the hallmark of any democratic society. To achieve its fundamental watchdog role of holding those in power accountable, providing reliable information to the public and facilitating debate among citizens on issues of public importance, including democratic processes, the state must uphold and guarantee freedom of expression and access to information rights which enable journalists to do their work. However, the landscape and operational environment for the media in Southern Africa has been characterised by upheavals, accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the advent of the digital age, which have threatened the viability and sustainability of the media. Many of the countries still possess obsolete legal and policy frameworks that unnecessarily hinder the work of journalists and media practitioners, despite having constitutional guarantees on freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information. This has further been punctuated by physical and verbal attacks, harassment and assault of journalists and in some cases raiding of media houses. REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS In November 2019, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) adopted the Declaration of Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa (1) to safeguard the rights to freedom of expression and access to information as guaranteed under Article 9 of the African Charter. These Principles repealed the 2002 Declaration on freedom of expression which had become inadequate in so far as expounding on digital rights and the right to access information. The Declaration expansively sets out and promotes principles on freedom of expression, access to information and internet rights in Africa, adopting international standards under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which provide for the right to freedom of expression and access to information, including the parameters of restriction. In particular, Article 19 of the ICCPR provides for everyone’s right to freedom of opinion and the right to freedom of expression; and this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art or through any other media of his choice (2). The article further introduces limitations under which these