Strategies for Internet Technology and Digital Rights Reporting https://zimbabwe.misa.org fill the information gaps that mainstream media, especially in repressive states, fail to address. Content generation through mobile phones includes videos, audios, images and text formats that are increasingly replacing and supplanting traditional media whilst mobile applications such as WhatsApp have emerged as formidable news distribution channels for media startups, who disseminate e-papers and other content through mobile devices. The impact of mobile technology serves to underscore the importance of digital rights especially internet affordability and access in Southern Africa. Creation of new information flows and diversion/migration of news consumers Beyond the mainstream media, the internet has facilitated new information flows through online platforms that circumvent state control, promoting freedom of expression and opening up communicative space. Southern Africa researchers25 have maintained that the internet: • Lowers the threshold for entry into the deliberative arena • Reduces the fear of authoritarian regimes which normally induces self-censorship • Facilitates new technologies that can be mobilizing tools both socially and politically • Poses a threat to total government control of the media due to technological changes The impact of these technological changes on the media industry include decline in readership for print as more news consumers rely on internet-enabled devices and online platforms to obtain and discuss news. Further, online platforms and social media, preempt and disrupt the news cycles by breaking news. The internet has also facilitated a significant amount of news and comments that circulates among the Internet-connected in many parts of Southern Africa, where a plethora of blog-based conversations which reflect, and reflect upon, mainstream sources, but which also inform a particular politically engaged public quite independently of that mainstream26. In repressive political settings (e.g. in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania27) restrictive media laws, internet shutdowns and prohibitive licensing costs for online content generation are instituted despite the ACHPR principle requiring states to ensure non-interference with freedom of opinion. The rise in legislation aimed at regulating content online (under the guise of preventing ‘social media abuse’ in countries like Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe28) as well as interception laws that can be deployed for surveillance thus violating the right to privacy, are also indicative of the impact of online platforms. 25See (Ndlela, 2010; Moyo, 2007; Mazango, 2005) 26 Paterson, C. (2013). Journalism and social media in the African context. 27See ‘Digital Rights in Africa’ 2019 Report 28See Freedom House, ‘2019 Freedom on the Net’ country summaries 8