Africa-Press – Botswana. A newly-released Afrobarometer survey shows that 74% of citizens say they feel “somewhat free” (25%) or “completely free” (50%) to speak their minds.
However, one-fourth (24%) disagree.
The survey says citizens’ perceived freedom of expression declined from a high of 93% in 2008 to a low of 68% in 2022 before rebounding to 74% in the most recent survey.
Botswana is one of four Southern African countries in which more than seven in 10 citizens consider themselves free to say what they think.
Want no govt interference
The others are Zambia (78%), Namibia (76%), and Lesotho (74%). Botswana places above the regional average (67%), and far above Malawi (55%) and Angola (47%).
Three-fourths (76%) of Batswana say the media should be free to publish any views and ideas without government interference. One-fifth (21%) favour government control over press content.
The results show that irrespective of the news source and the frequency of getting news, more than two-thirds of Batswana believe the media should be able to publish content without government interference.
Fluctuation
But support for press freedom is lower, by 4 to 11 percentage points, among respondents who never consume news from these digital, print, or broadcast sources than among regular consumers.
“The view that media outlets should be free to publish what they please has remained a majority position over the past two decades, though support has fluctuated significantly over time,” says the survey.
Relative to the low of 55% recorded in 2014, support is up by 21 percentage points.
The survey says support for media freedom is particularly strong among regular news consumers.
Second behind Lesotho
The survey shows that support for a free press has climbed by 21 percentage points over the past decade. It says Botswana is more supportive of press freedom than most other Southern African countries for which data are available.
On a list of regional peers, Botswana ranks second behind Lesotho (77%) in its support for a free media. Across Southern Africa, two-thirds (67%) of respondents support press freedom.
As for whether media freedom exists in practice in Botswana, citizens are divided. A slim majority (52%) of respondents say the country’s media is “somewhat free” or “completely free” to report events without government censorship or interference. But a sizeable minority (41%) see the media as “not very” or “not at all” free.
Below regional average
Botswana ranks in the middle of the pack of Southern African countries in the share of citizens who believe media freedom exists, slightly below the regional average of 55%.
Namibia tops the list (75%), while fewer than half of Angolans (41%) and Basotho (38%) perceive their press to be independent.
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