75 SOUTHERN AFRICA PRESS FREEDOM REPORT 2019-2020 safety concerns, including sexual and genderbased violence, intimidation and harassment. 7. In times of armed conflict, States shall respect the status of journalists and other media practitioners as non-combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law. Principle 21. Protecting reputations 1. States shall ensure that laws relating to defamation conform with the following standards: a. No one shall be found liable for true statements, expressions of opinions or statements which are reasonable to make in the circumstances. b. Public figures shall be required to tolerate a greater degree of criticism. c. Sanctions shall never be so severe as to inhibit the right to freedom of expression. 2. Privacy and secrecy laws shall not inhibit the dissemination of information of public interest. Principle 22 Criminal measures 1. States shall review all criminal restrictions of content to ensure that they are justifiable and compatible with international human rights law and standards. 2. States shall repeal laws that criminalise sedition, insult and publication of false news. 3. States shall amend criminal laws on defamation and libel in favour of civil sanctions which must themselves be necessary and proportionate. 4. The imposition of custodial sentences for the offences of defamation and libel are a violation of the right to freedom of expression. 5. Freedom of expression shall not be restricted on public order or national security grounds unless there is a real risk of harm to a legitimate interest and there is a close causal link between the risk of harm and the expression. Principle 23. Prohibited speech 1. States shall prohibit any speech that advocates for national, racial, religious or other forms of discriminatory hatred which constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. 2. States shall criminalise prohibited speech as a last resort and only for the most severe cases. In determining the threshold of severity that may warrant criminal sanctions, States shall take into account the: a. prevailing social and political context; b. status of the speaker in relation to the audience; c. existence of a clear intent to incite; d. content and form of the speech; e. extent of the speech, including its public nature, size of audience and means of dissemination; f. real likelihood and imminence of harm. 3. States shall not prohibit speech that merely lacks civility or which offends or disturbs. Principle 24. Economic measures 1. States shall promote a conducive economic environment in which all media can flourish, including through the adoption of policies for the provision of financial or other public support for the sustainability of all media through a fair, neutral, independent and transparent process, and based on objective criteria. 2. States shall ensure that the allocation of funds for public advertising is transparent and subject to public accountability, and they shall not abuse their power over the placement of public advertising. 3. States shall adopt effective measures to avoid undue concentration of media ownership, whether horizontal or vertical. Such measures shall not be so stringent that they inhibit the development of the media sector as a whole. Principle 25. Protection of sources and other journalistic material 1. Journalists and other media practitioners shall not be required to reveal confidential sources of information or to disclose other material held for journalistic purposes except where disclosure has been ordered by a court after a full and fair public hearing. 2. The disclosure of sources of information or journalistic material as ordered by a court shall only take place where: a. the identity of the source is necessary for the investigation or prosecution of a serious crime or the defence of a person accused of a criminal offence; b. the information or similar information leading to the same result cannot be obtained elsewhere; and c. the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to freedom of expression. 3. States shall not circumvent the protection of confidential sources of information or journalistic material through the conduct of communication surveillance except where such surveillance is ordered by an impartial and independent court and is subject to appropriate safeguards. PART III: RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION Principle 26. The right of access to information