This year’s World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) theme: Shaping a Future at Peace, brings to the fore the role a free, independent and viable media plays in promoting peace, conflict prevention and socio-economic development as the panacea to prosperous societies.
According to UNESCO, the 2026 WPFD Global Conference, to be held in Lusaka, Zambia, offers a critical opportunity to reaffirm freedom of expression as a “normative and empirical lever” for shaping the future of information societies.
UNESCO highlights that this comes at a time when boundaries between journalism, technology, civic space and human rights are increasingly intertwined.
The launch of Zimbabwe’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026 – 2030 thus offers an immense opportunity to align journalism, technology, and human rights, and to strengthen information systems for the future, as anticipated by UNESCO.
In that regard, the Strategy and the Zimbabwe Media Policy framework launched in May 2025 should speak to each other and ensure the protection of the right to freedom of expression and of the media, and access to information, as provided for in Sections 61 and 62 of the Constitution.
The Policy, among other aims, seeks to promote an environment that supports access to information (of which free expression is a critical component) and to foster a competitive and innovative media industry.
The ethical governance of AI is thus paramount, requiring frameworks that prioritise human rights and safeguard press freedom and freedom of expression.
Key stakeholders, including the business community, should pave pathways that support and sustain viable, pluralistic, and inclusive media ecosystems to foster public-interest journalism, advance gender equality, and amplify marginalised voices, thereby promoting inclusivity and prosperous societies.
MISA Zimbabwe calls on the government to reaffirm its commitment to press freedom and freedom of expression as non-negotiable foundations for peace and socio-economic development through reformed legal and policy frameworks.
Strengthen journalists’ safety and security, stem the arbitrary arrests of journalists conducting their lawful professional duties, including protection from digital threats and gender-based violence against women journalists.
This can be achieved by adopting and implementing human rights-based digital governance and artificial intelligence policies that safeguard freedom of expression and the integrity of information.
Laws that curtail freedom of expression and media freedom should be repealed without delay.
A free, independent, accountable and viable media is key to defending human rights, peace and development, anchored in freedom of expression, access to information and accountable governance.
MISA Zimbabwe 2026 World Press Freedom Day Statement
Passmore Kuzipa
MISA Zimbabwe Chairperson.
