An analysis of Social Media use in The SADC region - 2014 - 2020 Conceptual framework The research methodology is derived in large measure from digital rights standards mainly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights8. The analysis is based on the premise that these standards apply 9 to everyone and all countries, irrespective of geographical location and socio-economic status10. The research employed the following conceptual framework11: Figure 1: Conceptual framework Source: Own Diagram (2020) – Adopted and modified from Mobile connectivity index 8 https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/pdf/udhr_booklet_en_web.pdf 9 https://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2017/human-rights-are-universal-apply-everyone-every-day 10 Application of the UDHR can be premised on its ratification by the country concerned: As of the June 2020, all United Nations member States have ratified at least one of the nine core international human rights treaties, and 80 percent have ratified four or more, giving concrete expression to the universality of the UDHR and international human rights.: https://www.un.org/en/sections/universal-declaration/ human-rights-law/ 11 Modified from and Informed by the mobile connectivity index: The Mobile Connectivity Index measures the performance of 165 countries against the key enablers of mobile internet adoption. https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/; https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GSMA-State-of-Mobile-Internet-Connectivity-Report-2019.pdf 7 https://zimbabwe.misa.org