26 However, it has also been noted the proportionality test relies heavily on the good faith of the state, and the ability of a court to convincingly weigh the competing interests at stake. Yet several examples from a variety of jurisdictions demonstrate that courts and tribunals are often compelled to offer the state wide discretion. (21) In Southern Africa, it has been demonstrated that public interest and national security are vague terms that have been abused by state authorities to infringe on rights. Of note, is the absence of data protection laws in the region to regulate the collection, processing, transmission, storage and use of data which has resulted in increased surveillance. with NSO Group, which develops the oft-abused Pegasus spyware. (22) ONLINE GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE Apart from the aforementioned cultural and gendered norms that limit women’s access to mobile technology and the internet, in instances where some women have that access, their exercise of digital rights is further hampered by online gender based violence as noted through hate speech and cyberbullying. A recent Plan International survey of over 14,000 young women and girls found that 58% of respondents have experienced online harassment, including abusive language and cyberbullying. And research by the Web Foundation and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts found that 84% of young women think the problem of online abuse is getting worse. (23) A 2020 survey by Women at Web also indicated that in Tanzania 70% of women suffer from mental stress and anxiety due to online violence. This therefore clearly shows how online violence towards women is infringing on their freedom of expression online for fear of being victimised online. DIGITAL RIGHTS DURING COVID-19 IN SOUTHERN AFRICA From the above map, it can be noted that in Southern Africa over 10 countries have not yet enacted data protection laws and this includes Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Eswatini and Mozambique among others. South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and Angola are part of the countries with data protection frameworks in place. This is, therefore, very concerning and obviously a grave threat to exercise of digital rights especially in countries like Zimbabwe where there is no transparency with regards to the acquisition, use and deployment of surveillance. Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana were recently reported to be customers of Circles a surveillance firm that reportedly exploits weaknesses in the global mobile phone system to snoop on calls, texts, and the location of phones around the globe. Circles is affiliated The advent of Covid-19 in the Southern African region also introduced further dynamics with regards to the exercise of digital rights. South Africa and Zimbabwe were some of the first countries in the region to institute national lockdowns in response to the pandemic. As a result, adult citizens were restricted to working from home and operating virtually while children resorted to e-learning. This further elaborated on the existing digital divides. When schools closed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, 67 million children in East and Southern Africa — nearly half of those regions’ students — were unable to access remote learning programmes, according to a report by the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF. Internet access and affordability was, therefore, one critical issue that was brought to the fore. In Zimbabwe the mobile network operators continued to increase the prices of data tariffs despite the evident overreliance on