XIII
Criminal Measures
1. States shall review all criminal restrictions on content to ensure that they serve a
legitimate interest in a democratic society.
2. Freedom of expression should not be restricted on public order or national security
grounds unless there is a real risk of harm to a legitimate interest and there is a close
causal link between the risk of harm and the expression.
XIV
Economic Measures
1. States shall promote a general economic environment in which the media can flourish.
2. States shall not use their power over the placement of public advertising as a means to
interfere with media content.
3. States should adopt effective measures to avoid undue concentration of media
ownership, although such measures shall not be so stringent that they inhibit the
development of the media sector as a whole.
XV
Protection of Sources and other journalistic material
Media practitioners shall not be required to reveal confidential sources of information or to
disclose other material held for journalistic purposes except in accordance with the following
principles:
  the identity of the source is necessary for the investigation or prosecution of a
serious crime, or the defence of a person accused of a criminal offence;
  the information or similar information leading to the same result cannot be obtained
elsewhere;
  the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to freedom of expression; and
  disclosure has been ordered by a court, after a full hearing.
XVI
Implementation
States Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’s Rights should make every effort
to give practical effect to these principles.

So This Is Democracy? 2008

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Media Institute of Southern Africa

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