SOUTH AFRICA SILENCING JOURNALISTS AND RISING ONLINE ABUSE CASES INTRODUCTION S OUTH Africa is considered internationally as a country with strong media protection laws and well-established freedom of expression rights. The South African constitution contains key provisions that directly protect the media. In the World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in 2023, the country is ranked 25 out of 180 countries, second to Namibia on the African continent. (1) However, there have been attempts to intimidate and silence journalists who are publishing investigative stories, especially in relation to service delivery and corruption. There have also been numerous instances of online harassment and disinformation targeting media practitioners and women journalists in particular. AUTHOR: Chris Kabwato While there have been efforts to mitigate some of these risks through intervention programmes by media bodies such as the South African 69 STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023