https://zimbabwe.misa.org Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Laws in the SADC Region civil society organization have proposed the outlining of clear procedures and elements in order to establish intention to commit the offences so as to ensure that a balance will be struck between regulation of the Internet space and exercise of fundamental rights (MISAZimbabwe, 2020). on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. This entails popularizing the ACHPR Principles on Freedom of Expression and conduct advocacy around the instrument itself in different SADC countries, and engaging the special rapporteur on Freedom of Expression to meet different stakeholders including government officials and departments. Advocacy strategies that can be relied on to ensure that these laws promote rather than curtail the exercise of rights This section foregrounds advocacy strategies that can be used to inform the necessary interventions that should be done to promote the human rightsbased approach in the coming up with data protection, cybersecurity and cybercrimes, and electronic transactions legislation in the region. It was noted by the respondents that there is need to engage in strategic litigation, capacity building, research, popularisation, influencing policy and laws and advocacy linked to Model Laws and the Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. Key informants pointed there is urgent need to focus on advocacy around domestic laws (Cybsecurity and cybercrime laws), Model Laws (Budapest, Malabo and SADC) and the Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. This advocacy campaigns can focus on the protection of privacy and personal information online and communication surveillance, advocacy around the Internet as a standalone right (and not advocate it under other rights), and advocacy on evaluating laws around COVID-19 for compliance with the Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. Another area requiring concerted efforts relates to advocacy on publicity and visibility of the domestic laws, Model Laws and the Declaration Another advocacy strategy, which was mentioned by key informants relate to advocacy on domestic laws, Model Laws and the Declaration linked to African Commission on Human and People’s Rights activities. This encapsulates putting pressure on national governments in the SADC region to do the reporting or to do their own shadow reporting on their compliance with the Declaration and Model Laws. This is particularly important because State Parties have an obligation to also report on the Declaration in periodic reports to ACPHR. CSOs in SADC have to engage the ACPHR when there are human rights violations taking place so that it can be used to send urgent appeals or delegations to the affected countries to protect lives. Research was also mentioned as an important strategy that CSOs and academia can use to ensure that cybersecurity and cybercrime laws are used to promote rather than curtail the exercise of inalienable rights. This consists of studies on the impact of surveillance and cyber-security laws on the protection of privacy and personal information, research on national emergency laws criminalising the spread of false and misleading information in the SADC region, research on the impact of contact tracing on the protection of privacy and personal information, comparative research on the criminalisation of racist or xenophobic hate speech, and organising sharing sessions involving the special rapporteur and parliamentarians and CSOs. 35