Malawi has a number of laws on the statute books which criminalise expression including the Penal Code, and the Protected Flag, Emblems and Names Act which contain a number of provisions which criminalise expression and in particular which contain overbroad definitions of sedition and which also criminalise defamation, false news, and insulting the President, the national flag, armorial ensigns, the public seal or any protected emblem or likeness, foreign princes as well as generally insulting language.