An analysis of Social Media use in The SADC region - 2014 - 2020 For example open journalism 86 is creating new sources for professional journalists; activists using technology are providing remarkable on-the-ground raw material for news stories. Research 87 has shown that 37% of social media users have contributed to the creation of news, commented on it or shared it with others. Citizen journalism on social media88 is also on the rise within the region and it involves private individuals, who are normally the consumers of journalism, generating their own news content. Citizens collect, report, analyze, and disseminate news and information, just as professional journalists would, creating what is known as user-generated content. Private-public social media scope Secondly, there is a growing rift due to the blurring of the boundary between private and public communication in the region. Traditionally there were separate channels for private and public communication: In private communication the sender usually knows the receiver(s) (e.g. in person, by letter or in telephone conversations). In public communication the sender does not usually have precise knowledge of the receivers. Social media sites allow users to easily switch between private and public communication on the same platform. This is reinforced by the fact that traditional mass media is also present on social networks and can help users achieve a mass media effect when they act on and share these. All the major newspapers, radio and television and other mass media outlets in the region are present and very active on social media, for example in South Africa News24 (@News24) was in top 10 twitter89 handles with 3 472 387 followers, while in Zimbabwe top five has 2 newspapers in the top 5 twitter accounts; NewsDay Zimbabwe (@NewsDayZimbabwe) 512 287 followers while 263Chat263Chat (@263Chat) 438 391 followers.90 Risk(s) to users: Arrest and/ or detentions after publications on Social Media There is an upward trend of arrest and detentions after publication exposing, insulting or challenging politically exposed persons91 on social media. The United Nations Human Rights Committee92 issued 93 a commentary on freedom of expression that anti-blasphemy laws and restrictions on criticism of governments are incompatible with existing norms and that free expression is essential for the protection of human rights. As an example some cases from the region are as follows: Arrest(s) after publication: Case of Angola On May 10, 2019 in Luanda, Hsamussuku Tshikonde was detained ‘unlawfully94 ’ for 72 hours for allegedly “insulting the president” in 86 https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/jul/09/open-journalism-africa-internet-smartphone 87 https://theconversation.com/the-future-of-news-crowdsourced-and-connected-4276 88 https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-citizen-journalism-2073663 89 https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/twitter/profiles/south-africa 90 https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/twitter/profiles/zimbabwe 91 https://complyadvantage.com/knowledgebase/politically-exposed-persons/ 92 https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382902 93 ibid 94 without charge or access to a lawyer 23 https://zimbabwe.misa.org