39 SOUTHERN AFRICA PRESS FREEDOM REPORT 2019-2020 during a heated parliamentary debate on the state of emergency had tested positive for Covid-19. On his Facebook page, the teacher (who uses a pseudonym, Field Marshal Mracoville) also questioned why people infected with Covid-19 in hospital were not developing further complications or recovering. Police said the teacher’s arrest is part of a larger effort to crack down on alleged “misinformation” under section 30 of the Emergency Powers Act. His lawyer complained in local media that the government is trying to criminalise the airing of opinions. (41) The Botswana police also arrested Justice Motlhabane — the spokesperson of Botswana Patriotic Front, an opposition party with ties to former president Ian Khama — for “degrading and maligning the leadership”. The charges were labelled “worrying” by the Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sector Unions. Several other people have been charged under the Emergency Powers Act. The ruling Botswana Democratic Party has always treated independent media with open hostility and created barriers — through sedition laws and the absence of access to information laws — designed to ensure that the private media fails. However, the private media has been resilient and the advent of social and online media has helped amplify the voice of the private media and citizens. Facebook has increased access to news in remote areas that traditional media has for decades been struggling to reach. The coronavirus pandemic has handed authorities a free reign to further entrench control of the media using laws such as the Emergency Powers Act. Out of fear, some media houses have resorted to self-censorship during Covid-19. Lack of transparency around procurement has led to incidences in which journalists write speculative stories around Covid-19, creating a climate of mistrust and building a fertile ground for misinformation. Women in newsrooms still face an uphill battle. For this to change, Botswana media must introduce and commit to gender policy as a first step to promote participation of women in leadership positions in the media. Note: this is a condensed version of the full country report, which can be accessed online. See also: — SDG 16 assessment and trend: major challenges remain; moderately improving — Freedom House report — RSF World Press Freedom Index ranking references (36) https://www.sundaystandard.info/botswanaocos-broadband-costs-is-the-highest-in-africa-re- port/ (37) https://freedomhouse.org/country/botswana/freedom-world/2020 (38) https://mg.co.za/article/2015-05-21-africas-model-democracy-is-sliding-into-a-monocra- cy-that-is-punishing-the-media/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=bw (39) https://inkjournalism.org/2018/our-journalism-needs-to-rethink-ethics/ (40) http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/bot91330.pdf (41) https://inkjournalism.org/2148/coronavirus-censorship-is-not-the-cure/