SECTOR 1 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: Score of previous years: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 2 .4 2006: 1.1; 2008: 1.3; 2010: 1.2; 2012: 2.2; 2015: 2.6 1.3 There are NO legal restrictions to freedom of expression or laws that interfere with the functioning of the media. (e.g. official secret, libel acts and legal requirements) In practice, there are laws which restrict the media. These include AIPPA, which regulates the right to establish media. This law is qualified by the constitution, in that it states that establishing media should be subject to licencing requirements; but the government is interpreting this to mean that licencing involves imposing restrictions. The AIPPA Act places limitations on ownership. The new Broadcasting Services Bill also has these restrictions, including a proposed maximum 20% ownership of a broadcasting service by a non-citizen. The Companies Act, which includes an indigenisation clause, also places thresholds on ownership. The Official Secrets Act remains in effect and must be signed by those working for the state, restraining them from revealing information to the media. The Censorship and Entertainments Control Act has also been used to ban theatre productions seen as anti-government. Acts are still in place that could be used against the media and, in particular, to compromise journalistic sources. The Interception of Communications Act allows the government to intercept communications, and can be used to force an individual to hand over passwords for a computer or cell phone. In addition, it is a criminal offence for an Internet Service Provider to inform subscribers that they are being monitored or intercepted. This is in contrast to the United States, for example, where every service provider has to issue an annual transparency report. On a positive note, there have been instances of laws successfully being challenged. The offence of ‘insulting the office of the President’, which embraced criminal defamation and was often used against the media, was struck down by 10 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZIMBABWE 2020