Background

Malawi will conduct a general election on 16 September 2025 and, thus far, electoral periods in the country have not been immune to the testing of freedoms by political incumbents.  Notably, when the country last headed to the polls in 2020, it was due to a decision by the Malawian Constitutional Court to annul the May 2019 elections and call for fresh elections, citing election irregularities. 

In recent years the government has faced accusations of clamping down on rights such as freedom of speech in a bid to crack down on criticism. This is echoed by Freedom House’s “Freedom on the Net 2024” rating which noted a slight decline in Internet freedom with authorities’ continued prosecution of online journalists and other internet users for their critical expression. The country received a score of 59 in 2024, compared to 60 the year before as referenced in Paradigm Initiative’s Londa report, assessing the country’s digital rights and inclusion landscape, for 2024.  

The national elections will see a hotly contested decision between incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and former President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It is against this backdrop that Paradigm Initiative (PIN) conducted its Digital Rights and Election in Africa Monitor (DREAM). This is a project focused on promoting the monitoring of digital rights during elections. As such, the Election Engagement Meeting held in Malawi on 27 March 2025 brought key elections stakeholders together, including media, civil society organisations, private citizens, and human rights defenders, to discuss policy guidance on the protection of digital rights and conscientised critical actors on how to monitor the upcoming elections with a digital rights lens, in order to foster digital rights in the election process. 

Context

Malawi is a land-locked Southern African country, sharing its borders with neighbours Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique. Growth of the country’s economy is primarily agriculture driven, representing a gross domestic product (GDP) of $11.80 billion in 2024. The country is mainly characterised as a low-income country, and this has also reflected in the growth of its telecommunications sector and strides taken towards the provision of connectivity and digital transformation for the benefit of Malawians. Additionally, although the country is characterised as a stable democracy, it has seen bouts of infringements on critical freedoms as well as digital rights.

Technology and Human Rights

The Malawian Digital Rights and Inclusion landscape is well chronicled in Paradigm Initiative’s Londa country report. The findings are that, as it relates to Malawi’s technology policy environment, the country has made strides in areas such as the enacting of a Data Protection law and appointing information officers in compliance with the Access to Information Act. The regulator, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), has established an independent Universal Service Fund (USF) Board. Additionally, the country has focused on drafting laws to enable a digital transformation, including the Cybersecurity Bill, Cybercrimes and E-Evidence Bill, and the Start-Ups Bill. However, despite these notable strides in ICT development, Malawi still faces multifaceted challenges, including weak ICT infrastructure, digital exclusion, high levels of digital illiteracy across rural and urban lines, and the use of law enforcement to curb online freedom of expression, posing a significant challenge to digital rights.

In addition, MACRA’s 2025 decision to acquire software aimed at curbing disinformation and misinformation has also raised concerns around freedom of speech protection in the country, particularly ahead of the coming election. With increasing internet access, a focus on cyber laws, challenges with connectivity for a significant number of Malawi’s population, and the use of digital tools for civic participation, there have been growing concerns over potential violations of human rights in the online space. Freedom of expression, assembly and association and data privacy online continue to come under attack in the country.

Findings

As part of advancing digital rights during elections, PIN hosted an  engagement meeting with stakeholders in Malawi, in March 2025, as part of DREAM. Various stakeholders highlighted the fragility of critical digital rights as politicians leverage their powers and the laws to control narratives. Concern was raised about citizens’ inability to freely and democratically participate in critical discourse ahead of the national elections. Notably, stakeholders cited the followiong: 

• Concerns over the infringements of press freedoms, risks to safety, and the targeting of media in the lead up to the national elections, citing recent examples of journalist arrests in the country. In April 2024, Macmillan Mhone was arrested for a story he wrote in August 2023 and charged with the “publication of news likely to cause fear or public alarm”. Julius Mithi, a social media influencer, was arbitrarily arrested by Malawian law enforcement on 25 March 2025, without a clear charge. Mithi, an outspoken critic of president Lazarus Chakwera had also faced arrests in 2019 and 2022. 

• MACRA’s Notice of Intention to Award a Contract for the Supply, Delivery, Installation, Commissioning and Testing of an Integrated System to Track Misinformation and Disinformation Trends in Malawi which was announced in January 2025 raised much alarm about Malawi’s priorities towards the upcoming election. The  Net Rights Coalition strongly objected to this decision in a letter to the regulator dated 27 January 2025, citing concerns about the risks of the software’s use for mass communications surveillance of social media users in the country. This letter received no response. During the DREAM engagement hosted by PIN in Malawi, stakeholders also stated concerns of the software being potentially already in use, without transparency. PIN then sent an Access To Information Request to the regulator, dated 27 May 2025, and at the time of writing, it too has not been responded to. 

• Stakeholders also raised the issue of the lack of inclusion for marginalised groups in technologies adopted ahead of elections. Although technology use in the electoral process has been limited mainly to voter registration. Advocates for groups with disabilities noted challenges from far distances to reach polling stations, as well as long waits and systems being offline for prolonged periods. Such conditions are particularly challenging for citizens with physical disabilities. However, the electoral commission was applauded for the proactiveness in the disclosure of information but stakeholders noted the lack of the use of multiple mediums for to disseminate information e.g. community radios, mobile shows, social media platforms 

Recommendations

Recommendations from Stakeholders in Malawi:

1. Civil society organisations and the media need to engage in greater collaboration and building partnerships for the elections. This is vital for awareness raising on digital rights, to enable  rights-holders to know more about their digital rights. 
2. Civil society organisations should monitor digital rights and raise awareness of digital safety. Further guidance can be found in Paradigm Initiative’s Digital Rights and Elections Monitor Toolkit. 
3. There is a need for increased engagement by MACRA with all sectors of society, with MACRA providing greater accountability and transparency when dealing with issues of public interest. This includes providing right-respecting mechanisms for addressing misinformation and disinformation.
4. The Media’s role must be acknowledged as critical to the transmission of information of public interest especially during elections.
5. There is a need for greater impartiality and transparency from the Malawi Electoral Commission, including ensuring information is communicated well to curb misinformation and disinformation.
6. The Malawi Human Rights Commission needs to take an active role in monitoring and  responsiveness on digital rights issues in line with its mandate of monitoring human rights. 
7. There should be law reform particularly for the Electronic Transactions Act and the Cybersecurity Act, to repeal false news criminalisation and overly broad and vague provisions that violate freedom of expression. It is essential for this law to be better clarified so that citizens are well guided.  
8. To prevent the spread of misinformation, there is a need to bridge the gap in the capacity and competencies of fact-checking for both the media and political parties. Fact-checking mechanisms and capacity building should be strengthened, especially for those working in community radios.
9. The government should ensure  stronger protections for journalists and a free, open, and resilient digital space.
10. Ahead of the elections, citizens  should exercise their rights responsibly, ensuring that they check information before sharing.