SECTOR 1 In July 2018, a few months ahead of the November seminar, the Mozambican journalists’ community was taken by surprise by the approval and publication of a new legal diploma which is detrimental to the freedom of expression and freedom of the press and was approved without any type of public participation. This is Decree nº 40/2018 of 23 July, which introduces exorbitant fees on the licensing of social media and licence renewal (community radios included), values that in some cases reach MT2,500,000 (US$39,000). Equally high fees are imposed on the accreditation of national and foreign correspondents of foreign media agencies, which goes against international best practices. The said Decree came officially into effect on 23 August 2018. There are efforts from organisations working in support of freedom of expression, freedom of the press and the right of access to information towards its revocation, allegedly due to a clear disagreement with the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique. When questioned about the legal diploma by the media and civil society operating in the media sector, GABINFO’s Director-General Emília Moisane mentioned that it would not be implemented until a ‘few shady areas’ are clarified. However, the panel pointed out that since it was approved and published in the Government Gazette, Decree nº 40/2018 is formally in force and can be applied at any moment. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: Score of previous years: ✓✓ ✓✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ 3.0 2005=2.6; 2007=4.7; 2009=3.6; 2011=3.1; 2014=4.1 1.2 The right to freedom of expression is practised and the citizens, including journalists, are asserting their rights without fear The panel concluded that in general, citizens exercise their fundamental right to freedom of expression, but with fear. Increasingly, citizen contributions to radio programmes (like Rádio Moçambique’s Café da Manhã) and television (like STV’s Linha Aberta) have become anonymous, as opposed to what used to happen in the recent past; this has amplified the climate of fear amongst the citizens. The same goes for journalists, mainly those working in the community radios under the auspices of the Institute for Social Communication (ICS – Instituto 12 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MOZAMBIQUE 2018