The Director General

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Malawi

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       27 January 2025

To the Director General, 

RE: Notice of Intention to Award a Contract to Supply, Delivery, Installation, Commissioning and Testing of Integrated System to Track Misinformation and Disinformation Trends in Malawi towards targeted mass communications surveillance.

We, the Net Rights Coalition (NRC) members, are a pan-African coalition of Internet freedom activists who share knowledge and experiences to combat digital rights threats, please note our interest in this matter. 

We are concerned about reports that the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) published in the National Publications Limited a Notice of Intention to Award a Contract for the Supply, Delivery, Installation, Commissioning and Testing of Integrated System to Track Misinformation and Disinformation Trends in Malawi, dated 14 January 2025 under Reference: MACRA/IPDC/ISMDTM/2024/09/01. We also make reference to a media report posted online by Capital Radio Malawi titled “MACRA justifies procurement of misinformation tracking system”, dated 16 January 2025 where the Director General purportedly responded to citizen outcries by acknowledging the procurement process. 

The signaled intention of MACRA to procure surveillance technologies targeting the mapping of misinformation and disinformation trends implies targeted mass communications surveillance, a threat to freedom of expression, access to information and the right to privacy. Such a tool would potentially seek, among others, to monitor individual and group social media accounts as well classifying target groups for ease of digital surveillance such as human rights defenders and the media. 

As a coalition of actors promoting Internet freedom and online privacy, we highlight that the move to procure surveillance-enabling technologies for tracking misinformation and disinformation, poses a threat to freedom of expression, and access to information. While we condemn misinformation and disinformation, we are wary of the procurement of tools that enable targeted mass communications surveillance.

We remind MACRA that Malawi is a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), which guarantee the protection of freedom of expression and access to information in Articles 19 and 9 respectively. 

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, highlights in Principle 41 as follows:

1. States shall not engage in or condone any disruption of access to the internet and other digital technologies for segments of the public or an entire population. States shall not engage in or condone acts of indiscriminate and untargeted collection, storage, analysis or sharing of a person’s communications. 
2. States shall only engage in targeted communication surveillance that is authorised by law, that conforms with international human rights law and standards, and that is premised on specific and reasonable suspicion that a serious crime has been or is being carried out or for any other legitimate aim.

Furthermore, the ACHPR, in 2024 adopted  Resolution 573 on the deployment of mass and unlawful targeted communication surveillance and its impact on human rights in Africa which among others, guides States to align approaches on the regulation of communication surveillance with relevant international human rights law and standards, considering safeguards such as the requirement for prior authorization by an independent and impartial judicial authority and the need for effective monitoring and regular review by independent oversight mechanisms. 

This notice comes at a time where Malawi is heading to the presidential elections on 16 September 2025. We remind MACRA of the need to engage with all relevant government agencies and stakeholders such as the Malawi Electoral Commission, the Media Council of Malawi and the Malawi Human Rights Commission for a more progressive rights-respecting approach to addressing misinformation and disinformation during elections, without resorting to targeted mass communications surveillance. Such measures include collaborating with civil society actors to sensitise the electorate on information disorders, proactively disclosing information to quell information disorders and promoting fact-checking. 

We further call for more transparency from MACRA on the scope of the contract, the identified bidder selection considerations, extent of the surveillance tools, whether there has been judicial oversight over procurement of such targeted surveillance tools specific to communications and if there were human rights impact assessments carried out. In addition, there is a need for engagement of stakeholders to consult on the need for such a measure and to address concerns. We are cognisant of the peculiar mandate of MACRA over multiple functions including the regulations of the telecommunications sector, oversight over data protection and also oversight over the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act, 2016 a task that requires extreme care to avoid conflict in balancing the need to curb cyber crimes but also ensuring that privacy and other human rights are protected. 

To this end, we call on MACRA to do the following:

• Refrain from procuring targeted mass communications surveillance tools against international human rights standards without judicial oversight and due diligence.
• Engage critical stakeholders on the challenges they seek to address and undertake a human rights impact assessment of the human rights impacts of procuring such services listed in the procurement notice. 
• Facilitate awareness campaigns in collaboration with key stakeholders to address misinformation and disinformation.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders and civil society actors to address challenges faced.
• Openly give assurances that MACRA will not issue any broad notices calling on internet shutdowns in the upcoming elections, as a commitment to human rights.  

Signed:

1. Accountability Lab Nigeria
2. African Internet Rights Alliance
3. Bloggers of Zambia- BloggersZM
4. Camer Today
5. Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation – Malawi
6. Digicivic Initiative
7. Digital Rights Coalition – Malawi
8. Human Rights Journalists Network 
9. Koneta Hub- South Sudan 
10. Knowledge House (KHA)
11. Media Council of Malawi
12. Paradigm Initiative
13. Tech & Media Convergency (TMC)
14. West African Digital Rights Defenders Coalition
15. Youth and Society – Malawi