Tachilisa Balule (PhD)
Introduction
The use of communications surveillance against journalists by law enforcement agencies in Botswana is said to be rampant. In a recent Intel Watch publication, it is recorded that Citizen-Lab has identified the use of two Circles surveillance systems in Botswana since 2015. One of the identified spyware is ‘Bentley Boulevard’ which it is alleged has been used to launch a warfare against the private media to compromise confidential source protection. The other spyware is Cellebrite’s Universal Forensic Extraction Device which is said to be capable of bypassing encryption and device passwords to extract messages, call logs, contacts and social media contacts. In March 2024, the Insikt Group released a report in which it
raised suspicion over the use of the Predator spyware to target some leading national newspapers, including, the Botswana Guardian, Mmegi and the Midweek Sun. The report does not say whether the suspected use of the spyware was by state agencies or private actors.The knowledge or fear of being a target of surveillance instils fear in many journalists leading to self-censorship. A former chairperson of the Botswana Editors Forum observed that journalists shy away from engaging in investigative journalism when they fear that intelligence agents have their communications under surveillance.
