STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT 2021 42 INTERNET ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY Freedom House’s Freedom of the Net 2020 report notes that with a population of more than 17.6 million people, Malawi “has one of the lowest and slowest-growing rates of internet access in the world, in contrast to the exponential growth in access among its neighbours on the continent.” According to the International Telecommunication Union, Malawi’s internet penetration stood at 13.8 percent between 2017 and 2018. DataReportal put the internet penetration rate at 15 percent as of January 2020. Malawi’s mobile phone penetration rate is low at 39 percent. The few internet users experience slow speeds. The perennial poor performance of the economy means that Malawi’s poor cannot afford data tariffs, hence they struggle to access the internet. media. MEDIA REGULATION SURVEILLANCE AND PRIVACY OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION The Media Council of Malawi (MCM) that was set up in 2020 with the help of MISA Malawi has been filling a big void in the protection of journalists in the absence of vibrant unions. Police are increasingly using the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act of 2016 to target citizens and journalists that use social media platforms such as Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook to express themselves. MCM provides a platform for people aggrieved by stories published by the media where complaints are lodged. The council handles cases where journalists are accused of unethical conduct to the satisfaction of all the parties. Instead of routinely arresting journalists for alleged transgressions, authorities are continuously encouraged to use the MCM platform to get redress whenever they feel aggrieved by content in the In 2020, police arrested a 20-year-old woman, who allegedly shared a video via WhatsApp which was deemed offensive to the president. The woman is still on trial for allegedly violating provisions of the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act. Last year police arrested a social media influencer for allegedly posting a document on Facebook that purported to unmask corrupt people in Malawi.