Botswana Editors Forum calls for key regulatory reforms :: Mmegi Online

The Botswana Editors Forum (BEF) would like begin by stating that as an organisation mandated to protect and promote media freedom and freedom of expression, we stand firm and ready to work with all stakeholders in Botswana, including government and those in the state media and civil society, to help ensure that the local media is able to operate freely and independently without fear or favour.

In that regard we would like to acknowledge on this occasion of World Press Freedom Day the improved climate of media freedom and freedom of expression in Botswana since 2018 when President Mokgweetsi Masisi took office.

This should bode well for the future of the media, especially against the backdrop of harassment, detention and surveillance that characterised the previous administration. The Botswana Editors Forum would also like to applaud the willingness of the government to roll back controversial provisions of the 2022 Criminal Procedures and Evidence Act enabling warrantless surveillance.

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