Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO)

The media monitoring project initiated by the International Press Centre is expected to identify shortcomings in reporting that can be used as points of engagement to improve professionalism in coverage of elections.

Within the past year, the government of Cameroon has shut down the internet in its attempt to clamp down on demonstrations in English-speaking regions of the country.

AFEX has denounced the brutality of Cameroon’s security forces against unarmed civilians, reportedly killing 12 people and injuring many more in the country’s English-speaking regions, as well as the government’s decision to shut down the internet for the second time this year amidst protests.

If adopted, a new law will allow the Somali government to establish a statutory media regulatory body – the Somali Media Commission – by nominating, approving and appointing its 9 members, and compromising its independence.

On the one-year anniversary of the death of popular Cambodian activist Kem Ley, civil society organisations from around the world reiterated their call for an independent inquiry.

AFEX deplores the increasing incidents of killings, physical attacks, arbitrary arrests and detentions, threats and harassment of journalists, media professionals and activists in Africa as a threat towards the enjoyment of free expression and the ultimate development of the continent.

What could cause a government to block the internet to specific regions for three months? In Cameroon’s case, it was a conflict over the imposition of the French language in anglophone areas.

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange has petitioned the African Union Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information to intervene in the deteriorating freedom of expression situation in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon.