The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has established a Regional Media Lawyers Network (RMLN), which will go a long way towards ensuring a much more organised and coordinated legal defence mechanism for press freedom in Southern Africa.
The RMLN and its Governance Charter were launched on 5 May 2026, on the sidelines of the global commemorations for the 2026 World Press Freedom Day in Lusaka, Zambia, underscoring the urgent need for organised legal defence amid declining press freedom.
The RMLN will serve as a rapid-response legal defence mechanism for journalists, media houses, and civil society organisations facing legal threats across Southern Africa.
The Network is currently anchored in MISA Chapters in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique, with a view to expanding into other countries in the region.
Its core mandate includes the following:
Legal Defence and Rapid Response: Providing pro bono and low-cost legal representation to journalists and media practitioners facing Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suits, criminal defamation charges, and other forms of legal intimidation.
Capacity Building: Delivering quarterly webinars and training sessions with technical experts to enhance media lawyers’ knowledge and skills in emerging issues, including AI governance, data protection, cross-border data flows, and digital rights advocacy.
Regional Coordination: Facilitating collaboration among media lawyers across Southern Africa to share jurisprudence, litigation strategies, and early warnings of attacks on press freedom.
Advocacy and Law Reform: Engaging with national governments, regional bodies, and international mechanisms to promote legal frameworks that protect rather than restrict media freedom and free expression.
The Network therefore provides an important platform for cross-border legal responses, strategic litigation, and regional collaboration, recognising media freedom as a human rights issue.
Protecting civic space requires stronger collaboration among media lawyers, civil society, and corporate accountability actors.
