Media Freedom Festival 2026

Main Hall

Welcome and opening

William Bird, Director, Moxii Africa

Main Hall

Keynote: We Need to Talk Cyber — information manipulation, democracy and media freedom in the age of AI

The messages may be local, but the machinery of information manipulation is global. Drawing on examples from Africa and beyond, this keynote looks at how AI, cyber capabilities and digital infrastructure shape what becomes visible, credible and influential — beyond fabricated content to the accounts, networks and automated systems that spread it, and to efforts to influence what AI systems select and reproduce. Designed for a non-technical audience, it also shows how media can use these technologies to strengthen the reach of reliable information.

Dr Christopher Nehring (Cyberintelligence Institute)

Main Hall

From global machinery to local reality: a response

Building directly on the keynote, this session unpacks what was just heard and grounds it in the South African context. If the machinery of information manipulation is global, what does it look like in our newsrooms, our political discourse and the upcoming Local Government Elections?

Moderator: Liezle Wilson. Speakers: Dr Christopher Nehring, Camilla Christie (Embassy of Germany), Kgothatso Mampa

Main Hall

Scroll and Poll — unpacking everyday risks and election threats of online harms

Online harms intensify when an election is called. This session covers the full spectrum, from everyday harassment, hate speech and disinformation to the heightened dangers of electoral periods: coordinated disinformation campaigns, targeted attacks on journalists and candidates, and the manipulation of public discourse through paid influence and platform amplification. What do online harms look like in practice, who bears the brunt of them, and what should accountability from platforms, regulators and political actors look like?

Moderator: Professor Prinola Govenden, UNESCO Chair in Cultural Inclusivity and Equity in Digital Media in Africa, University of Johannesburg. Speakers: Cassandra Dorasamy (Amnesty International South Africa), Fikile Moya (IEC), Reggy Moalusi (SANEF), Commissioner Nomahlubi Khwinana (SAHRC)

Main Hall

Workshop 1 — Masterclass: More than just deepfakes — AI disinformation and what to do about it

AI is changing how misleading information is created, distributed and encountered by people and by information systems. This interactive masterclass works through cases from Africa and beyond, with particular attention to elections, democracy and media freedom. Detection challenges and verification exercises ask participants to assess evidence, question first impressions and make editorial decisions under uncertainty, alongside debunking, AI labels, source transparency and tools for coordinated fact-checking.

Expert input: Dr Christopher Nehring (Cyberintelligence Institute)

Classroom 1

Workshop 2 — UNHCR: Exploring the language of displacement, migration, othering and harm

Session details to be confirmed.

Katie Drew, Mbali Mushatama and Phoroki Malesoena (UNHCR)

Library

Reporter’s Notebook — The End of the World As We Never Knew It

For the first time since the end of World War II, a party that is at least in parts right-wing extremist stands a good chance of governing a German federal state. What is happening right now? What are the reasons for this development? And how dangerous is it? Cornelius Pollmer has been researching and writing about East Germany for 20 years and reports on what it is like to work as a journalist in a region where journalism is met with deep skepticism.

In conversation with Cornelius Pollmer (Die Zeit)

Main Hall

Rate the Hate — exploring the legal boundaries of freedom of expression

A deep dive into the legal dimensions of freedom of expression. The Rate the Hate challenge confronts the moral dilemmas of free speech and invites thought-provoking discussion.

MC: Kgomotso Modise. Judge: Ben Winks. Competitors: Zukiswa Pikoli, Takudzwa Pongweni, Tamika Thumbiran, Phenyo Sekati, Ahmed Kajee

Main Hall

Welcome and keynote

Hendrik Sittig (Director, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Regional Media Programme Sub-Saharan Africa)

Main Hall

Day 1 recap

Kgothatso Mampa

Main Hall

Toolkits for tackling online harms — launch of three new Moxii Africa handbooks

The official launch of the Judicial Handbook for Navigating Online Harms, Your Images, Your Rights, and the Police Handbook for Navigating Cyber Crimes. Together they equip the judiciary, survivors and SAPS to recognise, investigate, adjudicate and respond to online harms, from harassment, hate speech and cyberstalking to extortion, data breaches, financial cybercrime and non-consensual intimate image sharing.

Moderator: Lister Namumba-Rikhotso (Moxii Africa). Speakers: Sophie Smit, Phenyo Sekati and Claire Dehosse (ALT Advisory)

Main Hall

From the EU to South Africa — regulating digital platforms in South Africa

What can South Africa learn from the European Union as it works out how to regulate online safety and platform governance? This session launches a new study by Nicole Fritz and Justine Limpitlaw on the EU’s Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, drawing on a research trip to the EU and engagements with regulators, policymakers, civil society, competition authorities and platforms. The report launch is followed by a panel on what the findings mean for South Africa.

