Swaziland
main towns. Most Internet cafés charge at least E20.00 for 15 minutes. Broadband is still not available, as the government is yet to
license operators, so connections are slow and unreliable.
SCORES:
Individual scores:

3, 3, 3, 4, 3, 2, 4, 3

Average score:

3.1

2.2

(2005=2.9)

Citizens’ access to domestic and international media
sources is not restricted by state authorities.

ANALYSIS:
Access to domestic and international media is not restricted by the
state. State television, Swazi TV, relays CNN and Deutsche Welle
daily. State radio, SBIS, provides live feeds of BBC World and Voice
of America (VOA) news programmes.
But there have been incidents where international content is censored by the authorities. The Times was recently threatened with
closure for publishing a story from the international Afrol news
agency that criticised the king. The paper was forced to retract the
story and publish two front-page apologies. However, access to the
Afrol story online was not restricted.
SCORES:
Individual scores:

4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3

Average score:

3.6

14

(2005=4.0)

African Media Barometer - Swaziland 2007

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