Achieving media independence through legal and regulatory measures: A formality or reality?

Social media, democracy, and freedom of expression: Some evidence from Ghana

“…Rochefort (2020) [14] ; Irum and Laila (2015) [24] notes that his practice justifies the government of a nation to control online content as a means of safeguarding the interests of the general public as a whole, a necessity that a government cannot deny its citizens. Prapawong (2018) [4] ; Nyarko et al (2018) [25] mentioned that, provided the peoples' interests are well sorted out, the people have no other option but to obey. The problem, however, arises when, the authorities begin censoring the people by using regulation as a defense and therefore start infringing the fundamental rights of its people, including the freedom of speech or expression.…”

“…The problem, however, arises when, the authorities begin censoring the people by using regulation as a defense and therefore start infringing the fundamental rights of its people, including the freedom of speech or expression. Prapawong (2018) [4] ; Nyarko et al (2018) [25] reiterate that social media enhances democracy, freedom as well as equality. Constitutional values on social media are usually under immense pressure and the issue of democracy is not left behind.…”

“…Scholars have proposed that governments in many countries of the world intervene regarding the issue of expression on social media. Even so, non-state bodies and movements are also known to influence online media firms (Dzisah, 2018;Klos, 2020;Nyarko et al 2018; Ganesh and Bright, 2020) [5,18,25,26] . As a nation, Ghana has accorded its people some space that enables them to effectively express themselves.…”

Donor Aid and Private Investment: Their Interplay With Media Development

“…Second, the political and legal climate to some extent does not support the development of the media. Although many African countries have constitutions that profess freedom of the media and of information, the "freedom concept" oftentimes exists only in rhetoric but remains impracticable in many African nations because portions of those provisions are vague and tied to some other requirements Nyarko, Mensah, & Owusu-Amoh, 2018. Third, the Africa media ecology is dominated by political owners, their affiliates, and some businessmen whose agenda is more political than civil.…”