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.

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1. Restrict
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3Punish

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.

ZWZimbabweRSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180

14 July 2023Emmerson 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…

Sustained 14 July 2023 · 2 sources · Full entry

TNTunisiaRSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180

16 January 2025Kais 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…

Sustained · 2 sources · Full entry

All ladders · Insult and defamation laws: by country and year · The United States chapter