How insulting the Swazi king on Twitter could get you arrested

Swaziland isn’t exactly renowned for its freedom and democratic institutions. In fact, it’s one of the last countries on the planet with an absolute monarch – who it may soon be illegal to insult on Facebook and Twitter.

According to Freedom House, the tiny Southern African country is considering a law that would make it a criminal offence to insult King Mswati III on social networks.

Justice Minister Mgwagwa Gamedze reportedly proposed the legislation, informing the Swazi Senate they would take a “tough” stance on anyone who criticised the king via social media and “set an example.”

Freedom House notes that:

Although only 1.2-million individuals in the country have internet access, social networking has been used to organise protests, including student demonstrations in November 2011 against cutbacks in higher education.

Look, we don’t mean to question the work done by Freedom House, but last time we checked 1.2-million was the approximate size of the entire Swazi population.

In fact, the latest Internet World Statistics puts Swaziland’s online population closer to 95 000.

Gamedze was unclear on whether the cash-strapped country would hunt down any outsiders who dared insult the king.

Given the fact the country is already rated Not Free in Freedom House’s most recent Freedom in the World and Freedom in the Press studies, the government’s decision to clamp down on social media is concerning, but hardly surprising.