Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.7 (2008 = 2.6) 1.3 There are no laws restricting freedom of expression such as excessive official secret or libel acts, or laws that unreasonably interfere with the responsibilities of media. « Even though defamation and libel laws target the general public, journalists, who gather and make information public find them particularly restrictive to their work. » 68 The Cameroon Penal Code has provisions, such as criminal libel, that cancel out constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression. According to one panellist “Even though defamation and libel laws target the general public, journalists, who gather and make information public find them particularly restrictive to their work.” A journalist can be jailed for up to six months for libel and defamation, while a citizen can go to jail for up to three years if found guilty of spreading false information. “When it comes to press offences, the Penal Code becomes superior to the 1990 Social Communication law,” one panellist said. Administrative censorship is officially banned in Cameroon. But Articles 13 and 14 of the 1990 Social Communication law oblige newspaper and magazine publishers to forward two signed copies of each edition to the state prosecutor and local administrative authority “within two hours” of publication. Article 17 of the same law gives powers to an administrative authority to seize a publication if he/she judges its content likely to breach public order. The Minister of Territorial Administration can disband a publication for the same reason. An individual can also request the seizure of a publication if he/she judges that his/her “honour, dignity, consideration, reputation or privacy” has been harmed by a newspaper article. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER CAMEROON 2011