SECTOR 1 1.4 The government makes every effort to honour national and international instruments on freedom of expression and freedom of the media Observing the latest developments, panellists raised doubts about the political will to improve the legal framework for media freedom and freedom of expression. The Press Law has long been out of touch with reality, but the process for its revision has already been delayed for more than a decade. In addition, the Law on the Right to Information (Law nº 34/2014 of 31 December) was approved without stating in its final and transitory dispositions that all other laws that may be contrary to the regimen now established are automatically revoked (as is the case of Law nº 12/79 on State Security). Such a disposition was, in fact, part of the final draft of the law (norm referring to the express and immediate revocation of all contrary legislation), but it was withdrawn at the time of approval by the parliament. In addition, the panel observed that – in disregard for what in 2005 was agreed to materialise by 2015 at the ITU headquarters – the issue of universal internet access still appears to be an illusion in the country, in a context where the fees paid for internet access are still high. Moreover, the government does not yet provide the community radios with financial support (at least in a transparent, predictable, public way), in so far as they are non-profit media that appear as the voice of the voiceless. Mirroring the lack of effort in this sense on the part of the government is Decree nº 40/2018 of 23 July, which appears to be a clear violation of freedom of expression, the freedom of press and the right of access to information, as well as a threat to the survival of a substantial number of media outlets, including community radios. Decree nº 40/2018 is in conflict with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Article 9) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 19), international instruments of which Mozambique is a part and whose constitution recommends that the norms on fundamental rights be interpreted and applied in harmony with these instruments. 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: 15 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MOZAMBIQUE 2018 ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ 2.2 2005=n/a; 2007=n/a; 2009=3.6; 2011=3.6; 2014=4.0