Botswana failed to become operation is because the Law Society of Botswana has refused to recommend and appoint a lawyer. As soon as Dr Butale realised the amendment of Section would undoubtedly facilitate the establishment of the Appeals Committee to oversee and regulate the media, he withdrew his motion. BROADCASTING Broadcasting Digital Migration After months of assuring the public that Botswana’s digital migration process was on schedule and would take place in June 2015, the deputy permanent secretary for Information and Broadcasting Services, Mr Mogomotsi Kaboeamodimo said government had set March 2016 as the new deadline for migration from analogue to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). The digital migration process has been marred by controversy, when it was revealed that Botswana had opted for the Japanese standard for digital terrestrial television instead of the European standard favoured by many of the countries in the region. Botswana opted for Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard for digital broadcasts, rather than the second generation of the Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVB-T2) standard adopted by other countries.2 The South African Digital Broadcasting Association warned Botswana that it’s choice of the Japanese top set boxes isolate it in the region. An independent research study carried out by Stellenbosch University showed that the DVB-T2 is “far superior” to other digital standards as it delivers 50% more capacity than the ISDB-T (that Botswana has opted for) and is unrivalled in its flexibility and features by first-generation standards.”3 The purchase of the Japanese top set boxes will impact on citizens in terms of unnecessary costs in upgrades to a newer technology and reduces the benefits of transition from analog to digital. Since the Japanese model is not readily available. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ONLINE Mmegi Newspaper Website Hacked A website belonging to the largest and only private daily newspaper, Mmegi was hacked and deleted in early January. Ten days later the website was hacked again and 12 years of archive material was deleted. According to a Mail and Guardian report, Editor, Ntibinyane Ntibinyane told the Mail and Guardian at the time “that Mmegi’s website is one of the most secure in Botswana and that what happened clearly shows that the hackers used sophisticated technology”. 3 Tech Central Botswana TV move draws fire 2 To enjoy the benefits of digitisation, a black box decoder known as a set top box is required to convert the digital signal to an analogue signal which is fed into a TV set to convert the signal to pictures for viewing. So This is Democracy? 2015 23