The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) Chief Executive Officer, David Omwoyo, has landed a new role at the East African Press Councils (EAPC). In a press statement on 16 July, the EAPC said Omowyo was chosen at the election of its leadership team for the 2025-2027 term.
The regional body, which is dedicated to media regulation and content moderation, announced that the MCK boss is now its second Chairperson, and will succeed Kajubi Mukajanga of Tanzania.
The announcement was made during a strategic meeting of media regulators from the East African Community (EAC) on 15 July on the sidelines of the second Pan-African Media Councils Summit in Arusha
‘Omwoyo, previously the EAPC Secretary, brings extensive experience in advocating for uniform media standards across the region,’ read its statement. ‘His leadership is expected to bolster the EAPC’s mission to foster a free, accountable, and professional media landscape.’
Established in 2023, the EAPC unites media councils from EAC Partner States, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.
According to the body, the trio will serve two-year terms, guiding it towards the ambitious goals of its 2024-2027 Strategic Plan.
‘The plan focuses on five key areas:
fostering robust and independent journalism
embracing innovation to adapt to the evolving media landscape
ensuring the economic sustainability of media organisations
promoting high-quality, diverse and collaborative journalism, and
strengthening the EAPC’s long-term capacity and impact
The new leadership is expected to, among other things, advocate for harmonised accreditation for EAC member states through the development of a regional media protocol and to undertake a state-of-the-media survey for the region
During the EAPC inaugural Strategic Plan launch, Omwoyo described it as a significant milestone in the pursuit of media regulation and content moderation guided by common regional principles.
‘I am pleased that the resolve of media regulators in East Africa in 2019 to have a media that operates within values that we respect is finally achieved.’
The new Chairperson said the EAPC’s mission was geared towards ‘less of regulation and more of press freedom’.
As Africa’s media landscape transforms at pace, sustainable funding for media regulators dominated discussions at the second Pan-African Media Councils’ Summit in Arusha, Tanzania. Leaders and experts from across the continent underscored the pivotal role of media councils and regulatory bodies as cornerstones of democracy.
Emmanuel Mugisha, Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Media Commission, asserted that governments must prioritise funding for media as a core pillar of governance and public accountability.
‘Just as governments sustain the judiciary and other state institutions, they must bolster media accountability and public interest journalism,’ he declared.
He proposed a media basket fund, potentially supported by telecom giants and tech firms that thrive on media content, to address the steep costs of quality journalism and ensure regulators’ independence.
David Omwoyo, CEO of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) and East African Press Councils Secretary, showcased Kenya’s hybrid regulatory model, which blends public funding with autonomy. While effective in balancing press freedom and public interest, he acknowledged challenges, including representation and potential conflicts of interest.
‘These are the normal tensions of a thriving democracy,’ Omwoyo affirmed, advocating for funding mechanisms that shield regulators from political influence
Debate also centred on the feasibility of a unified African media regulation framework. An Algerian participant questioned why the continent could not adopt a singular model, to which Omwoyo responded that regulation must reflect unique political and social contexts, rendering a one-size-fits-all approach unworkable.
Instead, he urged countries to secure funding for public interest journalism while safeguarding regulatory independence.
Phathiswa Magopeni, Executive Director of the Press Council of South Africa, stressed the need for unfiltered, professional reporting. She argued that regulation should prioritise content over platforms, particularly in an era of digital media convergence.
Ernest Sungura, Chairman of the Network of Independent Media Councils in Africa (NIMCA) and Executive Director of the Media Council of Tanzania, called for collaboration, ethical standards and a bold Pan-African narrative
Describing the summit, co-hosted by NIMCA and the EAPC, as a ‘clarion call for a new era of media governance’, he urged regulators to champion a fearless, authentic voice that reflects Africa’s diversity and resilience.
In his keynote address, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information Dr Tawfik Jelassi, reinforced the need for enabling legal frameworks and independent regulators to foster ethical journalism.
Highlighting three decades of progress in Africa’s media sector, he stressed that an independent, pluralistic and free press is vital for democracy.
Dr Jelassi called for cross-border collaboration to tackle challenges like AI, misinformation and climate change, warning that ‘trust in media is under global strain as technology reshapes information flows’.
The summit, themed ‘Advancing Media and Communications Regulation for Journalism Excellence in Africa’, was hailed as a transformative movement to elevate journalistic integrity and ensure Africa’s media reflects the aspirations of its people.
