An analysis of Social Media use in The SADC region - 2014 - 2020 Background Social media (SM)12 are/is13 more or less open, interactive and participatory platforms that allow users to communicate as well as to establish and maintain relationships14 . SM have in recent years spread rapidly all over the world, and with approximately 7.7 billion people in the world, 3.5 billion are users of online platforms15; SM platforms are used by one-in-three16 people in the world17, and more than two-thirds of all internet users. The rapid and vast adoption of SM is changing how people find partners for their relational, professional, academic and business needs, access information from the news and organize to demand political change. The use of social networks also provides opportunities and also threats in relation to digital rights of individuals as well as for the common good. In order to protect the fundamental rights of third parties and the public interest (e.g. security and public health), the government must meet certain legal requirements, to ensure digital rights are protected and enjoyed by all. The right to freedom of expression18 as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights19 provides that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. This therefore includes the use of social media to express one’s opinions or views. Free speech and expression is the lifeblood of democracy, facilitating open debate, the proper consideration of diverse interests and perspectives.20 The aforementioned rights work together with the right to privacy, recognized in article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in many other international and regional human rights instruments21. Privacy22 can be considered as the presumption that individuals should have an area of 12 Social media (SM) and social networks (SN) will be used interchangeably. 13 The term “social media” is both singular and plural in modern English usage. The word “media” is traditionally a plural because “medium” is the singular. However, in reference to things like the news media, social media, etc., the usage often becomes singular because the nuance (shade of meaning) is taking the whole world of ‘media’ as a single unit, the paper uses both the singular and plural to refer to the term. Refer to http://baxtercommunications.nl/is-it-social-media-is-or-social-media-are/#.Xq6hJ54za00 14 https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/social-media/27397 15 https://ourworldindata.org/internet 16 Social 17 https://ourworldindata.org/rise-of-social-media 18 https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/freedom-of-expression/ 19 https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ 20 https://freedomhouse.org/issues/freedom-expression 21 See, for example, article 16 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; article 14 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; and article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 22 See, for example, article 10 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; article 11 of the American Convention on Human Rights; and article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 8 https://zimbabwe.misa.org