STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2022 With the public becoming more vocal around issues of social justice, authorities have responded by attempting to ban demonstrations. When this has not been feasible, the police have come down heavily on both protestors and the media, with officers tear gassing and arresting demonstrators and deleting footage or destroying equipment belonging to the media. During the May 2022 “Chinatown demonstrations”, as they were referred to, two protesters were arrested and a journalist was accidentally shot. The group of young Namibians were protesting what they considered to be unfair state support for Chinese entrepreneurs.(2) In numerous other instances the media have been daunted by the government’s new policy of deploying military paratroopers to control certain events. As explained by one journalist: “When the SFF [Special Field Forces] arrive on the scene, you know you shouldn’t be there, or something will happen to you. When we see them, we know that we as the media are more prone to attack ... and they are increasingly present where people gather in large numbers.”(3) It is undoubtedly evident that Namibia’s ruling party focus on retention of power has contributed to a steady shift of intolerance which in turn has translated into the narrowing of civic space. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS Article 21 of Namibia’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression, including media freedom. In addition to this, Namibia has also ratified various international and regional agreements that support the freedom of the media. in April 2020, publishing false news about the pandemic was criminalised. Those committing such an offence could be fined N$2,000 (US$108) or given a maximum prison sentence of six months. Legislation that supports freedom of information but is not yet operational includes the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 and the Access to Information Act that was signed into law at the end of 2022. Civil society organisations that had been pushing for the enactment of access to information legislation applauded the move and are also pressuring the government to fasttrack the implementation of the law, fearing bureaucracy and budget constraints could delay the move for years. The Media Institute of Southern strongly believes the passage of the ATI law will enhance Namibia’s reputation as a beacon of freedom of expression and democracy, not only just in Southern Africa and Africa, but also across the world.(4) MEDIA PLURALISM AND DIVERSITY The pandemic had a debilitating impact on the viability and sustainability of the Namibian media and the effects are still being felt, long after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and operations have gone back to normal. This has reduced the range of the media. The already struggling community broadcasting sector was crippled further and many of the smaller stations are still grappling to stay in operation. An informal policy dating back to 2015 confined the placement of government advertising in state media. The constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression is not, however, supported by subsidiary legislation. Although privately owned media are allocated a small portion of advertising money, the bulk of advertisements are placed in the state media. Instead, there are laws that inhibit this right. The Defence Act of 2002 prohibits reporting related to the army, which is deemed to impact negatively on national security, and both the Protection of Information Act of 1982 and the Official Secrets Act of 2004, limit the sharing by government of state-held information. Even when it comes to information dissemination, private newspapers do not always get ministerial responses to questions as quickly as state-owned media does, especially the NBC. Under the COVID-19 emergency regulations 54 MEDIA INDEPENDENCE