PICTURE: Namibia’s Zoe Titus, Tanzania’s Ernest Sungura, South Africa’s Phathiswa Magopeni, Kenya’s David Omwoyo and Rwanda’s Emmanuel Mugisha at the NIMCA Summit in Arusha (EAPC)
Major new research will help experts to counter the spread of misinformation in Africa and understand the causes and consequences of the continent’s growing digital divides.
The project, by researchers from the University of Exeter, will provide crucial information for the UK Government about the role of social media in galvanizing offline protest movements across Africa, and the logic behind foreign-origin disinformation and influence campaigns in the region.
Gadjanova will investigate how the public’s growing access to digital technologies and social media in Africa is influencing politics, parties’ organisational capacity and campaign strategies, electoral integrity, socio-economic inequalities and the nature and spread of misinformation in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia.
She has also studied which social media campaigns become viral and influence offline protest movements.
Gadjanova said: ‘I’m thankful to be awarded this fellowship, a result of my work over several years on the role and impact of digital technologies in Africa while here at Exeter, the research networks I have created across several countries, and experience with engaging with policymakers.’
‘This fellowship will support the [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office] FCDO capacity to carry out prompt and in-depth analysis of the various impacts that digital technologies are having on the socio-economic transformation and changing power dynamics in Africa
‘This will ensure decisions reflect the latest research and evidence, and improve the FCDO’s capacity to respond to a fast-moving policy environment.
‘In particular, my research can inform the FCDO’s ongoing work on democracy support, electoral integrity, media freedom and countering the spread of social media disinformation in Africa. It is crucial everyone works together to battle the offline spread of misinformation originating online.
‘Improved digital literacy and institutional monitoring can help to counter the worst online harms. There is also a need to improve party institutionalisation to harness the potential of digital technologies to empower new political actors, increase political trust, and improve government accountability.’
Gadjanova has previously briefed the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on African elections. Findings from her earlier research were cited by the Kenya Human Rights Commission in its evidence of electoral irregularities submitted to the Kenyan Supreme Court in August 2017.
The Innovation Fellowships scheme provides funding and support for established early-career and mid-career researchers to partner with organisations and business in the creative, cultural, public, private and policy sectors, to address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions. The aim is to create new and deeper links beyond academia.
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
PICTURE: Social media in sub-Saharan Africa is under the academic microscope (Aeqglobal.com)
Missing Burkinabe columnist Kalifara Séré reappeared at his home in Ouagadougou on 11 July. Abducted on 19 June 2024, the authorities had claimed he had been conscripted into the army.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), relieved that he was able to be reunited with his family, condemns the authorities’ attempts to silence dissenting voices and demands they communicate on the fate and whereabouts of six other journalists who have been forcibly disappeared or conscripted.
Séré returned ‘very frail, exhausted, and weakened, but he is fully conscious … he needs to rest‘, confided a source who was among the first to see the journalist upon his return after more than 380 days of absence
The leading commentator for the private television channel BF1 had not been heard from since 19 June 2024, the date of his hearing by the Higher Council of Communication (CSC). A security source confirmed to Agence France Presse (AFP) that the journalist’s ‘conscription’ had ‘ended’,
Four months after the 70-year-old journalist’s disappearance, on 24 October 2024, the Director General of Human Rights at the Ministry of Justice, Marcel Zongo, announced that Séré, along with Adama Bayala and Serge Oulon, fellow journalists perceived as critical of the authorities, had been conscripted ‘on the basis of the general mobilisation and warning decree’.
The Minister of Communication and government Spokesperson, Pingdwendé Gilbert Ouedraogo, has not yet responded to RSF requests for comment.
‘RSF is relieved to learn that Kalifara Séré, who was clearly forcibly conscripted into the army, has been reunited with his family and loved ones,’ said Sadibou Marong, Director of the RSF Sub-Saharan Africa Desk.
‘Now that the news commentator is free, we call on Burkina Faso’s authorities to decide on the fate of Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala, Alain Traoré and all journalists who have disappeared or are alleged to have been conscripted into the army’
The Editor-in-Chief of the National Languages desk of the private media group Omega Media, Traoré, known as Alain Alain, is also missing. He was abducted from his home at dawn on 13 July 2024 by two armed individuals. The Burkinabe government made no mention of this when it acknowledged the ‘recruitment’ of the other three journalists.
