- Two-thirds (66%) of Zimbabweans “agree” or “strongly agree” that the media should “constantly investigate and report on government mistakes and corruption.”
- A similarly strong majority (69%) support media freedom, though 30% think the government should have the right to prevent the publication of content it disapproves of.
- Zimbabweans are split on whether their media is in fact free: Half (50%) say the country’s media is “somewhat” or “completely” free to report and comment on the news without government interference, but a similar proportion (48%) disagree.
- The share who perceive the press as free has rebounded to its 2021 level after dipping to 41% in 2022.
- Nearly two-thirds (64%) of citizens say they feel “somewhat free” or “completely free” to say what they think, while 35% feel “not very free” or “not at all free.”
- Small minorities of Zimbabweans report contacting the media (4%) and posting political content on social media (5%) in the past year.
- Radio and social media are the most popular sources of news in Zimbabwe, used at least “a few times a week” by 61% and 39% of citizens, respectively.
- Television (30%) and the Internet (24%) beat newspapers (5%) as regular news sources.
Zimbabwe ranks 106th out of 180 countries on the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, up 10 places from 2024 but ahead of only three other Southern African Development Community member states – Lesotho (107th), Madagascar (113th), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (133rd) (Reporters Without Borders, 2025a; Rukuni, 2025).
While access to information has improved and self-censorship has decreased since former President Robert Mugabe was toppled in 2017, activists say President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has stepped up attacks on media freedom since 2023 (Reporters Without Borders, 2025a).
Critics argue that the Criminal Law Amendment Act (also known as the Patriot Act), which became law in 2023, is designed to restrict media freedom. The act grants authorities the right to criminalise anything seen to be “wilfully injuring the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe” (Amnesty International, 2025). Activists see the recent arrest of journalist Blessed Mhlanga as an example of the threat posed by the new law. In February 2025, Mhlanga was charged with “transmitting data messages that incite violence and damage to property” after an interview he conducted with Blessed Geza, a liberation war veteran and Central Committee member of the ruling ZANU-PF, in which Geza criticised the president (Amnesty International Zimbabwe, 2025).
In June, the High Court of Zimbabwe ruled that a significant portion of the Criminal Law Amendment Act violates citizens’ rights to freedom of expression, association, and political participation enshrined in the country’s Constitution, and is therefore unlawful (Ndoro, 2025).
Another journalist, Watson Munyaka, died in March after being thrown from a moving vehicle in what is suspected to have been a targeted attack (Reporters Without Borders, 2025b). Munyaka was part of a cohort of independent investigative journalists who founded Dug Up, an initiative working to expose corruption and crime. Days before Munyaka’s death, Dug Up had published a report highlighting tensions within the ruling party, particularly between Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
Where do ordinary Zimbabweans stand on the role and rights of the media?
Recent Afrobarometer survey findings show that fully two-thirds of Zimbabweans think the media should act as a watchdog over the government, investigating and reporting on government mistakes and corruption.
A similar proportion value media freedom and reject the notion that the government should be able to prevent publications it disapproves of. But citizens are divided on whether media freedom exists in practice in their country.
Importantly, a majority of Zimbabweans report feeling free to say what they think, and a few make use of this freedom to engage with traditional or social media to express their views.
Radio and social media are the most popular news sources in Zimbabwe, accessed at least a few times a week by three-fifths and two-fifths of citizens, respectively.
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