REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS PROTECTING FREE SPEECH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA OVER the past two decades, countries in Southern Africa have enacted progressive legislation that promotes freedom of expression and of the media. This has been further buttressed by the introduction of access to information laws that have further enhanced freedom of expression and of the media. In 2020, Zimbabwe repealed the much-reviled Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which was replaced by the Freedom of Information Act. In the same year, Malawi’s Access to Information Act belatedly came into law, heralding what seemed to be a new era, where access to information was recognised as a cornerstone of freedom of expression. However, while Zimbabwe and Malawi enacted what seemed to be progressive laws, countries such as Botswana, Namibia and Zambia are yet to enact access to information laws. In Namibia, a bill has been presented to the legislature and the country is moving ever so slowly towards enacting the law. The change of government in Zambia gave hope that an access to information law — a bill had previously been tabled in the legislature — would soon be enacted, however, more than a year since coming into power, the United Party for National Development (UPND) is yet to make good on its promise of coming up with access to information legislation. While countries in the Southern African region seemed to be making progress in coming up with progressive laws that promoted access to information and freedom of expression legislation, there were signs that this progress could be derailed. In August 2020, a Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government ordinary summit resolved to take preemptive measures against external interference, the impact of fake news and abuse of social media particularly in electoral processes. While ideally, this resolution was meant to mitigate the impact of misinformation and disinformation, the flip side is that soon there was a flurry of new legislation that had the potential of infringing on freedom of expression particularly online. In April 2021, Zambia hurriedly enacted its Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act. There was fear that the new law, would be used to muzzle the media and the right to privacy. One of the main concerns was that when it came to the interception of communication, a private citizen has no right to be notified by either a law enforcement officer or service provider that they are being investigated or that communication to which they are a party is being intercepted and transferred to the centre. 9 In addition, the Act empowers a cyber inspector to, with a warrant at any reasonable time and without prior notice, access and inspect the operation of any computer or equipment forming part of an information system and any associated apparatus or material which the cyber inspector has reasonable cause to believe is, or has been used in, connection with any offence. This is particularly chilling for privacy and whistleblowers, which in addition affects the operations of the media, as very few people would be willing to pass on information to journalists. In response to the enactment of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act, MISA said: “The enactment of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act has a chilling effect on freedom of expression, media freedom and Zambians’ right to privacy. The Act falls far short of regional and international standards and instruments on human rights such as the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention), which sets the standards for cybersecurity and personal data protection laws as well as capacity building, knowledge exchanges and experience sharing among signatories.” Right on the coattails of the Zambian legislation, in December 2021, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed into law the Cyber and Data Protection Act. Among other things, the law seeks to deal with the publishing