55 SOUTHERN AFRICA PRESS FREEDOM REPORT 2019-2020 relatively high costs and lack of infrastructure. Social stratification variables such as gender, age, race, ethnicity, geographical region and educational status have a deterministic role in terms of availability and access to the internet and social media in Namibia. Over the years, a major challenge faced by journalists had been the lack of a collective body that can advance their interests and protect them from abuse by their employers and other powerful stakeholders. There have been no cases of internet shutdowns or throttling in Namibia. However, there are concerns that the duopoly in the telecommunications sector, where the government is the majority shareholder of MTC and Telecom Namibia, presents a situation where partial or total internet shutdowns can be affected. 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; stagnating — Freedom House report — RSF World Press Freedom Index ranking Furthermore, part 6 of the Communications Act of 2009 compels internet intermediaries to install surveillance mechanisms in their telecommunication infrastructure. There are also concerns that the proposed bills dealing with data protection, cybersecurity and electronic communications might be used to throttle online activism and criminalise the spread of false and misleading information. At the moment, there are no laws that infringe on the exercise and enjoyment of digital rights. KEY CHALLENGES Although Namibia has consistently topped the press freedom rankings in Africa over the last few years, there are political, legal and cultural factors which impact negatively on the enjoyment of press freedom. This report shows that although Namibia has an enabling and free media environment, the verbal attacks that journalists continue to receive from members of the executive branch of government may create a chilling environment which undermines democratic politics. While Namibia generally enjoys a free and enabling environment for media freedom, as reflected in its favourable ranking on continental and world indicators, women generally experience the worst of the state of the media in the country. references (92) https://rsf.org/en/namibia (93) http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/africa-media/15597-20200818.pdf (94) The Act seeks to prevent information in the public domain, which is considered secret by the state, from becoming public knowledge. (95) The Protection of Information Act of 1982 stipulates that a government official may not give any information to a journalist. It also seeks to prevent information in the public domain, which is considered secret by the state, from becoming public knowledge. (96) In 2018, the Namibia Central Intelligence Service (NCIS) accused The Patriot (a private newspaper) of endangering “national security” by covering the acquisition of properties by former NCIS members, but the courts ruled in favour of the newspaper. The NCIS case was based on laws dating back to the 1980s and 1990s imposing major restrictions on the dissemination of information concerning national security. (97) Remmert, D. (2019). Namibia’s Media Facing the Digital Challenge. Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR). Windhoek. (98) https://rsf.org/en/news/concern-about-verbal-attacks-journalists-during-namibian-elec- tion-campaign (99) https://www.namibian.com.na/201403/archive-read/Presidency-security-unit-charged-with-assault (100) https://freedomhouse.org/country/namibia/freedom-world/2020 (101) https://www.namibian.com.na/200224/archive-read/Covid-19-fake-news-now-a-crime (102) Hunter and Mare, 2020 https://www.mediaanddemocracy.com/uploads/1/6/5/7/16577624/ patchwork_for_privacy_-_communication_surveillance_in_southern_africa.pdf (103) (National Plan of Action on Gender Based Violence 2012-2016 https://www.npc.gov.na/downloads/Policies%20(By%20institutions%20or%20sector)/Gender%20Equality%20and%20Child%20 Welfare/National%20Plan%20of%20Action%20on%20GBV%20-%202012-2016.pdf (104) https://rsf.org/en/namibia (105) https://www.nbc.na/news/high-court-dismisses-intelligence-gag-patriot-costs.17739 Not only are they under-represented in senior management, they are also significantly underpaid as a result of that underrepresentation, since junior journalists are significantly underpaid. (106) Namibia has also been generally lacking in terms of providing legal guarantees of access to information in the absence of an enabling act. dia African Media Barometer 2018, 15 - http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/africa-me- dia/15597-20200818.pdf (107) https://informante.web.na/?p=294502 (108) https://www.namibian.com.na/201370/archive-read/The-Namibian-eyes-retrenchment (109) Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus (110) https://www.namibian.com.na/199747/archive-read/Media-bemoan-exclu- sion-from-press-briefing (111) https://www.namibian.com.na/201929/archive-read/Confusion-as-presidency-shuts-out-me- (112) https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm