CHAPTER 4: AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER THEMATIC TRENDS: 2011-2021 recent AMB (2018) observes that whilst freedom of expression is explicitly guaranteed in the constitution, “there are a raft of laws with clauses that negate the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression”. These include the Cinematography Act of 1970, "These legislations render democratic and progressive constitutional provisions on freedom of expression nominal rather than substantive..." the Public Service Act of 2008, the Media Practitioners Act of 2008, the National Security Act of 2005, and the Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act of 2007. These legislations render democratic and progressive constitutional provisions on freedom of expression nominal rather than substantive as they justify restrictions in respect of their legislative focus. Reasonable exceptions include Burkina Faso and Namibia. Recommendations have focused mainly on repealing laws that criminalise defamation, aligning laws affecting the media and the free expression of rights with national constitutions, and international instruments promoting freedom of expression and access to information. Nonetheless, the degree to which national laws contradict or undermine constitutional provisions on freedom of expression also, by extension, flies in the face of international instruments that promote freedom of expression and the media, whether or not the respective countries have ratified these. 4.3 Relatively free print and restricted broadcast media A surprising trend across the continent, even in politically unstable countries such as Mali, the DRC and Cameroon, is that governments seem reluctant to restrict the number of print media publications and their coverage. The trend in the broadcasting industry differs, and even in stable democracies such as South Africa, Namibia, Gabon and Botswana, governments have demonstrated a desire to control the national or state-funded broadcaster and, in countries such as Zimbabwe and Mauritius, the larger broadcasting industry through regulatory mechanisms and licensing processes. The 2018 AMB for Botswana highlights that “media diversity, particularly in the broadcasting sector in Botswana, is hampered by its laws”, which limit the broadcasting sector to “commercial broadcasters and state broadcasters” through the Communications Regulatory Authority Act of 2012. 14 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER 11 YEARS IN REVIEW