Botswana operate are: The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime Act, which bars the director from giving information on any person who is being investigated; the Public Service Act and the National Security Act, which make accessing information by journalists very difficult; the Official Secrets Act and the Cinematography Act 1975. Under the Cinematography Act, all film scripts must be submitted to the minister responsible for the media for approval (in theory, this would even apply to the videoing of private functions). Any deviations from the original script and changes to be made during the production process must similarly be submitted and await the minister’s permission before they can be implemented. MISA has long been pressing for this Act to be scrapped but it still remains in place, even though it is impossible to implement. It is presently being used in conjunction with the Anthropological Research Act. One panelist said she was recently expected to apply for permission under both laws even for doing research on broadcasting in the country. It was established that almost any kind of research involving human subjects requires previous permission from the Office of the President (OP) – especially if the researcher intends to interview government officials as well. Both Acts are proving to be a nightmare as all stages of the filming are being controlled. They were used two years ago against two journalists who wanted to cover a story on refugees. This 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 Botswana’s President under the Constitu4 African Media Barometer - Botswana 2007