35 SOUTHERN AFRICA PRESS FREEDOM REPORT 2019-2020 which are widely read within Angola. (13) Angolan President Joao Lourenco CREDIT: THE ECONOMIST Small and medium size media outlets as well as those in remote and rural areas with limited reach are often vulnerable, should they suffer any harassment or have their funding or advertising revenue withdrawn. MEDIA FREEDOM The 2020 Freedom in the World Report on Angola (14) ranked Angola as ”not free” with a score of 32/100 and in similar fashion Reporters without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, 2020 has rated Angola 106/180. (15) The organisation (16) has also noted that as a result of years of repression under the former regime, Angolans have become accustomed to practicing self-censorship, attributed to the fear of retribution as was perpetuated by the previous administration — and unfortunately still being perpetuated albeit not always widely reported or publicised. Opposition party UNITA has expressed concern over limitations to freedom of expression and the media, (17) noting that there is a “growing practice of censorship in other public bodies, especially amongst the public television and radio, where there is no equal treatment of political forces and sectors of civil society of the regime”. (18) During January 2020 an incident of violence against journalists covering a protest action happened when journalists from TV Palanka and Angola Catholic Radio were detained by law enforcement officers for about two hours and had their material destroyed. Despite the general practice of selfcensorship, instances of individuals criticising the government, particularly on social media, have been noted. (19) SDG 16 The SDG dashboard for Angola in the 2020 UN Sustainable Development Report (20) ranks Angola as having moderately improved in its achievement of SDG 16, to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies, including public access to information. The Index highlighted that “major challenges remain�� in the country which include reports of state censorship and repressive laws discussed in the report. Further, Freedom House (21) noted that the judicial system fails the media when it comes to access to affordable legal services to protect their right to press freedom when detained by law enforcement. Moreover independent and private media journalists in small towns are denied access to enter events planned by or hosted by the government, thereby limiting the access to direct information about the particular event. In so doing, the government contradicts SDG target 16.10 in their denial of access to information to journalists in small towns. These denials and control of who has access to attend the government organised events and activities also amount to censorship of the media. ONLINE FREEDOM Angola’s ranking in press freedom as well as freedom on the internet, have improved since President Joao Lourenco took over the presidency. (22) It is further reported that online journalism has expanded, with journalists publishing more on corruption, police brutality, land grabs and abuse of power. (23) The increase in journalism online is attributed to the transparency and anticorruption campaign that President Lourenco has embarked on, encouraging journalists to report on and publish such content. (24) Freedom House (2020) noted concentration of internet access in urban areas hampers regional and ethnic representation.’ (25) Several factors are said to affect the uptake of the internet in the more remote provinces of Angola, such as poor infrastructure, which significantly hampers information and communications technology (ICT) access as the country’s fractured electricity system only serves 73.7% of the urban population and only 8% of the rural population as of 2015. Internet speeds are limited by the ADSL technology used for fixed-broadband connections. (26) In addition, traditional forms of media are mostly controlled by the government and the ruling party. No incidents of the government blocking or filtering online content have been reported