A second group of three journalists suddenly disappeared last March. Guezouma Sanogo, a journalist with Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina (RTB) and President of the Burkina Faso Journalists Association (AJB), Boukari Ouoba, an investigative journalist and Vice-President of the AJB, and Luc Pagbelguem, a journalist with BF1, reappeared in a video broadcast on 2 April, wearing military uniform.
They were arrested by men identifying themselves as intelligence officers on 24 March 2025, three days after the first two journalists criticised the country’s deteriorating media landscape.
Keynote speech for the Pan-African Media Councils Summit and the inaugural Annual General Meeting of the Network of Independent Media Councils in Africa
Tawfik Jelassi, UNESCO Assistant Director General for Communication and Information
Excellencies, Honorable Ministers,
Distinguished Guests, Esteemed Participants,
I am pleased to be here to address the second Pan-African Media Councils’ Summit, and to extend UNESCO greetings to all of you.
I would like to thank the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania for its hospitality, and the Network of Independent Media Councils of Africa (NIMCA) for convening this important gathering.
I am also pleased to recognise the presence of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, Honorary Ourveena Geereesha Topsy-Sonoo, whose work is essential in defending these fundamental rights.
We meet at a pivotal time. Across the globe, trust in media is being tested. Technology is transforming how information is produced and disseminated, and freedom of expression and access to information face growing pressure
In this context, we must remember the words that laid the foundation for the media landscape in Africa and beyond, more than 30 years ago in Namibia, through the Windhoek+30 Declaration: ‘The establishment, maintenance and fostering of an independent, pluralistic and free press is essential to the development and sustainability of democracy in a nation.’
This vision – born in Africa and championed by Africans – remains more relevant than ever. Over the past three decades, countries across the continent have made significant progress in nurturing a vibrant media sector, driven by local efforts.
Much of this progress has been made possible by the creation of enabling environments: legal and policy frameworks that allow for independent regulators, support media self-regulation, and promote professional, ethical journalism. These foundations enabled journalism to thrive and gain people’s trust, even in the face of persistent and emerging challenges.
This Summit offers a critical opportunity to reaffirm a shared commitment: that journalism excellence is a cornerstone of democracy, human rights, and development in Africa
The central challenge before us is how to ensure that media and communication regulation keeps pace with rapid technological changes, while safeguarding information integrity, freedom of expression, and universal access to reliable information.
In the face of accelerating developments -Artificial Intelligence, disinformation, financial precarity – we must reflect on what forms of regulation are most effective, while remaining firmly grounded in international human rights’ standards.
When regulation is shaped by democratic principles, it can serve as an enabling force: protecting journalists, elevating standards, enhancing public trust and ensuring media freedom.
UNESCO’s Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms, released in November 2023, offer a model for this approach. These Guidelines advocate for a human rights-based multistakeholder framework to ensure that digital platforms operate transparently, remain accountable and respect international freedom of expression norms.
We also recognise that effective regulation must be inclusive by design. It must embed gender equality, uphold disability rights and protect the voices of those most often marginalised. In Madagascar, for example, UNESCO supported the institutionalisation of anti-harassment policies across 40 radio stations.
Building on this, UNESCO and OHCHR are developing a Human Rights Impact Assessment Guidance for Digital Platforms, helping companies conduct risk assessments that are not only gender-sensitive but inter-sectional, supporting women journalists and human rights defenders to navigate and mitigate online threats.
As part of our broader commitment to foster an ‘Internet for trust’, UNESCO is working in close partnership with Hon. Commissioner Topsy-Sonoo to advance Resolution 630, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in March 2025.
This Resolution tasks the Special Rapporteur with developing Guidelines to help States oversee technology companies’ responsibilities in upholding information integrity -including through independent fact-checking.
This work will integrate African perspectives into broader digital governance efforts, ensuring they reflect regional needs and realities
Ten universities have already launched initiatives focused on gender-sensitive reporting, Indigenous representation, environmental journalism, data literacy and media viability, ensuring that future journalists are equipped to navigate both local challenges and global trends.
At the heart of this work are national and regional media councils. When they are independent and accountable, these institutions serve as guardians of professionalism. They defend ethical journalism, address public complaints, support journalists’ safety and encourage self-regulation over State control.
