to them that she was a journalist. This increases underrepresentation in the media and exacerbates unbalanced, misinformed, and exclusionary reporting. She was violently removed from the building by four security guards and had the footage on her mobile phone deleted. Addressing gender disparities in the media requires an intentional recruitment process and the creation of safe and fair workspaces for women. While Standard Bank later apologised for the treatment Mutsila experienced, the incident highlighted institutional harassment that women journalists face when doing their jobs and an attempt at suppressing the freedom of the media by not only individuals, but also corporations. The media and the law in South Africa In a separate incident, staff at a South African Post Office branch manhandled and denied access to eNCA journalist Hloni Mtimkulu, where she was interviewing beneficiaries of the government grants on delays and nonpayments. In March 2024, the Film and Publication Board (FPB) published a notice to combat misinformation and disinformation online ahead of the 2024 general elections in South Africa. In the notice, FPB stated that it has identified misinformation, disinformation and fake news to be harmful due to the potential to incite violence, promulgate war and hate speech and would take steps to mitigate this risk by obligating internet service providers to take considerable measures to prevent prohibited content such as misinformation, disinformation and fake news, and content which amounts to propaganda for war, violence and hatred. While South Africa is considered to be ahead of many countries in terms of gender parity in the newsroom, there is a long way to go in ensuring inclusion and equity within the media. Most decision-making positions, such as editor-in-chief, are still occupied predominantly by males, and there is still a considerable gender pay gap. A Reuters Institute report states that only 29% of top editors in South Africa are women. (9) Failure to comply would result in a fine, Daily Maverick journalist Lerato Mutsila is thrown out of the Standard Bank headquarters in Rosebank, Johannesburg, on 19 September 2023 (CREDIT: Kiara Affat) STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023 72