https://zimbabwe.misa.org Strategies for Internet Technology and Digital Rights Reporting technology and digital rights reportage by providing information subsidies. Information subsidies64 refer to pre-packaged news produced by PR specialists (or communications specialists) and used by journalists to save on time and the cost of reporting. Other stakeholders who can aid in subsidising specialised journalism include 65academics and professionals with existing subject matter expertise who can be trained to pitch stories to news organizations as freelance journalists covering their own disciplines. When journalists and media outlets can rely on information subsidies (e.g from academics and experts), they also benefit from “verification subsidies,” which reduce the time needed to do original reporting and verification. Create an enabling environment for reporting on internet, technology and digital rights In August 2020, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government resolved, at an Ordinary Summit, to take pre-emptive measures against external interference, the impact of fake news and abuse of social media particularly in electoral processes. Whilst it is important to curb fake news, Governments in Southern Africa can create an enabling environment for internet, technology and digital rights reporting by: • Bringing state-sanctioned digital rights violations to an end: In general, digital rights and internet freedoms are under threat in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe66, hence state authorities need to respect constitutional provisions on media freedom, which includes digital rights. Regional states need to decriminalise the media profession, condemn crimes against journalists to secure an environment conducive to free and unhindered professional journalism and citizens’ right to free expression both offline and online. • Collaborating with civil society and other stakeholders in crafting laws: Calls have been made for regional67 nations to err on the side of protecting their citizens’ rights to freedom of speech by not promulgating misinformation laws, instead, governments, in collaboration with civil society and citizens can come up with an all- inclusive approach to find ways of dealing with false news, without necessarily resorting to regulations. Laws should lean more on the side of entrenching fundamental human rights in line with the constitutional provisions and regional and international instruments that safeguard these freedoms such as the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms and Declaration on the Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, among others68. 64A concept defined by Gandy (1982). See, Kothari, A. (2018). NGOs and Health Reporting in Tanzania. African Journalism Studies, 39(2), 42–60. doi:10.1080/23743670.2018.1473267 65Nisbet, M. C., & Fahy, D. (2015). The Need for Knowledge-Based Journalism in Politicized Science Debates. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 658(1), 223–234. doi:10.1177/0002716214559887 66See Digital Rights Literacy in Southern Africa https://zimbabwe.misa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/06/Digital- rightsliteracy-in-Southern-Africa-2020.pdf [20 November 2020] 67See Covid-19, fake news laws being used to stifle free speech https://zimbabwe.misa.org/wp- content/uploads/sites/13/2020/06/ Digital-rights-literacy-in-Southern-Africa-2020.pdf [Accessed 20 November 2020] 68 ibid 29