The colonial-era laws that still govern African journalism

Exploring how colonial-era and apartheid laws still determine what can and cannot be reported in sub-Saharan Africa.

Back in the late 19th century, European powers were setting sail for Africa, sweeping across the continent, colonising country after country. Once they took power, they wrote laws designed to ensure that the colonised would not rise up against the colonisers; laws that could also be used to silence, censor, jail or intimidate journalists who refused to toe the line.

Much of that colonial legislation is still in place today, and there is now a growing list of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa falling afoul of those laws.