# Ladder: insult and defamation laws, in Africa

Laws that make it a crime, not only a civil wrong, to damage a person's reputation, to insult a head of state or a monarch (known as lèse-majesté), or to publish information that a government declares false, including laws against "fake news". Convictions can bring fines or prison.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

Narrow with ?stage= (restrict, pressure, punish, silence, eliminate), ?continent=, ?from= and ?to= (year or date).

## Punish

Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources: subpoenas and record seizures, prosecutions, arrests, detention, expulsions, visa denials, assault where a government actor is involved.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 14 July 2023 | [Zimbabwe](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/zw) ([RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Emmerson Mnangagwa](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/emmerson-mnangagwa) | President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Patriotic Act, which criminalizes meeting foreign governments or officials with intent to harm Zimbabwe's sovereignty, with penalties up to death for advocating armed intervention and up to ten years for supporting sanctions, weeks before the country's 2023 g… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact) | Sustained (14 July 2023) | 2 |
| 16 January 2025 | [Tunisia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/tn) ([RSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Kais Saied](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/kais-saied) | The Committee to Protect Journalists found at least four journalists imprisoned under Tunisia's 2022 Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime as of January 2025, including radio hosts Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, pushing the country's jailed-journalist count to its highest since 1992 under President Kais Sa… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54) | Sustained | 2 |

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All ladders: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders. United States chapter: https://thewaronnews.com/united-states

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