These institutions must be protected, funded and respected as democratic actors. No single institution can meet these challenges alone. Cross-border collaboration and regional standards are essential
Through regional initiatives – from access to information reform to conflict-sensitive journalism and gender-based violence prevention – UNESCO has helped foster connections between media actors, governments and civil society across Africa.
Looking ahead, regulation must not merely respond to change; it must anticipate it. The transformative impact of AI, algorithmic governance and data-driven content distribution require forward-looking, human rights-based approaches. UNESCO is facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogues across Africa and beyond, to ensure that innovation does not outpace our ethical and normative frameworks.
As the UN’s specialised agency for freedom of expression, UNESCO stands firmly behind African-led reforms that advance media freedom, pluralism, and sustainability. We are not just observers or advisors. We are committed partners.
As we look ahead, let’s reaffirm our commitment to these principles and to ensuring that Africa’s media landscape remains a beacon of democracy, dialogue, and sustainable development for generations to come. Your dedication as regulators, media councils, and partners is essential to building resilient information ecosystems, promoting accountability, and defending human rights.
UNESCO stands ready to deepen this collaboration, support innovation, and ensure that journalistic excellence continues to serve as a pillar of freedom and progress across the continent.
Thank you.
PICTURE: Dr Tawfik Jelassi joyfully receives a shuka, with all its rich history, at the Summit in Arusha. Ernest Sangura of the Media Council of Tanzania can be seen in the background
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Senegalese authorities to release news commentator Badara Gadiaga, to cease arresting journalists and to refrain from retaliating against the media for coverage critical of the government.
Senegal’s Special Cybersecurity Division (DSC) arrested Gadiaga on 9 July 2025 over his remarks during a 4 July 2025 broadcast about Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. On 14 July 2025, a judge opened a judicial investigation and charged Gadiaga with spreading false news, immoral speech, insulting a person exercising the prerogatives of the head of state, and receiving or soliciting donations in order to engage in propaganda likely to disturb public order, his lawyer, El Hadji Omar Youm, told newsoutlets.
During the broadcast on private television channel Télé Futurs Médias (TFM), Gadiaga responded to criticism from a ruling party official by saying that the party should not give lessons in ethics because its leader, Sonko, had been ‘convicted of sexual abuse’
Sonko was sentencedin absentia in June 2023 to two years in prison for the ‘corruption of youth’. In April, Sonko said his opponents were using journalists and ‘so-called news commentators’ to spread false news and defame authorities.
‘These charges represent an escalation in the government’s punitive attitude toward the media and promote a dangerous conflation between the press and the political opposition,’ said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative.
‘Senegalese authorities must release news commentators Badara Gadiaga, Abdou Nguer, and Bachir Fofana, and refrain from reprisals against the media for their criticism. Alleged press offences should not be criminalised.’
On 10 July, Sonko alluded to the TV debate during a meeting with his party’s leadership and recommended that party members ‘stop going to television stations that fight [the party] … I fight those who fight me, and let those who use their tools to fight me know that I will go to the end’. He also called for a boycott of ‘television stations that fight him’.
L’Observateur, a newspaper owned by the same parent company as TFM, Groupe Futurs Médias, responded to Sonko’s comments with an editorial saying: ‘We are not a media affiliate of a party, nor a propaganda battalion, nor an instrument of validation. We are a newsroom’
Separately, deliberation of the trial of commentator Bachir Fofana, detained for allegedly spreading false news, has been postponed to 16 July, and another commentator, Abdou Nguer, has remained in prison since April on various charges.
CPJ’s calls to Sonko’s office and the justice ministry went unanswered.
Children’s rights should not be sidelined in the digital environment
Overview
Children across the globe are increasingly coming to terms with and engaging in a digital
world marked by both extraordinary promise and deep inequality. While the digital
environment offers unprecedented opportunities for learning, expression, and civic
engagement, many children remain disconnected, misrepresented, unprotected and at
risk of being misinformed.
The urgency of centering young voices in media integrity discussions is underscored by the 2024 Children in G20 findings, which reveal that 2.2-billion children and youth globally lack home Internet access, while those who are connected face significant rights violations including commercial exploitation, relentless data harvesting, behavioural profiling for advertising and inadequate protection standards.