Moderator: Dinesh Balliah (Wits Centre for Journalism). Speakers: Justine Limpitlaw, Nicole Fritz (Campaign for Free Expression), Kayan Leung (Lawyers for Human Rights), Tina Power (Power Law Africa)

Main Hall

Lightning Talks — quickfire inputs

Leading experts take a few minutes each to dig into the issues shaping our media and our democracy.

Moderator: Kgothatso Mampa. Speakers: Mpho Makhubela (LHR) — From online narratives to real harm: holding platforms and perpetrators accountable in South Africa; Willard Mapfumo (University of Johannesburg) — Who controls the feed? Platform power and the struggle for information integrity; Tsepang Molefe (groundWork) — Misleading narratives in the age of climate change; Lister Namumba-Rikhotso (Moxii Africa) — Moxii Africa Elections Hub; Mish Naidoo (WeThePeople) — Creating an open and democratic society; Athandiwe Saba (SANEF) — How SANEF helps reporters make sense of all the elections data

Main Hall

Workshop 1 — Masterclass: Spotting bad actors — elections, AI and ghost reporters

A hands-on masterclass on recognising coordinated inauthentic behaviour, AI-generated content and ghost reporters in election coverage.

Expert input: Jean le Roux (Graphika)

Classroom 1

Workshop 2 — UNHCR: What happens when fact-checking isn’t enough and trust has broken down?

A UNHCR workshop on what newsrooms and civil society can do when fact-checking alone no longer restores trust.

Hopewell Radebe (SANEF) and Ntsako Manganyi (Moxii Africa)

Seminar Room

Workshop 3 — Disinformation and elections (closed, invitation only)

Dr Christopher Nehring and Athandiwe Saba

Library

Reporter’s Notebook — ethics in photojournalism and imaging xenophobic violence

In conversation with James Oatway (Photojournalist)

Main Hall

Tall Tales & Trivia — Elections Disinformation Quiz Night

Hosted by Quiz Nights SA. Free to play, with prizes to be won.

Main Hall

Keynote — information integrity and its importance ahead of #LGE2026

Minister Solly Malatsi

Main Hall

Panel: From rivals to allies — journalists, creators and building trust before elections

During elections, it matters what's true. It also matters who voters believe. In Kenya, digital creators now make up the largest share of civic storytellers. Yet audiences trust journalists far more: about half of respondents rate journalists in the top two trust levels, compared with roughly a quarter for creators. Journalists have the verification skills, and creators have the reach and cultural fluency. Neither can protect election information alone.South Africa is heading the same way. The Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026 finds that news creators are gaining influence while newsrooms shrink. It calls on legacy brands and creators to agree on shared editorial guardrails.This session shares findings from Preparing Kenya's Storytellers for 2027 and Beyond, research by Baraza Media Lab and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.The panel aims to show how journalists and content creators can work together, pairing journalists' verification skills and credibility with creators' reach and cultural fluency, to promote information integrity.

Moderator: Lydia Obeiro (Thomson Reuters Foundation). Speakers: Gakii Mbae (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Cornelius Pollmer (Die Zeit), Verashni Pillay (Explain), Hopewell Radebe (SANEF)

Main Hall

Lightning Talks — quickfire inputs

Leading experts take a few minutes each to dig into the issues shaping our media and our democracy.

Moderator: Liezle Wilson. Speakers: Naushad Khan (AIP) — Beyond survival: building a suitable future for community media in South Africa; Uyanda Siyotula (SOS Coalition) — The role of public service media in elections; Ashley Fualefeh (University of Johannesburg) — Who tells the election story? Gen Z perceptions and the changing landscape of digital election coverage; Wade Manning (Defend Our Democracy); Jabu Mthombeni (Auxo); Ntsako Manganyi (Moxii Africa) — Reporting disinformation in the time of elections

Main Hall

Presentation and Q&A — The Value of Being Human: constructive journalism in the age of AI

As artificial intelligence transforms how information is produced, distributed, and consumed, journalism faces a fundamental question: What is the unique value of journalism in a world where machines can increasingly produce convincing information?

Expert input: Ellen Heinrichs (Bonn Institute)

Library

Reporter’s Notebook — Will anyone care about this?

In conversation with Qaanitah Hunter (Debrief Network)

The Wits Theatre, 24 Station Street, Braamfontein

Reporters Slam

For the second time in South Africa, Reporters Slam is back. In collaboration with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), journalists get a 7-minute live performance to reveal the story behind their reporting: journalism meets storytelling, sharp, entertaining and deeply human. The audience decides the winner.

MC: Kgaugelo Masweneng. Competitors: Kgomotso Modise (Eyewitness News), Pontsho Pilane (author and former Mail & Guardian journalist), Herman Moloi (The Sowetan), Promise Marupeng (Southern Africa Accountability Journalism Project), Cornelius Pollmer (Die Zeit)