The prominent journalist was subsequently harassed and threatened with racially charged messages. (25) Another type of malinformation is when private and explicit images and videos are made public under the term “revenge porn”. In South Africa several cases were reported and this country has now enacted a law, which makes it illegal, but it is often difficult to prove who leaked the private content. (26) MIL educates content creators on what should be private, and why it should remain private and equips them with knowledge to secure this type of content. Hate speech is harmful messages spread mostly through social media and targets an individual or group of people based on their race, nationality, religion, or other differences. Some of the most used forms of hate speech in southern Africa are generalisations, prejudices, creation of stereotypes and derogatory defamation, sometimes camouflaged by humour. There is reason to believe that hate speech and harassment due to public exposure is on the increase. At a conference in Namibia in October 2021, the UN said that “hate speech is on the rise worldwide, with the potential to incite violence, undermine social cohesion and tolerance, and cause psychological, emotional, and physical harm, based on xenophobia, racism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and other forms of intolerance and discrimination”. Namibian President Hage Geingob reiterated that “hate speech plants the seeds of disunity, hatred and intolerance, leading to breaking down the fabric of basic human values”. (27) MIL brings clarity, where many people confuse hate speech with freedom of speech, and so might not even know that they are harming someone else. Most constitutions in the SADC member states protect equality, dignity, and freedom of speech. Although the Constitutional Court judge in the Qwelane case in South Africa noted that “a healthy democracy requires a degree of tolerance towards speech that shocks or offends”, he also described hate speech as “the antithesis of values envisioned by the rights of free “Some of the most used forms of hate speech in southern Africa are generalisations, prejudices, creation of stereotypes and derogatory defamation, sometimes camouflaged by humour. speech”. The court concluded that speech, which is harmful and intended to incite harm against a person or a group of people, is not constitutionally protected by freedom of speech rights. (28) Media and Information literate citizens can identify hate speech and report the social media account to the company or other authorities if it is severe and causes harm and hurt to the individual or group. Cyberbullying is nothing new; however, it is intensified as these messages go viral, and the sheer number of hurtful comments can have devastating consequences. The harmful information and media messages perpetuated online should not be left unaddressed. Several cases were reported where cyberbullying led to suicide, and cases of girls committing suicide as young at 13 years of age were reported in Namibia and South Africa in 2019. (29) In 2019 the Office of the Prime Minister in Lesotho launched a manhunt for a cyberbully by offering a cash reward to hold to account the person or persons who were spreading hurtful messages against ministers and their families. (30) (31) Another very recent example was of the South African singer Makhadzi being cyberbullied and body shamed after her performance in Malawi. (32) The focus should have been on what should be done to curb cyberbullying, and being media and information literate will greatly contribute to decrease the incidences, and having more bystanders turn into defenders of the victim. Trolls and bots: Trolls are real people, who spread destructive messages containing false information and exhibit hyperactive online behaviour. These people are often paid to promote or harass certain people or media organisations. Late in 2021, some of the highest authorities in Madagascar were accused of financing troll farms to share biased views or disinformation for political gain. (33) STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT 2021 67 journalist he disagreed with.