A cardinal principle at the heart of the right of access to information is that of proactive disclosure. Without access to accurate, credible, and reliable information about a broad range of issues prior, during and after elections, it is impossible for citizens to meaningfully exercise their right to vote. The government, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and other public institutions, should be proactive in the disclosure of information to counter the spread of false information. There is need for awareness campaigns on the existence and use of fact-checking organisations such as ZimFact which helps in verifying information. CO-REGULATION OF THE MEDIA The media industry and critical stakeholders agreed on the issue of co-regulation of the sector at a time when the government has also made pledges to support the principle of co-regulation of the media and has since announced that the Cabinet principles to that effect were now in place. Other key stakeholders including parliamentarians from across the political divide and through the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, have similarly endorsed co-regulation as articulated and reaffirmed by media stakeholders as the way forward. Under co-regulation, a proposed media council (professional body) as espoused in the Draft Zimbabwe Media Practitioners Bill drafted by media stakeholders under the auspices of the umbrella Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ), would be the first entry point for lodging complaints against the media while the constitutional Zimbabwe Media Commission, would be the appellant body. There are varying interpretations of media co-regulation, some of which, if not adequately addressed, could merely strengthen statutory regulation or be a form of piecemeal reforms that would not address the long-standing contestations against statutory regulation. It is MISA Zimbabwe and MAZ’s considered view that effective co-regulation should be underpinned by a strengthened and inclusive professional media regulatory mechanism in which there is joint enforcement of a Code of Ethics and Conduct with the statutory body. The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (ZNEF), the frontline practitioners, are in consensus with the rest of the media stakeholders that this is the best way of regulation. In this arrangement, the primary body for regulating the media and mediating complaints against the media will be the professional media council, with the statutory body (the ZMC) continuing to exercise its constitutional obligations as an appellate body. The industry-driven council will be composed mainly of media professionals, and it will also be inclusive ZIMBABWE 2023 ELECTIONS AND BEYOND: MEDIA REGULATION, JOURNALISM SAFETY AND SECURITY 6