The African child’s experience in the digital environment is uniquely shaped by a complex interplay of opportunity and adversity. Africa is home to the world’s youngest population, with children and youth making up a significant proportion of its demographic landscape
The G20, as a global leader in digital governance, has a critical role to play in setting standards and fostering international cooperation that puts children’s rights at the centre of the digital future. This policy brief builds on G20 commitments to strengthen child and youth protection and participation in digital media.
Proposal to the G20
The G20 must recognise that building sustainable, inclusive and rights-respecting digital
communities means ensuring children are protected and empowered online.
As digital platforms continue to evolve rapidly, children in Africa, and globally, face urgent threats including unsafe online spaces, AI-driven surveillance and profiling of children, to deepfake technologies targeting minors, commercial exploitation of data, the digital divide and the explosion of mis and disinformation, all while being excluded from shaping digital
policies.
The G20 cannot afford to sideline children’s experiences, rights and best interest; they must be central to the global digital transformation agenda and uphold core protection principles of non-discrimination, protection, survival and development.
Defining the critical issue and role of the G20
The G20’s commitment to child online protection is not new. The 2021 High Level Principles for Children Protection and Empowerment in the Digital Environment
developed a framework that promotes governments’ adoption of measures that provide
for age-appropriate child safety by design, and which G20 members have been working
to implement.
Previous G20 efforts, documented through comprehensive toolkits, together with G20 Member States efforts (in the form of consultations with children in the 2024 edition of Children in the G20 by the Brazilian articulation group), have identified critical success factors in the discussion on children’s digital rights, including:
holding tech companies accountable
age-appropriate design
risk response assessment and mitigation
effective support systems, and
the essential role of states, civil society and business in safeguarding children online
Within the African context, the African Union’s Child Online Safety and Empowerment Policy provides a continental framework recognising that children face exposure to hate speech, inappropriate content and online predators while acknowledging digital technologies’ transformative potential for education and development.
Together, these frameworks establish that protecting children online requires both regulatory oversight and corporate responsibility.
Five interconnected themes that the G20 must address
1Children in the media: Regarding access to and consumption of news and information integrity, media policy must adapt by supporting digital participation, inclusive content, and youth-driven storytelling to reflect their lived realities and strengthen their media literacy.
This is also very true for African children, who increasingly access news and information through social media, Search platforms and streaming services. As young minds increasingly turn to smartphones and tablets, they encounter a terrain riddled with algorithmic sinkholes, colonial data traps and disinformation mirages.
This is not merely an access gap; it is an integrity emergency, threatening an entire generation’s right to truth. At the click of a button, they are exposed to an overwhelming volume of content, ranging from political developments and community news to the latest celebrity trends
Online platforms prioritise content based on algorithms, likes, shares, and trending topics, rather than principles of fair representation and inclusivity. Algorithms and AI systems merge news and entertainment and blur the lines between fact and opinion, making it difficult for children to discern the importance of hard news.
Emotionally charged and sensational content dominates their feeds. Less sensationalised but equally important content, which affects children’s lives and needs are often being ignored in favour of clickbait content.
Furthermore, these algorithms quickly create echo chambers, reinforcing children’s preferences by serving them more of the same type of content.
2Media and information literacy (MIL): As digital technologies reshape communication, education, and public engagement, MIL has become a vital 21st-Century skill. MIL empowers individuals, including children, to critically assess content, navigate media systems, identify disinformation, and participate meaningfully in public discourse.
Children’s exposure to harmful digital experiences translates to violent content, mis- and disinformation, cyberbullying, online grooming and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) which have detrimental effects on children’s mental health and development
Climate disinformation, as discussed in MMA’s discussion document, deserves special mention because it undermines children’s ability to understand environmental issues and make informed decisions about climate action, potentially limiting their participation in climate activism and their capacity to address one of the most pressing challenges of their generation.
Media literacy must be framed as a rights-based issue, Article 17 of the UNCRC
recognises children’s right to access information from a diversity of sources and the
obligation of States to guide children’s use of media in ways that protect them from harm and promote their well-being.
Another important dimension is the empowerment of children as content creators. Media literacy is not only about being informed consumers of media but also about becoming thoughtful producers of content.
In a world where anyone with a smartphone can post a video, write a blog, or share an opinion, media literacy gives children the confidence and competence to share their own stories, advocate for issues they care about, and participate meaningfully in public discourse. Empowering children with MIL is thus crucial.
