An analysis of Social Media use in The SADC region - 2014 - 2020 Gagging free speech on social media - Case of Botswana The Botswana constitution118 and law provide for freedom of speech and press; however, the law119 (Penal Code (Cap. 08:01) (1973 Rev.), s. 93) restricts the speech against some government officials and fines persons found guilty of insulting public officials or national symbols (courts have given judgment based on the law120), for example in Mokgothu v. The State 1986 BLR 34 (HC)121, O’Brien Quinn C.J. the accused was convicted based on that piece of legislation. Social media interruption through Internet disruptions Internet disruptions are now common in the region. These disruptions may be accidental (backhoes or ship anchors severing buried fiber), natural (hurricanes or earthquakes), or internet shut downs122 .Example of cases are as follows: Internet disruption: Case of South Africa In South Africa at approximately 2:20 p.m. UTC on January 21, 2016 Akamai identified123 traffic levels to South Africa suddenly dip by about 40%. Traffic remained at reduced levels for about two hours, until roughly 4:30 p.m. UTC. Dyn Research124 , the Internet monitoring arm of Internet performance company Dyn, corroborated the outage, noting that roughly 20% of network prefixes were down in South Africa as part of a larger set of outages throughout the African continent.125 According to African cable operator Seacom, these outages were due to construction activity in Egypt leading to multiple damaged cables, which caused connectivity problems for the entire continent as Seacom’s126 cables in and around Egypt provide connectivity for much of Africa to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Internet disruption: Case of Zimbabwe In January 2019 there was total internet shutdown in Zimbabwe. According to Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa in January 2019127 his network had taken down internet services across Zimbabwe on government orders. The shutdown was lifted after a court order on application by MISA-Zimbabwe128 challenging the legality of the internet shutdown. The verdict meant that 118 Chapter II subsection 12: Protection of freedom of expression : https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/--ilo_aids/documents/legaldocument/wcms_125669.pdf, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Botswana-2018.pdf 119 The law states, “Any person in a public place or at a public gathering (who) uses abusive, obscene, or insulting language in relation to the president, any other member of the National Assembly, or any public officer” is guilty of an offense and may be fined up to 400 pula ($38). The penal code also states that any person who insults the country’s coat of arms, flag, presidential standard, or national anthem is guilty of an offense and may be fined up to 500 pula ($47) : https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Insult%20Law%20Report.pdf 120 http://www.elaws.gov.bw/desplaylrpage.php?id=1712&dsp=2 121 http://www.elaws.gov.bw/desplaylrpage.php?id=1712&dsp=2 122 An internet shutdown happens when someone — usually a government — intentionally disrupts the internet or mobile apps to control what people say or do. Shutdowns are also sometimes called “blackouts” or “kill switches.” Here’s a more technical definition developed by experts: “An internet shutdown is an intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information.” - https://www. accessnow. org/keepiton/ 123 https://www.akamai.com/uk/en/multimedia/documents/state-of-the-internet/akamai-state-of-the-internet-report-q1-2016.pdf 124 https://hub.dyn.com/dyn-research 125 https://twitter.com/bgpmon/status/690211672779202560 126 https://www.itweb.co.za/content/lP3gQ2qG4w9vnRD1#.VqVWDm6LLXQ.twitter 127 https://www.pazimbabwe.com/business-49830-strive-masiyiwa-admits-shutting-down-internet-and-social-media-in-zimbabwe.html 128 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-politics/zimbabwe-court-says-internet-shutdown-during-protests-was-illegal-idUSKCN1PF11M 26 https://zimbabwe.misa.org