{"id":18573,"date":"2022-05-05T16:45:53","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T16:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking"},"modified":"2022-05-05T17:04:58","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T17:04:58","slug":"legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking","title":{"rendered":"Legal framework hampers press freedom ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Media experts are citing the lack of a legal framework, including the pending access to information bill, as key issues that may have led to the drop of the country\u2019s top continental press freedom index ranking.<\/p>\n

The latest results by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) show that Namibia has improved from 24th to 18th in the world, but dropped to second in Africa after Seychelles, followed by South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are areas of concern that need intervention. The legal framework is an issue that should be tackled. Seychelles got to the first position because they decriminalised defamation, which is something that threatens freedom of expression, and they enacted their access to information bill,\u201d highlighted media ombudsman John Nakuta.<\/p>\n

Defamation is no longer a crime in Seychelles after president Wavel Ramkalawan signed an amendment to the penal code into law in 2021. That country\u2019s parliament approved the repeal of Chapter 18 of the penal code.<\/p>\n

The Seychelles News Agency reported Ramkalawan as stating that the decriminalisation of defamation reflects major strides in the right direction for Seychelles in the arena of freedom of expression, and in providing the right landscape and space for journalists to practice their profession freely without fear of criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Namibia, defamation is a common law crime in terms of Roman-Dutch law. Criminal defamation threatens freedom of expression and leads to stifling debates where abuse of power happens, which leads to the limiting of people\u2019s opinion on certain matters,\u201d Nakuta explained.<\/p>\n

He said something worth celebrating in Namibia is that media practitioners and journalists are not thrown into jail for doing their jobs, and can freely express themselves while carrying out their duties without any threats from anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot relax just because we held the first position for the continent\u2019s freest press,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

In the 180 countries and territories ranked by RSF, indicators are assessed based on a quantitative survey of press freedom violations and abuses against journalists and the media, and a qualitative study based on the responses of hundreds of press freedom experts selected by RSF (journalists, academics and human rights defenders) to a questionnaire with 123 questions.<\/p>\n

Strategic coordinator at the Namibia Media Trust Zo\u00e9 Titus said there is a need to improve the media landscape in Namibia as it has been surpassed by Seychelles and that is due to the political environment, among other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to up our game. A notable absence which may not have been in Namibia\u2019s favour is the legislative framework, which is something Seychelles have in place. The issue of cybersecurity laws and access to information, which are not enforced, needs to be addressed. We need to operationalise whistleblower and witness protection so that we can root out corruption,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

Titus said Namibia has been consistent with the high ranking, and it is now in the hands of the legislature to ensure that laws about media freedom are passed and implemented. However, this does not mean civil society and other key stakeholders should not push government for the implementation of these laws.<\/p>\n

Charge d\u2019Affaires of the US embassy, Jess Long, said the determination of Namibian journalists and media professionals who continue to be the beacons of press freedom on the African continent, is plausible.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder this year\u2019s theme \u2018Journalism under Digital Siege\u2019, World Press Freedom Day shines the needed light on how surveillance impacts journalism, freedom of expression and privacy. Malware and spyware are increasingly being used against journalists and human rights\u2019 defenders.<\/p>\n

The growing sophistication and undetectability of malware and spyware endanger free and independent journalism,\u201d reasoned Long.<\/p>\n

The 2022 edition of the World Press Freedom Index highlights the disastrous effects of news and information chaos \u2013 the effects of a globalised and unregulated online information space that encourages fake news and propaganda. The trio of Nordic countries at the top of the Index \u2013 Norway, Denmark and Sweden \u2013 continue to serve as a democratic model where freedom of expression flourishes.<\/p>\n

The secretary-general of the Namibia Media Professionals Union (NAMPU) Sakeus Ikela said the union reiterates that the world needs to do more to ensure that journalists are free to do their work, and expresses their solidarity with journalists and media workers all over the world who continue to operate in unfriendly environments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe latest ranking, moving Namibia from the rank of 24th to 18th in the world, is a welcome development. We, however, take note of the latest development, which indicates that Namibia has lost its ranking as the freest (press) country in Africa. We congratulate Seychelles,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ikela said while there has been significant progress in terms of safeguarding press freedom in Namibia, media workers are still faced with challenges that threaten their welfare.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Media experts are citing the lack of a legal framework, including the pending access to information bill, as key issues that may have led to the drop of the country\u2019s top continental press freedom index ranking. The latest results by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) show that Namibia has improved from 24th to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-18573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nLegal framework hampers press freedom ranking - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Media experts are citing the lack of a legal framework, including the pending access to information bill, as key issues ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legal framework hampers press freedom ranking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Media experts are citing the lack of a legal framework, including the pending access to information bill, as key issues ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-05T16:45:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-05T17:04:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/05\/postQueueImg_4-62740371bb0e8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Legal framework hampers press freedom ranking\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-05T16:45:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-05T17:04:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking\"},\"wordCount\":802,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/05\/postQueueImg_4-62740371bb0e8.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/legal-framework-hampers-press-freedom-ranking\",\"name\":\"Legal framework hampers press freedom ranking - 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