3 The impact of Artificial Intelligence on African children and their right to privacy: AI is increasingly embedded in the digital environments that African
children use – from the games they play and the content they consume, to the education
tools they use.
While AI offers substantial benefits for learning, innovation, and service delivery, it poses serious risks through a lack of transparency in decision-making, extensive data harvesting, and limited contextual understanding.
African children, many of whom face compounded vulnerabilities due to structural inequalities, are especially at risk when AI systems are not designed with their rights, best interests, and participation in mind
Current AI systems often harvest and process children’s personal data without meaningful consent or child-centred oversight, amplifying risks of commercial exploitation, surveillance, profiling, manipulation and discrimination. Surveillance and data commodification reduce children to profit-generating datasets.
From recommender systems that promote harmful content to biased algorithms that reproduce racial, linguistic or socio-economic inequalities, these systems can undermine children’s best interests, including:
Urgent safeguards are needed to ensure AI technologies are accountable, transparent, and developed with African children’s voices, contexts, and rights at the centre.
4 The long-standing issue of the Digital Divide: The lack of investment in meaningful Internet access in schools is another challenge that translates into the lack of digital learning and outdated or narrow curricula focused on risks rather than building critical thinking.
The Digital Divide reveals underlying barriers, including high data costs and insufficient digital literacy training for both adults and children, factors that limit the effective integration of technology in educational settings.
G20 countries must ensure that online platforms adopt an intersectional lens to address how digital exclusion and online violence disproportionately affect girls, children with disabilities and those in conflict zones in line with the principle of non-discrimination as enunciated by the CRC and the ACRWC
5 Children’s right to protection and participation: The digital environment presents both significant opportunities and complex risks for children, making both their protection and meaningful participation important.
Although formal bodies like the Children’s Parliament are valuable, their integration into policymaking remains largely symbolic. Equipping children with the skills and knowledge to engage meaningfully is essential, but efforts must also address structural inequalities in legislation, education, digital access, language diversity, as well as adult duty-bearers’
capacity to listen to and act on children’s views.
1 Supporting child-safe digital environments: What measures beyond content moderation could ensure platforms prioritise child protection over engagement metrics?
2 Information integrity for children: How best can we ensure that children have access to diverse content, but also promote and ensure children have access to credible, accurate information?
3 Media literacy as a fundamental right: How can media and information literacy be integrated into education systems as a foundational skill rather than an optional add-on?
4 Cultural sensitivity and pluralism: Should G20 countries enforce mechanisms ensuring AI is trained on data that reflects African cultures, especially for low-resourced languages and indigenous knowledge systems, to make sure these identities are not erased by technology?
5 The participation gap: Children are digital natives but remain excluded from governance decisions. How can meaningful child participation be institutionalised in digital policy-making beyond symbolic consultations?
6 Addressing the digital divide: How can universal, affordable and child-safe Internet access be achieved, particularly in low- and middle-income countries?
7 Transnational enforcement: What legal mechanisms can hold G20-based platforms accountable for cultural and other harms relating to African children?
Proposed text for inclusion in G20 outputs
For the Heads of States (‘Leaders Declaration’):
‘We acknowledge the vulnerabilities faced by children in the digital environment and
commit to promoting formal mechanisms for their participation in digital policy-making
processes, such as youth parliaments and inclusive consultations.
‘We will prioritise childcentred protection and participation frameworks into G20 commitments to ensure alignment with international human rights standards, as well as legal and regulatory measures to hold G20 technology-based companies accountable for digital harms to children.’
For the Digital Ministers 2025 Declaration:
‘In recognition of the evolving digital landscape and unequal risks faced by children online, there is an urgent need for G20 countries and beyond to promote and support digital platform’s adoption of child-centred safety standards which include ageappropriate child safety by design, transparent moderation, algorithmic accountability, accessible reporting tools and clear measures taken to prohibit predictive profiling of minors.
Media and information literacy must be integrated into educational systems, especially for low-income countries and communities as a foundation for promoting digital citizenship and building resilience against digital harms.’
Recommendations and opportunities for G20 media
As real-time reporting through social media becomes more widespread, media, guided by human rights institutions, can strengthen their role in promoting ethical standards that amplify accurate and credible information that promotes children’s rights and debunk inaccurate information that reinforces harmful stereotypes.
