South Africa has passed a contentious bill that will severely restrict the ability of journalists to report any information deemed to be a government secret.
The Protection of Information Bill, which still must undergo further steps to become law, would make it a crime, punishable by lengthy prison terms, to disseminate anything that any state agency regards as classified.
Critics believe the legislation is a throwback to the apartheid regime's harsh repression and say it is meant to protect corrupt officials from press scrutiny.
Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu said it is "insulting to all South Africans to be asked to stomach legislation that could be used to outlaw whistle-blowing and investigative journalism".
Protestors have called the day Black Tuesday, linking the legislation to similarly titled press crackdown in the 1970s under white rule. Demonstrators picketed outside of Parliament in Cape Town and in front of African Nation Congress headquarters in Johannesburg. On Twitter, the hashtag "Black Tuesday" is now tending in South Africa.
