An analysis of Social Media use in The SADC region - 2014 - 2020 Objectives The overall objective of the research paper is to demystify and improve understanding of social media within the SADC1 region context. The specific objectives of the study are as follows: • • • • • • • • Identify key trends pertaining to social media use in SADC region (covering all 16 countries2) and their implications to freedom of expression and access to information; Analysis of social media users and rate of penetration, access to social media and affordability; Map out social media use levels from the different platforms; Outline the legal and statutory environment and its impact on social media use in the SADC Region; Evaluate factors inhibiting social media use in the region from social, economic and political factors; Identify the risks and or threats associated with social media use and provide security measures to be implemented; Proffer solutions and or recommendations to identified challenges; Identify opportunities to enhance social media use in the region Methodology To realize the aforementioned research objective(s), a ‘mixed methods3’ research design was employed by collecting and analyzing quantitative4 and qualitative5 data for key social media trends, indicators, threats, opportunities and strengths within the SADC region. Data was sought through field and desktop research. Primary and secondary sources used included expert interviews6 , legislative provisions, policies, and digital rights reports by human rights organisations, news articles among other relevant literature. The key analysis process was based on case studies and evidence from 87 SADC countries: Angola, DRC, Tanzania, Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe for the period 2014 to 2020. 1 The 16 Member states: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe see : https://www.sadc.int/member-states/ 2 ibid 3 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-35879-1_5 4 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/mixed-research-method 5 ibid 6 Interviews with regional experts: Key experts interviews were also conducted with a total of 8 purposively selected individuals based on their knowledge, role and interest in internet freedom issues in SADC region. 7 Selected through stratified and systematical sampling 6 https://zimbabwe.misa.org