Media can lead efforts to develop and enforce guidelines on the ethical use of children’s images and stories in online content, ensuring their privacy, dignity and best interests, as well as to amplify marginalised voices of children when it is in their best interest
This includes providing practical guidance for journalists, citizen reporters and media platforms on consent, anonymisation, and child-sensitive storytelling, particularly in crisis or high-visibility situations.
For media to remain competitive, they can adopt innovative formats and storytelling approaches that are diverse, inclusive and that promote children’s rights and reflect their lived experiences, while upholding ethical standards.
News media can collaborate with civil society institutions and campaigns that prioritise digital and media literacy for children, to educate parents and children on how to identify and report disinformation online.
Additional documents and further reading
The 2021 High-Level Principles for Children Protection and Empowerment in the
Digital Environment (as above)
The M20 initiative is a ‘shadow’ parallel process set up to intersect with the G20 processes. The M20 seeks to persuade the G20 network of the most powerful global economies to recognise the news media’s relevance to their concerns.
As a collaborative M20 document, this paper is a working, live document. Share your suggestions or comments for consideration at [email protected]
For more information about the G20 process, which is hosted by South Africa in 2025, visit the website here
Cape Town, South Africa, was the backdrop for a defining chapter in Africa’s media history in May 2024 when the inaugural Africa Media Councils conference evolved into the establishment of the Network of Independent Media Councils of Africa (NIMCA).
A transformative collective, NIMCA is not only a network of journalists and broadcasters on the continent.
It is Africa’s unified response to the demand for credible, independent and ethical journalism. It is an ambitious platform intentionally designed to safeguard media and journalists freedoms, enforce ethical standards and reinforce democratic values across the African continent.
Now, a year later, that journey has advanced to another historic moment: the Pan-African Media Councils’ Summit, hosted from 14 to 17 July in Arusha, Tanzania, at the Arusha International Conference Centre.
The original Cape Town conference was a gathering point for Africa’s media council leaders, Ombudsmen, civil society actors, the private sector and development partners. It was after rigorous deliberations that Africa’s independent media regulators committed to forging the new continental body to strengthen their efforts.
In a powerful display of continental solidarity, Ernest Sungura, the Executive Director of the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT), was elected as the inaugural Chairperson of NIMCA’s Governing Council. With over three decades in media governance and press freedom advocacy, Sungura is now the face of this movement.
One of his first assignments was developing a mobilisation and sustainability strategy to take NIMCA wider. He started by establishing an all-embracing Technical Team to guide key operations of the network, one of the team’s main roles being to ensure a successful and structured transition.
The inaugural NIMCA board successfully endorsed the team on 18 September 2024 at the UNESCO Commission of Tanzania offices in Dar es Salaam. The team comprises accomplished media and development experts, experienced journalists, institutional strategists, a citizen scientist and seasoned capacity building experts, including:
Read: Tanzania hosts Network of Independent Media Councils in Africa meeting, here
Under Sungura’s stewardship, the team has provided policy direction, institutional architecture and technical guidance, spearheading NIMCA’s evolution from concept to operational entity.
Most notably, the technical team oversaw the rebranding of the Africa Media Councils annual gathering into the Pan-African Media Councils Summit, established operational policies and standards, and designed a five year strategy (2025/2030) and a NIMCA Sustainability Road Map.
NIMCA’s core objectives are:
strengthening independent media regulation
promoting self-regulation and ethical accountability across national borders
enhancing press freedom and responsibility
defending the media’s right to operate freely, while fostering responsible journalism
building pan-African collaboration
creating mechanisms for peer learning, joint initiatives and cross-country solidarity,
combating misinformation and digital threats, and
developing strategies to address online harms, hate speech and misinformation
capacity building, and
supporting African media councils with technical training, data tools and evidence-based research
NIMCA is governed by a distinguished board reflecting regional diversity, with members from Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Zambia and Kenya. The NIMCA leadership also includes the technical team. Its membership spans national media councils, Ombudsmen and other independent media accountability mechanisms.
NIMCA’s growth has been made possible through support from influential partners including the African Union, the African Union Commission, the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), UNESCO, the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Internews, the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), the Southern African Editors’ Forum (SAEF) and Glow Consulting Services.
These institutions have not only funded NIMCA’s foundational work but continue to provide technical and strategic support for its continental programmes.
