confirmed that the Cinematography and the Anthropological Research Act are being applied together – especially in the case of research in regard to Basarwa or San people. Besides the fact that all these pieces of legislation could lead to the media in Botswana practising self-censorship for fear of being on the wrong side of the law, the situation is made worse by the many far-reaching powers given to Botswana’s President under the Constitution. These powers are more or less unlimited and extend to many aspects of Botswana’s public life. The case of Professor Ken Good (an Australian lecturer at the University of Botswana) – where the President used his powers to declare him a Prohibited Immigrant (PI) – is seen as proof that these powers are still being exercised from time to time. Government also still upholds the need for the National Security Act (NSA) as a defense against anything which might threaten the security of the country or – even more broadly - any other act that is against the interests of the country. Now it is widely expected that the NSA is going to be bolstered even further by the proposed Security and Intelligence Services Bill, which provides for the possibility of greater incursions into citizens’ privacy. Already the Police Act allows the police to monitor people’s land line and cellular phones. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 1.2 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 2, 2 2.3 (2005 = 2.6) The right to freedom of expression is practiced and citizens, including journalists, are asserting their rights without fear. ANALYSIS: Most media workers are concerned not so much about freedom of expression as such but rather about the control of the free flow of information in the country. A lot of information is being classified as privileged by the authorities even though it may be quite innocuous. There is hardly any litigation between citizens over freedom of expression issues (e.g. defamation) but numerous lawsuits against the media in this regard have been brought before the courts. Although their number has declined significantly in recent years, demands for damages to be paid have increased steeply, due to the tendency of the courts to award high amounts where the matter involves prominent people after a precedent was set in a case brought by a High Court judge. Some people are just taking their chances as they know that they can win on legal technicalities. Often cases are withdrawn after putting the media through a lot of unnecessary legal expenses. Meanwhile, most publications are becoming increasingly proactive by counter suing. Too many lawsuits against the media are due to the carelessness of editors and absence of monitoring tools and internal controls. Most newspaper houses do not pursue cases to the end but instead readily settle out of court even when they have a strong case. The media should stand by their stories more – provided they are convinced of the correctness of these stories. Some are being encouraged to do that by their media lawyers. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -149- Media Institute of Southern Africa