From the heights of Table Mountain to the diplomatic heart of Arusha, NIMCA’s journey is symbolic of Africa’s rise – bold, unified and forward-looking. NIMCA is a movement of Africa that recognises that the strength of democracy lies not only in free expression, but in ethical, responsible and accountable journalism.
As Africa navigates complex social, political and digital challenges, NIMCA stands as a continental lighthouse.
Stakeholders and journalists in Malawi have signed a pledge of ethical reporting and promoting the safety of journalists ahead of elections set for September this year.
Through the pledge, which was signed at a conference on the safety and security of journalists, the media practitioners committed to ethical reporting as a means of building trust with their audiences.
Jeremias Langa, the Chairperson of the MISA Regional Governing Council, said that at a time when trust in the media was declining, it was essential for journalists to commit to ethical reporting so that they could mend the broken bridges.
He said that when citizens have faith in journalists, they will defend the rights of the media and become advocates for freedom of expression. This occurs against a backdrop of increasing attacks on journalists worldwide
‘Attacks on journalists have an effect on freedom of expression and access to information as journalists may often choose self-censorship.
‘When there is self-censorship, citizens do not have access to varied information that will allow them to make informed decisions about how they are governed, and this affects the quality of democracy.’
He said signing the pledge was key as it showed a commitment to the safety of journalists.
‘We first came up with the idea of a pledge in Lesotho and then in Zimbabwe. Following this process, there was a marked reduction in media violations during elections in both those countries,’ Langa continued
‘In that regard, we have come to replicate that in Malawi, and hopefully we shall have even better results.’
Through the pledge, the journalists called on their peers to ‘create a more responsible and safe media environment that reflects our commitment to fairness and accuracy in our news reports’.
‘We commit to actively combating disinformation, misinformation and division, and upholding human rights and the tenets of democracy.’
Stakeholders committed to quickly condemning any attacks on journalists and media workers, and prioritising journalists’ safety as a political issue. They also committed to working to ensure that legal frameworks are in place to protect journalists and punish those who attack them.
MISA Malawi National Governing Council chairperson Golden Matonga said that MISA values collaboration with various stakeholders.
‘We know and understand that we cannot work in a vacuum. We want to work together in ensuring that journalists are free from attacks in the run-up to 16 September (election day) and that voters and all those connected to the elections are provided with and receive credible information.’
MISA Malawi will now circulate the pledge to journalists nationwide as it intensifies its advocacy for journalists’ safety across the country.
PICTURE: MISA Malawi chairperson Golden Matonga (left) looks on as the MISA Regional chairperson Jeremias Langa signs the pledge on ethical electoral reporting in Lilongwe
The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has launched the inaugural Democracy Capture Index (DEMCAP Index), urging African media and civil society to resist rising threats of democratic erosion.
Unveiled in Accra on 7 July 2025, the Index measures institutional susceptibility to control by ‘powerful actors’ for political or personal gain.
Dr John Osae-Kwapong, CDD-Ghana Democracy Fellow, warned that while media and civil society currently face lower capture risks, their vulnerability remains high amid partisan polarisation.
‘When public discourse fractures, we rely on these institutions to refocus on national priorities,’ he stated, emphasising vigilance against political or corporate manipulation.
Dr Kojo Asante, Director of Policy Engagement, framed the Index as a strategic tool to counter democratic decline and build resilience. The launch convened West African governance stakeholders, positioning the Index as a benchmark for institutional reforms.
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The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) Chief Executive Officer, David Omwoyo, has landed a new role at the East African Press Councils (EAPC). In a press statement on 16 July, the EAPC said Omowyo was chosen at the election of its leadership team for the 2025-2027 term.
As Africa’s media landscape transforms at pace, sustainable funding for media regulators dominated discussions at the second Pan-African Media Councils’ Summit in Arusha, Tanzania. Leaders and experts from across the continent underscored the pivotal role of media councils and regulatory bodies as cornerstones of democracy.
Major new research will help experts to counter the spread of misinformation in Africa and understand the causes and consequences of the continent’s growing digital divides.
Missing Burkinabe columnist 
Keynote speech for the Pan-African Media Councils Summit and the inaugural Annual General Meeting of the Network of Independent Media Councils in Africa
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Senegalese authorities to release news commentator 
Stakeholders and journalists in Malawi have signed a pledge of ethical reporting and promoting the safety of journalists ahead of elections set for September this year.
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